Vegan Jews Against Genocide

I went to DC this past weekend to attend the Save Darfur rally. I highly encourage everyone to visit SaveDarfur.org and learn more about this issue. Among the highlights:

* At Sunday's rally at the National Mall, which was attended by thousands of people, my friends and I held signs that said, "Vegan Jews Against Genocide." (If you look hard enough, you can see part of that slogan on the bottom of Jess' sign too. I'm on the left, by the way.) Tons of people came up to us to take a picture of us. One fellow said, "Talk about a minority," but I beg to differ: I bet the vast majority of vegan Jews are against genocide! Check out photo 8 and the accompanying caption in the Writing in Wax blog.

* I couldn't help but notice that many of the speakers at Sunday's rally were people known (among other things, of course) for their support of animal rights campaigns, including The Rev. Al Sharpton, Russell Simmons, Dick Gregory, and Kweisi Mfume. And let's not forget Holocaust survivor Rep. Tom Lantos, the cofounder of the Friends of Animals Caucus in Congress.

* On Saturday night, I went to a Havdalah service on the steps of the Jefferson Memorial that was hosted by the Reform Action Center. I'd estimate that more than 100 people gathered to welcome the coming week and pray for peace and justice, particularly in Darfur. As Jews from as far away as New York, Florida, Texas, and Illinois sung together and held up Havdalah candles, it really was a beautiful, moving experience.