A girl in a Cinderella dress

Od yavo’ shalom aleinu.

Cars honking

Od yavo’ shalom aleinu

A family with matching Mickey Mouse ears

ve al kulam.

Palm-tree lined streets

On December 26, I, along with the other attendees of the United Synagogue Youth (USY) annual International Convention, marched in the streets of Anaheim, Calif., outside the gates of Disneyland. We walked in partnership with Jewish World Watch to raise awareness and money for the situation in Darfur, Sudan.

There is something incredibly powerful in having more than 1,000 teens walking down a street, singing and chanting in support of a cause. Girls dressed as princesses asked their parents what “Darfur” is, cars honked in support and families clad in Mickey Mouse ears asked USYers how they could get more involved in helping to stop the genocide. Major news outlets like The Orange County Register and NPR covered our story. We raised more than $10,000 with the help of our families and friends back home, who sponsored our walk.

Many USYers have been working within their local communities to raise awareness about the genocide in Darfur. In December, a large group of teens came together as a whole to make a statement—to say that as USYers, Jews and human beings, we cannot let genocide happen, and we will not stand idly by.

And as our voices came together and rose up toward the bright California sun, we sang for peace. We sang:

Od yavo’ shalom aleinu.

Peace will come upon us.

Od yavo’ shalom aleinu.

Peace will come upon us.

Od yavo’ shalom aleinu

Peace will come upon us

ve al kulam.

and on everyone.

Rachel Levenson lives in Mountain View, Calif., and was the 2007 International USY Social Action/Tikkun Olam Vice President. She’s also a member of the JVibe Teen Advisory Board.