Recently a Veahavta staff member and board member visited Haiti and the orphanage – House of Hope – we are involved with. Stop by Ve’ahavta’s website – www.veahavta.org to see more pictures and get a sense of our operations there, and how you might help.

God bless the people of Haiti, and those working to help them.

Oh how lucky we are to live in a safe place.

We collected half a million dollars and have allocated the monies well including putting some aside for individuals who want to travel to Haiti on our bill.  So far we have had two takers.

God bless the people of Haiti. Let us remember those who perished.

B’shalom

Regardless, the fact is that many people around the world are clamouring to adopt a Haitian child.

The strange thing is that this isn’t happening among Diaspora Jews.

Google “Christians” or “Muslims” and “adopting Haitian,” and you’ll find lots of information. Google “Jews” and “adopting Haitian,” and you’ll only find links to Israel.

(According to JTA, early on in this crisis, Israel’s social affairs minister, Isaac Herzog, asked his staff to look into the feasibility of Israelis adopting Haitian children who lost their parents in the devastating earthquake on Jan. 12. “We are proud Israel aided the horrible distress in Haiti, and we have a moral obligation, as human beings, to aid these children,” Herzog said.)

Jews do adopt children. Certainly there are families up and down the Bathurst Street corridor who have adopted children via long and arduous processes – according to findlaw.com, Jews generally adopt children from such places as China and Columbia. When a Jewish family can’t have a child, adoption is clearly an option, if not a spontaneous reaction.

But I think Diaspora Jewry has developed a safe approach to tikkun olam (repairing the world), especially when called upon to react personally and sometimes immediately. Few people truly open up their homes and extend themselves in a way that costs them time, money, space and an emotional investment when an unexpected soul taps on their door.  

Case in point: Jewish Family & Child has struggled for years to find enough foster parents for Jewish kids who can’t live at home. Why?

Astonishingly, our community has never built a Jewish shelter for the dozens upon dozens of children who have gone homeless, or are unable to deal with their home life or the pressures of being a Jew. While this may be more of an example of outreach, it does reflect a certain fear of dealing with people in need in a hands-on way.

Unlike Israelis, who work to survive every day (and, therefore, are prepared for discomfort), we in the Diaspora are in a comfort zone that holds little room for “indigent” guests.

In November, actor and activist Mia Farrow came to town and spoke about the courageous few who put their lives on the line for others by leaving their comfort zone and investing heavily in “the other.” Perhaps we have, after decades of community-building, decided it’s just easier to write a cheque than be bothered by the immense challenges that come with bravely sharing our lives with an orphan or troubled teen.

Maybe we have begun to believe that money will fix all of our ills and don’t have the time to bring “the other” into our homes?

It would be prudent and Jewish if we all rolled up our sleeves and responded to the calls of Haitian orphans, just as our Christian and Muslim brothers are doing so well. Even if you had not been thinking about increasing your family size, the spontaneous crisis in Haiti is a compelling reason to give it a shot.  

Let’s not forget how blessed we are, and recognize our ability to protect and nurture children at Jane and Finch, Regent Park, Bathurst Street and Port-au-Prince.

Let me know if you’ve considered  adopting or have tried to adopt a Haitian child.

I’m interested in being proven wrong.

Ve’ahavta is getting reports from the ground in Haiti, from our partners that people are sleeping outside – little children, orphans – afraid that another earthquake will come and eat them up.

Not enough tents are available to protect them from the coming rains. Those damn drops. Humanitarians are reporting over and over that they need respite from the horrific conditions and what they have witnessed.

Haiti is a hell hole and all this talk about rebuilding is paramount to the idea of creating city out of the archaeological rubble unearthed under Jerusalem.  The streets of Port-au-Prince are rubbles not conducive to structural rehabilitation – at least not yet.

We, the world citizens, needs to mourn the passing of this country. While we will not abandon its people, in the case of Ve’ahavta, its orphans; it is difficult to have hope about resurrecting it.

The stories are bad. They are sad. They are what we would have expected when Sodom was destroyed by God, total and utter destruction with not an ounce of Godly affection. There was no break for Haiti and its people. None!!!

But we continue to work there looking for tents, and searching for food and water to feed the children. Where they will go is anybody’s guess. Who will watch over them? There is no choice. We will all  have to stay in the game.

For how long? Forever.

Know your blessings and help the people of Haiti.

My friends Eli and Joan were there and played (on guitar) and sang Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen. Two young women living in the shelter came up and sang, exquisitely. A young fellow did a musical interlude on the keyboard. We raised $84.38.

I was impressed. Homeless teens are intense kids. They focus very heavily on the ills of the world and understand clearly, survivalism. They get it, so the language of “Haiti” is clear to them.

When I spoke and said that each and every one of us need to be a citizen of the world when a “Haiti’ occurs, it resonated with them. When I said, “the children of Haiti yell out to us…be there for us,” they got it.

The young people living in this shelter are not much different at all than those living in Haiti, aside from the rubble all strewn about. They live day-to-day, and have little faith in leaders. They wonder where they will be fed next and if anyone gives a shit about them.

Haiti is their language, just short of the fallen walls.

Last night we held a fundraiser at a local shelter. I was touched and impressed and teared up when I was alone later  on thinking about what I had just participated in….an evening full of respect for the donor and recipient…full of equality for the homeless kid and the orphaned Haitian.

Help the homeless. Donate respect! Help the people of Haiti by doing the same, and a little cash.

Love Avrum

PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD: Ms. Darvey is trapped under her house at 300 Avenue Mavramboise (sp?), in Carrefour Port-au-Prince. Please pass this on to anyone who may be able to get to her.

On Tuesday, January 12th, a massive earthquake occurred in Haiti. According to UN estimates, thousands are likely dead. Untold numbers of people remain trapped under the rubble of crumbled and collapsed infrastructure. Aid agencies are still struggling to make contact with their key personnel on the group to assess the impact of this disaster.

With a per capita income of $3.60 per day, Haiti is the most impoverished country in the Western Hemisphere. Thus, its population is especially vulnerable to natural disasters, such as Tuesday’s earthquake.

Ve’ahavta: the Canadian Jewish Humanitarian and Relief Committee has created the Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund to support relief efforts to address the urgent needs of the affected population.

Please use Ve’ahavta’s secure website to make your tax-deductible donation to Tikun Olam – repairing the world – in Haiti. Thank you for your generous support at this time of crisis.

Donate Now Online – Secure Site

https://secure.e2rm.com/registrant/donate.aspx?EventID=43021&LangPref=en-CA

For more information, call 416 964 7698

Ve’ahavta Website

http://www.veahavta.org/

“Please donate generously to assist the men, women and children. God bless those who perished and survive.”

B’shalom
Avrum Rosensweig
President, Ve’ahavta