Education. Additional funding also provided by moutual of america. Retirement products. Thats why were your retirement company. Welcome. Im kim lawton, sitting in for bob abernethy. Thank you for joining us. People of faith around the world continue to pray for a permanent truce between israel and hamas. During this weeks pause in the fighting, groups were able to deliver aid to people in gaza. Many decried the humanitarian impact of the conflict. A Catholic Relief Services official described the situation as quote a complete catastrophe. Many religious leaders continued to protest the large number of civilian casualties. In washington, on tisha bav, the jewish day of mourning, activists held a vigil for those on both sides who were killed. The gathering urged an end to the war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said hamas should be held accountable for what he called the tragic loss of civilian lives. He said israels actions were justified and proportional. In west africa, authorities raced to contain the ebola virus amid news that another christian missionary, a spanish priest, was infected. The priest was airlifted to madrid. The World Health Organization said it would convene a group of medical ethicists next week to discuss whether experimental drugs, including the serum used on the two infected american missionaries should be given to others who have contracted the virus. The serum had not yet been tested on humans, but there are no other approved and effective treatments for ebola. Meanwhile, leaders from dozens of african nations came to a summit in washington this week where they discussed health challenges, security and economic development. President obama called for more joint partnerships, saying the us has a moral obligation to support africas progress. With all the headlines about ebola and other problems, former vatican diplomat j. Peter pham, director of the Atlantic Councils africa center, told me he believes its time for a different narrative. There is an emergent africa, an increasingly confident africa politically, economically and religiously and hopefully, we begin to take a look at the new africa beyond our usual lens of africa with its hand out in need of rescuing by outsiders. Two Senior Leaders of cambodias khmer rouge were sentenced to life in prison this week, more than three decades after their brutal rule. The two were convicted of crimes against humanity committed during khmer rouges reign in the 1970s. At least 1. 7 Million People died under the regime. The men are now in their 80s, and they are the last two surviving leaders to stand trial. They are expected to appeal the verdict. A deteriorating situation in iraq as Islamic State militants continued seizing control of the northern part of the country. Extremists pushed into territories controlled by kurdish forces, causing thousands of civilians to flee. Many of those fleeing were religious minorities, including christians and members of an ancient sect called the yazidi. The u. S. Authorized airstrikes and air drops of humanitarian aid for tens of thousands of yazidi trapped with little food or water. Officials say they are in danger of being wiped out completely. With the world focused on humanitarian crises in so many places, officials are also urging that the conflict in syria not be forgotten. Syrians are the largest single Refugee Group worldwide. More than 9 million syrians have been displaced since 2011. Thats more than 40 of the prewar population. Many have ended up in neighboring countries, including jordan. Earlier this year, my colleague patti jette and i traveled to jordan to see how faithbased groups are trying to help. Reporter this is one of jordans largest cities. Theres a bustling main street, dubbed the champs elysees, where almost anything can be bought and sold. There are schools, hospitals, and some 30 mosques. Tens of thousands live here. But this sprawling compound just five miles from the Syrian Border is really not a city at all. Its the zaatari refugee camp, where syrians have fled from the unrelenting conflict in their homeland. Almost two and a half Million People have left syria, in what the United Nations has called the greatest humanitarian catastrophe of modern times. Many have ended up here, in neighboring jordan, in refugee camps and in communities across the country. You see our brothers and sisters, our neighbors, the syrians, everywhere, not only the north, you see them in every city, in every street, in every town. And this has created a big burden on the jordanian economy. Reporter the un and International Aid agencies have been working to meet the dire needs. Faithbased groups are actively mobilizing as well, and many religious leaders say they provide a unique contribution in the midst of the crisis. Many International Organizations are doing great jobs. There are millions that are spent to help those people. But what is absent is the, is the human touch, is the love. Reporter wafa goussous, director of the Orthodox Initiative, says this is what the religious groups do. Make the giving, the material giving, make it with love. So those people will, will feel the difference in their exile. Reporter some religious groups, including International Orthodox christian charities, iocc, have been working here in zaatari, the largest camp for Syrian Refugees. The zaatari camp was established in july 2012 to deal with the huge influx of Syrian Refugees flooding into jordan. Its difficult to get exact numbers, but about 100,000 refugees are estimated to be currently living here. And between 300 and 500 new refugees are still coming in every day. Syrians who dont have a jordanian to sponsor them end up here, and are forbidden to leave, unless they choose to return to syria. Some still live in tents, although many have now been moved to small trailers or caravans. These refugees used to live much better life in syria. And coming here they, they, they lost everything. Reporter on this chilly day, we met seham, who invited us into her caravan, where seven family members sleep in one room, including her son who was wounded in the war. Its cold and drafty inside, but better than the tent they had before. She tells us rats and mice run around freely and asks iocc for a bag to help protect her few possessions. Iocc tries to meet needs not covered by other agencies. The group distributes donations from outside partners, including many u. S. Churches. They give out things like hygiene kits, quilts, space heaters, kitchen supplies and blankets. In december, the group distributed 12,000 School Uniforms and track suits to children in the camp. According to the jordanian law, for someone to attend the school he has to have certain things such as school books as well as the School Uniforms. So in order for all the children residing in the camp to attend the school, they were supposed to have School Uniforms and this is what iocc did for them. Reporter qusays daughter proudly shows off her uniform. Her baby brother was born in the camp 14 months ago, just a month after they arrived. Qusay used to work at a Syrian Government office. Now hes dependent on international donations. He says they left syria because they were afraid of the shelling. Now he says hes afraid theyll die of hunger instead. While zaatari gets much international attention, the vast majority of Syrian Refugees, between 75 and 80 , actually live outside the camps. Many religious groups are currently shifting their efforts to help these urban refugees, who are more difficult to reach. Multiple families cram into small, unheated apartments paying high rents. They cant get jobs here, so many are using up what savings they brought with them, supplemented by a small u. N. Stipend. Bashir, fadiya and their three children live with two other families, a total of 10 people, in this threeroom apartment with little furniture. Bashir says they couldnt survive without help from groups like iocc. His dream is to get back to syria as soon as possible, but he says, only if it is a syria at peace. The Catholic Group caritas jordan has Centers Across the country where refugees can come for help. This Caritas Center in zarqa serves about 200 people daily, and has been logging in some 100 more new families every day. Here, refugees can get medical assistance, emergency aid supplies and referrals for other help. Every center has a Counseling Program as well. In childfriendly spaces, children do art and play therapy. Their parents can receive individual counseling and Group Therapy sessions. Reporter one of the caritas volunteers is bassam zarrour, himself a syrian refugee. Zarrour owned an Electronics Store in homs, and says he had a Beautiful Life there until the violence exploded. He and his family left syria last march. He heard right away about caritas help for refugees and then became a volunteer, acting as a liaison between caritas and his fellow syrians. Like most of the syrian refuges, zarrour is muslim. He told me helping others gives him a sense of purpose here. Caritas work is supported by international partners, including the u. S. Based Catholic Relief Services. Crs president carolyn woo came to see some of the projects. She says its crucial to work with local groups. Theyre the ones who know the local culture, they have the infrastructure, they are very committed themselves, so our job is really to enable them to be as successful as possible because they could really serve people in the best way. Reporter as she toured several sites, woo says she was deeply moved by the stories she encountered. You look at the little children, theyre so wonderful but yet behind each of these wonderful people is a life that is completely disrupted. We see god in all of these people. We see that these are brothers and sisters like us. Theyre all part of this human family. Reporter jordan has made the decision to keep its borders open as long as possible. The flood of Syrian Refugees is the latest in a long line of people coming here, from palestinians in 1948, to iraqis, egyptians and sudanese. The nature of jordanians are very generous and always open to receive guests, respect them, and host them. Still its a big burden. Its a big burden on the country, its a big burden on the government, on the infrastructure, on the resources of the country. Reporter father nabil haddad is executive director of the jordanian interfaith coexistence center. He says hospitality and helping others are strong parts of jordans religious tradition. They are christians and muslims, they believe in mercy and they believe in love, and our lord teaches us to love our neighbors, and our neighbors they are in desperate need. Reporter still, there are rising tensions between Syrian Refugees and vulnerable jordanians, who say they need help as well. In the beginning the jordanian people, they open everything for syrians, of course its a kind of solidarity. They start collaborating, supporting, you know, but i believe that today its it became a big problem for the jordanian people. Reporter the jordanian government now requires that at least 30 of aid for syan refugees is given to help needy jordanians. Wafa goussous says jordans small christian population is doing what it can to help both. Representing the Greek Orthodox patriarch theophilos iii in jerusalem, the Orthodox Initiative has partnered with u. S. Churches for several projects, including distributing food and other essential aid. Its our moral duty, its our obligation, its our christian presence, and our christian witness, theyre both related, and we cannot just close our eyes on a crisis that is happening to other people and say, well, let the u. N. Agencies deal with it, or the government. We are part and parcel. We are part of the fabric of this area. Reporter religious groups here are asking for more aid. Many are also urging the International Community to work harder to find solutions to the conflict inside syria, so the refugees can ultimately return. We have this ongoing hemorrhage of innocent blood in syria. I think it is the time now that we raise our voices. Reporter the situation may seem insurmountable, but faith leaders say its not hopeless. I think sometimes its easier to say, this is too overwhelming. This is beyond me. And i dont think compassion and assistance is ever beyond anyone. Reporter the most important thing, they say, is that the world not abandon the millions caught in the crisis. This week marked the second anniversary of the sikh temple shooting in wisconsin when a gunman opened fire, killing six worshippers. Last week, a sikh man in new york was hit by a truck in another alleged hate crime. U. S. Sikhs have been mobilizing to fight discrimination. The sikh american Legal Defense and Education Fund has created a new Public Service announcement showing members of their faith as part of the fabric of america. Last month, one of americas most wellknown rabbis, rabbi zalman schachtershalomi, died at the age of 89. He was a founder of the jewish renewal movement. For two years, every friday, schachtershalomi talked with writer Sara Davidson, a secular skeptic, about spirituality and preparing to die. Davidson chronicled those conversations in a book called the december project. Bob faw had spoken with both davidson and schachtershalomi this past spring about wisdom and accepting death. Reporter despite all her success as a bestselling novelist, a hollywood screenwriter, and a journalist working in dangerous places, nothing she did, says Sara Davidson, ever prepared her for the prospect of dying. I would feel terror and nausea because i had no certainty that there is an afterlife. The idea of everything ending in nothing was terrible. Reporter in 2009, though, davidson was lucky enough to meet this remarkable man, rabbi zalman schachtershalomi, then 85, a founder of the jewish renewal movement. Appearing recently at a boulder, colorado, book signing he remembered that when they met he wanted someone to pass along all he had learned about dying. I felt that what i needed to share with people at this time is just stuff that i didnt hear from any of my teachers. He said, there is something i want to do with you. I want to have a series of talks about what im calling the december project. when you feel youre coming to the end of your tour of duty, what is the spiritual work of that time, and how do we prepare for the mystery . Reporter it was an unlikely collaboration. After a lifetime of scholarship and meditation, the faith of the rabbi was profound. Davidson, who considers herself a secular jew, calls herself a spiritual mutt and a skeptic. Ive got this very cynical mind thats always poking holes in whatever theory or theology is presented to me. And he said, i dont want to convince you of anything. What i want is to loosen your mind. Reporter the rabbi and the skeptic met every friday for two years, with him teaching her that death is a mystery which need not be feared if she would trust her intuition more than her intellect. Feeling and intuition, it has to do with the right hemisphere and with the heart and anything that has to do with knowing the presence of god and preparing for dying, you know. The left hemisphere would say you should fight it, you dont want to die. The right hemisphere and the heart would say surrender to it. Its taking you to another place thats also real. He said you need to create an inner space, an inner sanctuary, a place where you can go that it will be like a home base in the midst of all the humble and rumble and tumble of life, that you can go inside and theres a place there thats quiet and still, and its in that place that you can be most open to intuition. Reporter what she learned from all those sessions is now chronicled in this book, the december project, about getting in touch with what the rabbi calls that sacred inner space. I want to cut myself off from all the other outside influences so that i can catch my breath and find my center. That is already creating the sanctuary, sanctuary in the sense of i flee to the place where i feel safe. Now the big question is how do you know something is genuinely intuition or guidance or wisdom and not just a random thought popping in your head . And i asked him that, and he said there is no litmus test, unfortunately, to tell you this is authentic wisdom, this is a real intuition, or its just a thought. But when it happenso me, if i feel like i can do something with it, then i have a sense that its the real juice. Reporter only at that point, the rabbi taught her, is one able to let go and accept death. Really letting go is the ultimate message of the december project, and of, i think, all spiritual traditions, and its something you do moment by moment by moment. You let go as things arise. You start with small things. Somebody cancels a lunch date that you were really looking forward to and you built your whole day around it and suddenly its gone and, you know, youre disappointed, but can you let go of that disappointment . It really is about acceptance. Can you accept what is . And then you move on to bigger things, ultimately to im a mortal, and like every mortal i will leave this earth one day. Reporter davidson said she learned that everything he taught stems from his unshakeable conviction that in all things there is a touch of the divine, that god is as close as the vein in ones neck. What he means is whatever that force is that causes my eyes to see and my heart to beat and the blood to flow through my body, whatever that source of kindness and love and oneness, whatever that is im so grateful its there. When i say god i dont mean necessarily an old man, but i mean a center of awareness, volition, and compassion and grace, and that i can make a space for if i spend time in my inner sanctuary. Reporter if all this sounds too touchyfeely or impossibly dense, davidson and the rabbi assured that boulder audience that their friday sessions were also filled with laughter and music. Its a very meaningful melody for me as a way of getting into that space in which one can say goodbye to the body and to this world and to move on with a kind of hope and gentleness. Reporter here the rabbi, now 89, married four times with 11 children, reveals himself not only as a philosopher, but as an irrepressible showman, directing his listeners to act as a backup chorus as the rabbi sings the spiritual travelin shoes, which is all about getting ready to meet ones maker. You mean youre ready to go . Youve got on your travelin shoes . Reporter yes, says rabbi zalman. Im now ready. I just would like to be like a drop in the ocean and dissolve in the divine being. Thats enough. Reporter and while Sara Davidson concedes shes not quite that far along, she says shes come a long way from that terror and nausea. Having the gift of spending two years in intimate conversation with reb zalman has changed the way i approach life. Reporter so are you more comfortable now with the concept of death . Yes, i am more comfortable. But im not where he is at yet, but im definitely getting there. Reporter that notion of getting ready by letting go was imparted once again when the rabbi gave a benediction to his audience in boulder. God, i thank you for keeping me in the light, and i let go and let go and let go. Amen. Reporter the spiritual heavyweight and the skeptical seeker confronting the mystery and the marvel of death, together. For religion and ethics newsweekly, this is bob faw in boulder, colorado. Finally, pope francis heads to south korea this coming week, where hell participate in several events, including asian youth day. This week, he met with some 50,000 young german catholics in st. Peters square. Many of them were altar servers. Francis urged them not to waste too much time on the internet and smart phones, saying those things can distract people from whats really important. Presumably, he didnt mean to include his twitter account, which currently has more than 4 million followers. Thats our program for now. Im kim lawton. You can follow us on twitter and facebook, where i have a fan page as well. Watch us anytime on the pbs app for iphones and ipads. And visit our website, where there is always much more, including more of my interview with j. Peter pham. You can also listen to or watch each program. Join us at pbs. Org. As we leave you, scenes from a solemn ceremony in belgium marking the 100th anniversary of world war i. The son and the holy spirit be amongst you and remain with you always. Amen. Announcer marijua announcer major funding is provided by the lilian undowment. Community develop and education. Additional funding also provided by mutual of america. Designing customized individual and Group Retirement products. Thats why were your retirement company. Rose welcome to the program. Im charlie rose. The program is charlie rose the week. Just ahead, the fight against ebola. President obamas summit of African Leaders and awardwinning filmmaker cam takes us on a deep dive. Its suchap internal drive for him. He has to do it. Were so far from ready its not even funny. We have to pit ourselves against the elements. Weve got to dive. And here we go. Moment of truth. Uhoh. Thats not good. We have a lot of fairlz here. We have a problem. Rose those stories and more on what happened and what might happen. Theres a saying around here you stand behind what you say. Around here, we dont make excuses, we make commitments. And wyo
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