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By Donald H. Harrison
 LA JOLLA, California--Rabbi Philip Graubart, spiritual leader of Congregation Beth El, gave a congratulatory hug to bar mitzvah Noah Sutton-Smolin yesterday, and commented that the 13-year-old's first name—like that of the biblical Ark-builder—means "comfort."
That being the case, young Sutton-Smolin set his sights higher than his name. His bar mitzvah project was intended not to merely comfort the refugee women of Sudan, but in many cases, to prevent them from being afflicted in the first place.
He explained the concept in the pamphlet that the synagogue prepared for the August 1 bar mitzvah service. "My bar mitzvah project is to raise money and awareness for the Solar Cooker Project, sponsored by Jewish World Watch (www.jewishworldwatch.org)," wrote Sutton-Smolin, a student at San Diego Jewish Academy. "This organization donates Solar Cookers to women in refugee camps in Darfur.
"A Solar Cooker is a very simple device that allows people to cook food and boil water without electricity or wood," he continued. "It is made from cardboard and aluminum foil. The aluminum reflects sunlight onto a black pot and heats it. It takes about four hours to cook a bowl of rice.
"The cookers also save lives," he continued. "Every time a woman has to leave the camp in Darfur to search for firewood, she risks being raped or murdered. By reducing the need to leave the camps for firewood, women can live safer lives in Darfur. Solar power is also better for the environment because emissions pollute the air and wood is scarce. A donation of $30 will buy two Solar Cookers, and a donation of $150 will buy 10."
Promoting the simple yet effective device seemed an appropriate project for a technology-minded youngster who was described by his mother, Marsha Sutton, as always having an incredible imagination, a boy who could in his mind's eye transform a simple doorway into a magical passageway to adventure.
And if supplying the many thousands of refugees in the Sudan with solar cookers may seem to others a daunting task, then they did not hear the congratulatory speech Noah's father, Rocky Smolin, gave to Noah after the youngster completed chanting from the Torah and Haftorah with notable confidence and considerable speed.
Smolin reminded his son that when he first began studying to become a bar mitzvah, all that work ahead may have appeared overwhelming, yet Noah kept at it, and here he was on Shabbat having ascended to the bar mitzvah peak.
Both of Noah's parents as well as his older brother, Max, a student at Northwestern University, chanted part of this week's Torah portion before Noah took his turn.
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In a religious sense, the solar cooker project could not have been more apropos, because the Torah portion Noah read —Va'etchanan—includes the story of the giving of the Ten Commandments.
Among those commandments are prohibitions against murder, adultery and coveting the wife of one's neighbor--all of which occur regularly when marauding militias and bandits attack the refugees of Southern Sudan.
A kiddush luncheon was held at the Conservative congregation following the service, and on a display table was one of the solar cookers along with literature from Jewish World Watch (no connection to this publication, despite the similarity of names.)
One piece of literature reported that 250,000 men, women and children refugees live across the border from Sudan in Chad. Of these, 80 percent are women and children.
"Women must search for firewood outside of the refugee camps where there is no protection," according to the organization's flyer. "While outside of the camps, women are often beaten, raped, and branded by bandits or the Sudanese-supported Janjaweed militia."
The brochure went on to list the benefits of solar cooking in such a context. "Solar cooking reduces the need for frequent firewood collection," it said. "Two solar cookers can save one ton of wood each year."
Furthermore, it said,
"there is no need to tend to a fire so women are free to do other tasks." And, manufacturing solar cookers (from aluminum foil and cardboard) provides income opportunities for female refugees."
Information on how to make a donation to provide Solar Cookers for the women of Darfur may be obtained via solarcookers@JewishWorldWatch.org or telephoning (818) 501-1836.
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