Last night, a fundraising event for SoCalJSS/SoCalJYAE was held in Long Beach. Entitled “Gin & Genocide” was the third of this year’s series of texts and tippling. Featuring a discussion on genocide in the Jewish tradition, considering Amalek, Midian, and the seven Canaanite nations, Rabbi Drew steered the conversation eventually to the current day post-Holocaust reality where Jews and Jewish organizations were at the forefront in America striving to do what they could in raising their voices against what the Janjaweed were doing in Darfur.
Eden Banarie, the youth engagement coordinator for Jewish World Watch (JWW), came and spoke about some of the present-day issues going on in Congo and Darfur and what JWW was doing about it, as well as promoting the upcoming Walk to End Genocide, taking place in, among other places, Orange County. Walkers can go with my team. “It’s a bit of a trip to see how many times we’re mandated to commit genocide, as I’m working for a Jewish nonprofit that’s working to stop genocide!” Banarie said. “It was very thought-provoking.”
At the tasting, four gins were served, finishing off with Hendrick’s, which was generously sponsored by Kenneth Schlesinger. Tonics were also provided. The event was nicely hosted by Betty Ann & Larry Fell.