COMMUNITY COMMENTARY:

There is a voice in our tradition — a voice at once arresting, beautiful and strong— that resounds like a shofar and spans the centuries.

It is the voice of supreme morality and justice. It is the voice of tremendous love for humanity.

You hear it in the prophet Amos when he said, “Let justice well up as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream” (Amos 5:24).

You hear it in the prophet Micah when he said,

“It has been told you, O humanity, what is good,

“And what the LORD requires of you:

“Only to do justice

“And to love goodness,

“And to walk modestly with your God” (Micah 6:8).

And you hear it in the Torah, in the passage we read every Yom Kippur afternoon, which says: “Do not stand idle while your neighbor bleeds Love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:16, 18).

My friends, our neighbor is bleeding! She is crying out for love and goodness. He is in desperate need of justice and righteousness.

Our neighbor is thousands of miles away — on another continent. Not near to us in terms of location, our neighbor is close to us emotionally and spiritually. She is bone of our bones. He is flesh of our flesh.

I am talking about our southeastern neighbors in Myanmar. Many of us have been following the horrific crisis taking place there. We’ve seen it in the newspapers, and we’ve witnessed it on TV.

Yet, I must tell you: As Jews who know — only too well — the horrors of genocide, we cannot remain silent about Myanmar. We have a moral obligation to speak out and to take action — to stand up, and raise our voices, and do something to stop this massive tragedy.

Good and decent people can save lives by speaking out and taking action. And I strongly believe our Jewish history and ethical religious tradition demand we speak out and take action.

So what can we do?

First: We can help support humanitarian relief agencies — who are addressing the needs of hundreds of thousands of displaced victims with food, water, medical attention, and shelter.

Second: We can contact our congressmen, senators, and president — urging them to offer economic aid to Myanmar.

May we resolve to speak out and take action for the people of Myanmar.

May we do all that we can to help ensure the massacres stop and the victims receive help.

And may God be with the people of Myanmar and inspire the world to come to their aid. Please make contributions to the appropriate organizations to help our brothers and sisters.

Amen.

MARC RUBENSTEIN is the rabbi for Temple Isaiah of Newport Beach.