April 16, 2022/Volume 6
Dear Friends,
We cannot become complacent. Do not forget and get accustomed to the war in Ukraine!
The next eighteen days are significant to almost everyone on this planet as Jews, Christians and Muslims mark a rare convergence in our calendars. First, my Jewish friends and I are celebrating Passover/Pasah. This event declares a period in our Jewish history that freed us from slavery, but more importantly, a period that cemented our covenant with All-Mighty.
For my friends from various walks of Christianity, the Easter season celebrates the defeat of death and the celebration of the resurrection. My Muslim friends celebrate Ramadan as a period of renewing their faith and reflecting on their spiritual rejuvenation as Muslims and with Allah.
Most of my friends expect to celebrate their respective special days in the comfort of our homes and congregations. We will observe our Holy Days immersed in our unique ethnic, religious, and family traditions, free of fear and ridicule and, most importantly, free of physical bodily harm.
However, my Ukrainian friends and 44 million Ukrainians, including Christians, Muslims, and Jews, along with some 130 ethnic groups, will not be able to join us. Instead, they will go through this holiday season fighting for the fundamental human freedoms we take for granted.
More than twelve million people are homeless, and four million are refugees in neighboring countries. Of that twelve million, almost five million are kids. Kids whose lives have been shattered and will never again be the same. With tens of millions of brainwashed supporters, one tyrant decided that Ukraine needed to be "rescued ." It needed to be "rescued" from the influence of western and democratic values. It needed to be "rescued" from the people who thought their Nation had the right to self-determination. A nation that decided to break free from the past of bigotry, totalitarianism, corruption, collectivism, antisemitism, nepotism, and other ugly remnants of the former Soviet Union.
My ask for this particular "The Holiday Edition of Sam's Rant" is simple, DO NOT FORGET.
Do not forget Ukraine as you celebrate your special days, and do not forget Ukraine until it receives its due justice. I think we all understand that day will not come soon, and I beg you to have the courage, patience, and commitment to continue your acts of support until that day comes.
For my part, I will continue to support local Ukrainian efforts to feed, house, and heal Ukrainian people. I will play an active role in Detroit's local Ukrainian community, reaching out to all cultural and charitable organizations in order to help Ukraine and its people, in Ukraine and refugees abroad.
As I wish all of you celebrating in harmony:
Sameach Pesach, Ramadan Mubarak, Happy Easter, Христос Воскрес
and I beg you to remember Ukraine and the existential war it is forced to fight to defend the values that we may take for granted!
I thank those who helped me in the past, and I ask all of my friends for your continued help and support.
Sam Rozenberg
Glory to Ukraine.