This week, American Jewish World Service (AJWS) Global Hunger Shabbat is being observed by more than 230 synagogues and Jewish communities across the country.
As we move approach Thanksgiving, when we celebrate the abundance that surrounds us, AJWS challenges us to notice the gaps in wealth and access to food that exist in our communities and in the wider world.
Below are a few Jewish texts on the subject of Hunger and explore how Jewish values have, and can continue to inform the way we view and take action around issues of hunger and food distribution in our nation and throughout the world.
Part I - Noticing, Identifying, and Naming Hunger
1) Rashi, commentary on Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 74b
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“One who does not have bread in their basket” - This refers to one who has food today but worries about [food for] tomorrow. [AJWS translation] |
אין לו פת בסלו - אוכל היום ודואג על למחר.
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1. How does Rashi’s definition of "One who does not have bread in their basket" change the way you might read this phrase?
2. Given Rashi's definition, who are the people today who do not have bread in their baskets? How visible do you feel they are in our society?
1. What are some possible understandings of "good eye"? How would a good eye dispose you towards giving your bread to the poor?
2. What role does sight have in the way we live in the world? How is this affected by which people we "can see", and which people we "can't"?
1. What do you understand this text to be saying about an employer-employee relationship?
2. In today's society, it is the norm for many to work multiple jobs in order to feed their families, or stretch limited food resources among family members. What could this text bring to our communal discourse domestically around a Living Wage or globally around Safe and Fair Working Conditions?
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| When you have set aside in full the tenth part of your yield -- in the third year, the year of the tithe -- and have given it to the Levite, the stranger, orphan, and the widow, that they may eat their fill in your settlements, you shall declare before Adonai your God: "I have cleared out the consecrated portion from the house; and I have given it to the Levite, the stranger, the orphan and the widow, just as You commanded me; I have neither transgressed nor neglected any of Your commandments: [JPS translation edited for gender-neutrality] |
כִּי תְכַלֶּה לַעְשֵׂר אֶת כָּל מַעְשַׂר תְּבוּאָתְךָ בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁלִישִׁת שְׁנַת הַמַּעֲשֵׂר וְנָתַתָּה לַלֵּוִי לַגֵּר לַיָּתוֹם וְלָאַלְמָנָה וְאָכְלוּ בִשְׁעָרֶיךָ וְשָׂבֵעוּ: וְאָמַרְתָּ לִפְנֵי ה' אֱלֹהֶיךָ בִּעַרְתִּי הַקֹּדֶשׁ מִן הַבַּיִת וְגַם נְתַתִּיו לַלֵּוִי וְלַגֵּר לַיָּתוֹם וְלָאַלְמָנָה כְּכָל מִצְוָתְךָ אֲשֶׁר צִוִּיתָנִי לֹא עָבַרְתִּי מִמִּצְוֹתֶיךָ וְלֹא שָׁכָחְתִּי:
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1. Who are the players in this text – seen and unseen?
2. What are the two required actions presented here? What is the difference between the two actions?
3. What is the significance of the vow?
עֹשֶׂה מִשְׁפַּט יָתוֹם וְאַלְמָנָה וְאֹהֵב גֵּר לָתֶת לוֹ לֶחֶם וְשִׂמְלָה: וַאֲהַבְתֶּם אֶת הַגֵּר כִּי גֵרִים הֱיִיתֶם בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם:
1. In what ways does this text suggest that we mimic God?
2. What is God's responsibility to us and what is our responsibility to others? What are the different sources of these responsibilities?
3. This text reminds the reader of Israelite slavery, something that was (presumably) in the reader's recent or communal memory. In what ways can/ do our personal, family, and communal histories and experiences shape the way we engage with issues of hunger and poverty?
6) Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim, 180:2
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Anyone that does not leave some bread on their table [following a meal] will never see the sign of a positive blessing. Mishna Berurah, commenting on this statement: It is fitting and proper to give to the poor person the best which is on your table. [Translation by James Bornstein. Edited for gender neutrality] |
(ב) כל מי שאינו משייר פת על שלחנו (ג) אינו רואה סימן ברכה לעולם משנה ברורה סימן קפ דראוי ונכון שיתן להעני הטוב שבשלחן
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1. Looking at the first part of this text, why would you think someone who does not leave bread on their table would not see the sign of a positive blessing?
2. What does the Mishna Berurah contribute to this statement? What does it say to change or qualify the first part of the text?
3. How can we transfer the values communicated in these two texts to the way we consume today?
1. What is the extent of this law - how do we gauge how much is enough? Does this change with one's cultural or social context?
2. Domestically and globally, how are we doing?
1. What might it mean to encourage someone with words?
2. How might this experience differ for the "Giver" from giving someone money? How might it differ for the "Receiver"?
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| A story is told of Binyamin HaTzaddik, who was the supervisor of his community’s Tzedakah fund. Once, when there was a shortage of food, a woman came to him and said, “Rabbi, feed me!” He replied, “I swear that there is no more money left in the Tzedakah fund.” She said, “If you do not feed me, a woman and her seven children will die.” So he fed her from his own money. [Translation by Danny Siegel] |
תניא: אמרו עליו על בנימין הצדיק שהיה ממונה על קופה של צדקה, פעם אחת באתה אשה לפניו בשני בצורת, אמרה לו: רבי, פרנסני! אמר לה: העבודה, שאין בקופה של צדקה כלום! אמרה לו: רבי, אם אין אתה מפרנסני, הרי אשה ושבעה בניה מתים! עמד ופרנסה משלו.
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1. What does this text imply about the responsibilities of the administrator of a Tzedakah fund? What does it imply about any other individual's responsibilities? Do you feel that Binyamin's actions reflected his administrative responsibilities, his personal responsibilities, or both?
2. How does Binyamin's name (Binyamin HaTzaddik) relate to his position? To his actions in this story?
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| When that great calamity came upon Job, he said to the Holy One, blessed be He: "Master of the universe, did I not feed the hungry and give drink to the thirsty. . . ? And did I not clothe the naked?" Nevertheless the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Job: ''Job, you have not yet reached even half the measure of Abraham. You sit and stay in your house and the wayfarers come in to you. To him who is accustomed to eat wheat bread, you give wheat bread to eat; to him who is accustomed to eat meat, you give meat to eat; to him who is accustomed to drink wine, you give wine to drink. But Abraham did not act in this way. Instead, he would go out and around everywhere, and when he found wayfarers, he brought them into his house. To him who was unaccustomed to eat wheat bread, he gave wheat bread to eat; to him who was unaccustomed to eat meat, he gave meat to eat; to him who was unaccustomed to drink wine, he gave wine to drink. And more than that, he arose and built large mansions on the highways and left food and drink there, and every passerby ate and drank and blessed Heaven. That is why delight of spirit was given to him. [AJWS translation] |
וכשבא עליו ההוא פורענות גדול, אמר לפני הקדוש ברוך הוא: - ריבנו של עולם, לא הייתי מאכיל רעבים ומשקה צמאים? שנאמר: (איוב לא) "ואוכל פתי לבדי ולא אכל יתום ממנה". - ולא הייתי מלביש ערומים? שנאמר: (שם) "ומגז כבשי יתחמם". אף על פי כן אמר לו הקדוש ברוך הוא לאיוב: איוב, עדיין לא הגעת לחצי שיעור של אברהם. אתה יושב ושוהה בתוך ביתך, ואורחין נכנסים אצלך. את שדרכו לאכול פת חטים האכלתו פת חטים, את שדרכו לאכול בשר האכלתו בשר, את שדרכו לשתות יין השקיתו יין. אבל אברהם לא עשה כן. אלא יוצא ומהדר בעולם, וכשימצא אורחין מכניסן בתוך ביתו. את שאין דרכו לאכול פת חטין, האכילהו פת חטין. את שאין דרכו לאכול בשר, האכילהו בשר. ואת שאין דרכו לשתות יין, השקהו יין. ולא עוד אלא עמד ובנה פלטרין גדולים על הדרכים, והניח מאכל ומשקה. וכל הבא ונכנס, אכל ושתה וברך לשמים. לפיכך נעשית לו נחת רוח.
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1. What is the difference here between Job and Abraham? Can you identify these archetypes in today's society?
2. Thinking both locally and globally, how can we build mansions on the road with food and drink for the weary?
3. In what ways can we follow this model in our own lives? What are the obstacles in our way and how can we navigate around those obstacles?