Sudan is burning. Why should we care?

There is a term to explain why some tragedies dominate our headlines and command our financial support, while others remain practically invisible: media salience. The more airtime an issue gets, the more urgent and important it feels to us.

And it’s both a zero-sum game and a vicious cycle. The more one crisis captures our attention, the less space there is for others. So, when something is not in the news, the public assumes it’s not a priority. As a result, devastating but less publicised crises, such as Sudan, are pushed to the margins of our collective awareness.

This is not simply a failure of compassion. It’s human psychology. But it is also a reflection of our priorities. Consider the UK’s policy choice to cut its international aid budget from 0.5 per cent of gross national income to 0.3 per cent by 2027. In a world of escalating needs, our media and our government have chosen to step back; it is a telling choice indeed.

But as Jews, we are called to resist this trend.

At OLAM, a network of Jewish and Israeli organisations working in global development and humanitarian aid, we grapple with this imbalance every day. Jewish tradition compels us to care for the stranger, as the Torah commands us to do no fewer than 36 times, often accompanied by a reminder that we ourselves were once strangers.

On Rosh Hashanah, we will read the story not only of Isaac, our own forefather, but also of Hagar and Ishmael. Their cries, too, are heard by God. This is a powerful reminder at the Jewish new year that our compassion and responsibility must not be confined to our own people. Instead, our tradition compels us to extend our circle of concern outward.

That is why we must look to Jewish leaders and institutions who live by this ethic, who respond to Jewish needs, while simultaneously showing up for those who are vulnerable and marginalised beyond our own community, and beyond the headlines.

World Jewish Relief, for example, is responding to the Israel-Gaza war, while also shining a light on the rarely reported plight of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. Closer to home, HIAS+JCORE works to mobilise the UK Jewish community in pursuit of a more just, more welcoming asylum system. In fact, the majority of Jewish organisations in OLAM’s global network serve non-Jews impacted by hunger, climate disasters, forced displacement and conflict – many while also caring for Jews in crisis.

We must push ourselves and our leaders to follow their example. Through our synagogues, schools and charitable institutions, we can hold the local and the global at once. Whether through tzedakah, advocacy, education, or amplifying the voices of those whose voices all-too-often go unheard, Jewish tradition reminds us: no crisis is too distant, and no people are too foreign to merit our attention – or our courageous and committed action.

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Emma Weleminsky is UK community manager at OLAM