Because Ye Were Strangers in the Land of Egypt...

I got an appeal for contributions this morning, to help people walloped by Typhoon Ketsana and the Pacific Earthquakes.

Rabbi Marla J. Feldman, Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) Director of Development wrote:

As you've seen in the news, at the end of September, Typhoon Ketsana struck the Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia, causing hundreds of deaths and displacing thousands of families.

A few days later, powerful earthquakes struck the Pacific near American Samoa, triggering three separate tsunami waves, killing over a thousand people, many in the West Sumatran capital of Padang. Subsequent storms killed hundreds of people in the Philippines and millions have been displaced from their homes due to flooding.

Numerous organizations are providing life-saving aid in these areas. For a list of some of the organizations that are accepting donations for this effort go to www.urj.org/relief.

Rabbi Marla J. Feldman
Director of Development
Union for Reform Judaism

To which I'll add only this:

If I am not for myself, who will be for me?
But, if I am for myself alone, then what am I?
And if not now, when?
Hillel
Jewish Sage
(circa 110 BCE - 10 CE)