Make a Great Miracle Happen There
December 10, 2008
Holidays | Social Action
(2 comments)
(First posted at RACblog)
by Micaela Hellman-Tincher
Eisendrath Legislative Assistant
at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
 Over Chanukah, we all look for thoughtful, useful and interesting gifts for our family and friends. Amid the ads for watches, sweaters and digital cameras this winter, you might notice an ad for another kind of gift. A bed net. As part of our goal to deliver 50,000 nets abroad, the Union for Reform Judaism will be advertising Nothing But Nets in Jewish media around the country this winter.
While you may not know anyone who wants their bed covered in insecticide-treated mesh, there are people abroad to whom this gift won't simply be nice and thoughtful, but life-saving. A child dies from malaria every 30 seconds, and the use of a bed net can reduce disease transmission by up to 90%. The bed nets donated through the Union for Reform Judaism's Nothing But Nets initiative will go straight to refugees of conflict in Africa-one of the populations most vulnerable to malaria. It takes only $10 to send a net.
And while your friends and family won't receive a bed net themselves, they will get the gift of leaning how small efforts at home can change lives far away. They will get a broader understanding of and connection to the world around them. They will get the chance to teach their children about issues facing children abroad. They will get an appreciation of the goodness in their lives. And most of all, they get to take part in one of the most important and amazing things in the world-saving someone else's life.
As Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, noted yesterday (on a call promoting ONE Sabbath, a great way to extend your Nothing But Nets activism,) "When you buy one net for $10, you are saving a life. That is a very rare thing to do. When you feed someone for $10 you will need to do it again. When you buy one net, it stays there."
 This winter, due to the efforts of congregations, b'nei mitzvah students and others, the first shipment of bed nets will be delivered to the Nakivale refugee camp in Uganda, providing malaria protection for the entire camp.
We are halfway to our goal of delivering 50,000 bed nets. Inspire your friends and family with the gift of saving a life this Chanukah. Give them each a donation to Nothing But Nets. Ask them to give the same to you. Have a net-giving party for your whole family! Make a great miracle happen there.
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Every year we splurge on gifts to bring joy to our family at Hanuka. We put on fancy cocktail parties and dances to celebrate during the holiday season. This Nets program does so much to help people with so little additional cost. It is a cheap and easy way for all of us to experience the warm feeling that comes from helping poor Africans avoid disease and even death.