The Message, Volume 7, Number 9, November 1979 Page: 2 of 4
This periodical is part of the collection entitled: Hidden Selections of Houston’s African American and Jewish Heritage and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Rice University Woodson Research Center.
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RABBI SEGAL S COLUMN:
for
$1 A PERSON
excerpts from the latter part of Rabbi
Clip out immediately and mail to:
Rabbi Jack Segal
c/o Beth Yeshurun Congregation
P. 0. Box 35067
Houston, Texas 77035
Dear Rabbi Segal,
Enclosed you will find my check for $
the “Beth Yeshurun - Cambodian Fund.”
NAME __________________________
ADDRESS ___________________________
However, I must admit that I would have been much
happier and much more elated had I seen the names of
several American Jewish organizations listed amongst those
groups that are presently helping the starving Cambodians.
In fact, I would have felt much better even if I would have
merely heard that several Jewish organizations had labeled
this subject: “Top Priority.”
True, I read that Israel had sent several doctors to help
the starving Cambodians, and Abie Nathan was sending food
packages; however, I was a bit disappointed because I believe
the Jews of America, more than any other group, should also
band together to aid these starving human beings who are
experiencing a new genocide. The Jewish scars from the
Hitler Holocaust have as yet not healed. How can we not give
emphasis to these new wounds that are presently being
opened in Cambodia?
Yes, Israel needs our help and Russian Jewry also needs
our assistance, but so do these 2,250,000 Cambodians who
may be dead in 6 months if we merely turn our backs on
them.
Therefore, I am proposing and suggesting a project that
can be of value only if all of us at Beth Yeshurun band to-
gether to make it a success. We at Beth Yeshurun number
2,000 families. Those families add up to 6,700 individuals.
My suggestion is that each one of our 6,700 members should
donate $1 a person to help feed these starving Cambodians.
Individually, this adds up to less than the price of 3 cokes;
however, if everyone does his/her share we will be able to
send $6,700 toward this project.
In addition to this, I truly hope that this idea, “$1 a
Person,” will spread forth amongst all Jews throughout the
United States so that in a short period of time $5,900,000 will
come forth to help these emaciated individuals who are
presently losing their last breaths of life.
The Bible tells us that God created ALL men in His *
image: Jews and Christians, Whites and Blacks, Rich and
Poor . . . and Cambodians, too.
We have been complaining since 1933, more than 45 years,
that the world ignored us and allowed 6 million Jews to be
killed. Will we be guilty of that same crime now? This is the
time to do our utmost. .. and I am really asking so very little.
Do not put off until tomorrow what you can do today. Do not
put off for tonight what you can do right now. If you are
married and have 3 children, why not sit down this very *
moment and write a check for $5 made out to “Beth Yeshurun
- Cambodia Fund” and mail it to me, Rabbi Jack Segal, c/o
Beth Yeshurun Congregation? I cannot think of a greater
mitzvah that you can do right now.
Within your hands now rests the lives of so many un-
fortunate and possibly doomed creatures of God. Why not
join me in writing a check for $1 a person — $1 for each
member of your family.
I truly hope that we will all band together, QUICKLY, in J
order to be able to save so many innocent lives. Amen!
(The following are excerpts from the latter part of Rabbi
Segal’s sermon of Saturday, November 10, 1979.)
This past week, I was truly saddened by the countless
pictures that I saw in the newspapers and magazines and on
the television of the starving and emaciated Cambodian
babies. I was also appalled by the pictures of exhausted
young women with dried breasts unsuccessfully attempting
to nurse their malnourished and belly-swollen babies who
were only a few hours away from death. I felt as if I was once
again viewing the TV film “The Holocaust” as I saw pictures
of Cambodian skulls unearthed from a mass grave. Genocide
had obviously not ended in 1945. It was continuing to haunt
us in 1979 — but in a different geographical area, Cambodia.
The newspapers spoke of the possibility of 2,250,000
Cambodians dying of starvation in the next few months, and
I must admit that I was further overwhelmed when I read
that during the past 4 years the Cambodian population had
shrunk from 8 million to 4 million — 4 million Cambodians
had been killed, exterminated, and liquidated during those
handful of years.
My mind refused to accept this new chapter of man’s
inhumanity to man, man’s cruelty to man — how the local
puppet government of Cambodia, a government manipulated
from Hanoi, was refusing to allow any food to be brought
into Cambodia by truck from Thailand because some of it
might be captured and seized by the Khrmer Rouge, the
enemy of the present puppet government.
However, as I thought of the tragedy presently unfurling
in Cambodia I thought of one generation ago when the Nazis
were treating us in a similar inhumane manner. I thought
of how we cried out to Pope Pius, “Why are you silent?” I
thought of how we called out to President Roosevelt and
Prime Minister Churchill, “Why don’t you open the gates of
your nations to accept our bedraggled survivors? Why don’t
you help us live?”
Similarly, I remembered the words of Pastor Martin
Niemoeller who wrote after the war:
“First the Nazis went after the Jews —
But I wasn’t a Jew, so I did not react;
Then they went after the Catholics —
But I wasn’t a Catholic, so I did not object;
Then they went after the workers —
But I wasn’t a worker, so I did not stand up;
Then they went after the Protestant clergy —
But by then it was too late for anyone to stand up.”
Yes, I thought of the apathy of so many people and so
many leaders during World War II, and I realized that
because of their silence countless millions died ignominious
deaths and their ashes were spread as fertilizer over so many
European farms.
However, I also felt a feeling of pride as I read in the news-
papers that many were presently refusing to follow the pat-
tern established during World War II. I was proud of Rev.
Theodore Hesburgh, head of Notre Dame University, who
said, “I’m perfectly willing to ride in the lead truck and get
shot in the process rather than sit back and have it on my
conscience that I did nothing to stop a second holocaust.”
Similarly I was proud when I read the names of so many
organizations that are presently not turning their backs on
their fellow human beings half way round the world but are
rather harnessing their forces to help the Cambodians. I was
proud of International Red Cross, UNICEF, OXFAM,
Christian Outreach, CARE, Catholic Relief Service, Church
World Service, International Rescue Committee, Protestant
World Vision International Organization, Lutheran World
Relief, The Disciples of Christ, Southern Baptist Convention,
National Ass’n. of Evangelicals, and so many more.
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Congregation Beth Yeshurun (Houston, Tex.). The Message, Volume 7, Number 9, November 1979, periodical, November 23, 1979; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1294378/m1/2/?q=j+w+gardner: accessed June 22, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.