Jewish Responses to Hunger
by Richard Schwartz
1. Involvement
Judaism teaches involvement and concern with the plight
of fellow human beings. Every life is sacred, and we
are obligated to do what we can to help others. The
Torah states, "Thou shalt not stand idly by the
blood of thy brother" (Lev. 19:16).
We speak out justifiably against the silence of the
world when 6 million Jews and 5 million other people
were murdered in the Holocaust. Can we besilent when
millions die agonizing deaths because of lack of food?
Can weacquiesce to the apathy of the world to the fate
of starving people? Elie Wiesel has pointed out that
there can be no analogies to the Holocaust, but that
it can be used as a reference. In that context, we can
consider both the 8 million infants who die each year
due to malnutrition and the 6 million Jews who were
slaughtered by the Nazis. True, victims of hunger are
not being singled out because of their religion, race,
or nationality, but, like the Holocaust victims, they
die while the world goes about its business, grumbling
about "high taxes" and personal inconveniences,
indifferent to the plight of the starving masses. And
yet the Talmud teaches that if one saves a single human
life, it is as if one has saved a whole world. What
then if one permits a single life to perish? Or 10 million?
The Hebrew prophets berated those who were content
and comfortable while others were in great distress:
Tremble you women who are at ease, Shudder you complacent
ones; Strip and make yourselves bare, Gird sackcloth
upon your loins. (Isaiah. 32:11)
Woe to those who are at ease in Zion.... Woe to those
who lie upon beds of ivory And stretch themselves
upon their couches.... Who drink wine from bowls And
anoint themselves with the finest oils But are not
grieved at the ruin of Joseph. (Amos 6:1,4,6)
Like other peoples, Jews have frequently experienced
hunger. Because of famines, Abraham was forced to go
to Egypt (Genesis 12:10), Isaac went to the land of
Avimelech, king of the Philistine, in Gerar (Genesis
26:1), the children of Jacob went to Egypt to buy grain
(Genesis 42:1-3), and Naomi and her family fled Israel
and went to Moab (Ruth 1:1-2). There were also famines
in the reigns of King David (2 Samuel 21:1) and King
Ahab (1 Kings 18:1-2).
Jews know the sorrow of great hunger. The Prophet Jeremiah
stated: "Happier were the victims of the sword
than the victims of hunger, who pined away, stricken
by want of the yield of the field" (Lamentations
4:9).
Based on Jewish values and Jewish history, we must
identify with the starving masses of the world. We must
be involved by speaking out and acting. Some traditional
Jewish ways to help needy people are to pursue justice,
practice charity, show compassion, share resources,
and simplify lifestyles.
2. PURSUING JUSTICE
The pursuit of a just society is one of the most fundamental
concepts of Judaism. Note two things about the following
important statement in Deuteronomy (16:20): "Justice,
justice shalt thou pursue." First, the word "justice"
is repeated. This is a very infrequent occurrence in
the Torah. When words are repeated, it is generally
to add emphasis. Second, we are told to pursue justice.
Hence we are not to wait for the right opportunity,
the right time and place, but are to pursue or run after
opportunities to practice justice.
King Solomon asserts:
To do righteousness and justice is preferred by God
above sacrifice. (Proverbs 21:3)
The psalmist writes: "Give justice to the weak
and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted
and the destitute" (Psalms 82:3-4).
The prophet Amos cries out that God does not only want
sacrifices, but:
Let justice well up as waters,and righteousness as
a mighty stream. (Amos 5:24)
Isaiah tells us:
The Lord of Hosts shall be exalted in justice, The
Holy God shows Himself holy in righteousness. (Isaiah
5:16)
The prophets constantly stress the importance of applying
justice:
Learn to do well--seek justice, relieve the oppressed,
judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.... Zion
shall be redeemed with justice, and they that return
of her with righteousness. (Isaiah 1:17,27)
To practice justice is considered among the highest
demands of prophetic religion:
It hath been told thee, O man, what is good, And
what the Lord doth require of thee: Only to do justly,
love mercy And walk humbly with thy God. (Micah 6:8)
The prophet Amos warns the people that without the
practice of justice, God is repelled by their worship
(5:23,24):
Take away from Me the noise of thy songs; And let
Me not hear the melody of thy psalteries. But let
justice well up as waters, And righteousness as a
mighty stream. (Amos 5:23, 24)
The practice of justice is even part of the symbolic
betrothal between the Jewish people and God:
And I will betroth thee unto Me forever; Yea, I will
betroth thee unto Me in righteousness, justice, loving-
kindness, and compassion. And I will betroth thee
unto Me in faithfulness. And thou shalt know the Lord.
(Hosea 2:21-22)
Justice is such an important concept in Judaism that
the patriarch Abraham even pleads with God to practice
justice: "That be far from Thee to do after this
manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked...shall
not the judge of all the earth do justly?" (Genesis
18:25)
Rabbi Emanuel Rackman points out that Judaism teaches
a special kind of justice, an "empathic justice,"
which
...seeks to make people identify themselves with
each other-- with each other' s needs, with each other's
hopes and aspirations, with each other's defeats and
frustrations. Because Jews have known the distress
of slaves and the loneliness of strangers, we are
to project ourselves into their souls and make their
plight our own.
He points out that in 36 places in the Torah we are
commanded not to mistreat the stranger in our midst.
3. GIVING CHARITY (TZEDAKAH )
To help the poor and hungry, Judaism places great stress
on the giving of charity. The Hebrew word for charity
(tzedakah) literally means justice. In the
Jewish tradition, tzedakah is not an act of condescension
from one person to another who is in need. It is the
fulfillment of a mitzvah, a commandment, to a fellow
human being, who has equal status before God. Although
Jewish tradition recognizes that the sharing of our
resources is also an act of love - as the Torah states,
"Love thy neighbor as thyself" (Lev.19:18),
it emphasizes that this act of sharing is an act of
justice. This is to teach us that people who are in
need are entitled to our love and concern. They too
are human beings created in the Divine image; they too
have a place and a purpose within God's creation.
In the Jewish tradition, failure to give charity is
equivalent to idolatry. This may be because a selfish
person forgets the One Who made us all, and in becoming
preoccupied with personal material needs makes himself
or herself into an idol. So important was the giving
of charity by Jews that Maimonides was able to say:
"Never have I seen or heard of a Jewish community
that did not have a charity fund."
Charity was considered so important that it took priority
even over the building of the Temple. King Solomon was
prohibited from using the silver and gold that David,
his father, had accumulated for the building of the
Temple, because that wealth should have been used to
feed the poor during the three years of famine in King
David's reign (1 Kings 7:51).
Judaism urges lending to needy people, to help them
become economically self-sufficient:
And if thy brother become impoverished, and his means
fail in your proximity; then shalt thou strengthen
him:... Take no interest of him or increase.... Thou
shalt not give him thy money upon interest.... Leviticus
25:35-37
Every third year of the sabbatical cycle, the needy
were to be recipients of the tithe for the poor (one-tenth
of one's income) (Deuteronomy 14:28; 26:12).
The general Jewish view toward aiding the poor is indicated
in the following verse from the Torah:
If there be among you a needy man, one of thy brethren,
within any of thy gates, in thy land which the Lord
thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thy heart,
nor shut thy hand from thy needy brother; but thou
shalt surely open thy hand unto him, and shalt surely
lend him sufficient for his need in that which he
wanteth. Deuteronomy 15:7-8
According to Maimonides, the highest form of tzedakah
is to prevent a person from becoming poor by providing
a loan, a gift, or a job so that he can adequately support
himself. Consistent with this concept is the following
Talmudic teaching:
It is better to lend to a poor person than to give
him alms, and best of all is to provide him with capital
for business. Shabbat 63a
4. REDUCING POVERTY
Judaism places emphasis on charity because of the great
difficulties that poor people face:
If all afflictions in the world were assembled on
one side of the scale and poverty on the other, poverty
would outweigh them all. Exodus Rabbah, Mishpatim
31:14
Judaism believes that poverty is destructive to the
human personality and negatively shapes a person's life
experiences: "The ruin of the poor is their poverty"
(Prov. 10:15). "Where there is no sustenance, there
is no learning." (Ethics if the Fathers 3:21) "The
world is darkened for him who has to look to others
for sustenance." (Betza 32a) "The sufferings
of poverty cause a person to disregard his own sense
(of right) and that of his Maker." (Eruvim 41)
Many Torah laws are designed to aid the poor: the corners
of the field are to be left uncut for the poor to pick
(Leviticus 19:9); the gleanings of the wheat harvest
and fallen fruit are to be left for the poor (Leviticus
19:10); during the sabbatical year, the land is to be
left fallow so that the poor (as well as animals) may
eat of whatever grows freely (Leviticus 25:2-7).
Failure to treat the poor properly is a desecration
of God: "Whoso mocketh the poor blasphemeth his
maker" (Prov. 17:5). Our father Abraham always
went out of his way to aid the poor. He set up inns
on the highways so that the poor and the wayfarer would
have access to food and drink when in need. In this
spirit, the Chafetz Chaim writes that according to halacha
(Torah law), the members of a community may compel one
another to house wayfarers, just as the community may
force individuals to give to tzedakah.
There are several indications in the Jewish tradition
that God sides with the poor and oppressed. He intervened
in Egypt on behalf of poor, wretched slaves. His prophets
constantly castigated those who oppressed the needy.
Two proverbs reinforce this message. A negative formulation
is in Proverbs 14:31: "He who oppresses a poor
man insults his Maker." Proverbs 19:17 puts it
more positively: "He who is kind to the poor lends
to the Lord." Hence helping a needy person is like
providing a loan to the Creator of the universe.
5. APPLYING COMPASSION
Closely related to the Jewish values of justice and
charity is the importance the Jewish tradition places
on compassion. The entire Torah is designed to teach
us to be compassionate: "The purpose of the laws
of the Torah is to promote compassion, loving-kindness
and peace in the world." (Maimonides, Yad Hazakam,
Chilchot Shabbat 2:3) The Talmud teaches that "Jews
are compassionate children of compassionate parents,
and one who shows no pity for fellow creatures is assuredly
not of the seed of Abraham, our father." (Bezah
32b) The rabbis considered Jews to be distinguished
by three characteristics: compassion, modesty, and benevolence.
(Yebamot 79a) As indicated previously, we are to feel
empathy for strangers, "for we were strangers in
the land of Egypt" (Deut. 10:19). The bircat
hamazon (grace recited after meals) speaks of God
feeding the whole world with compassion.
While in Egypt, Joseph had two sons during the seven
good years of food production, but no children during
the seven years of famine. The great Jewish commentator
Rashi interprets this to mean that while people are
starving, others who have enough should engage in acts
of self-denial to show compassion and sympathy.
We are not only to have concern and compassion for
Jews, but for all who are in need.
Have we not all one Father? Hath not one God created
us? Why, then, do we deal treacherously with one another,
profaning the covenant of our ancestors? (Malachai
2:10)
'Are you not like the Ethiopians to Me, O people
of Israel?' says the Lord. 'Did I not bring up Israel
from the land of Egypt and the Philistine from Caphtor
and the Syrians from Kir?' (Amos 9:7)
As indicated previously, we are to help even our enemies
when they lack sufficient food or water (Prov. 25:21).
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch writes very eloquently
of the importance of compassion:
Do not suppress this compassion, this sympathy, especially
with the sufferings of your fellow man. It is the
warning voice of duty, which points out to you your
brother in every sufferer, and your own sufferings
in his, and awakens the love which tells you that
you belong to him and his sufferings with all the
powers that you have. Do not suppress it!... See in
it the admonition of God that you are to have no joy
so long as a brother suffers by your side. (Horeb)
6. SHARING
Compassion for the poor and hungry is not enough. A
fundamental Jewish principle is that those who have
much should share with others who are less fortunate.
The Talmudic sage Hillel stresses that we must not be
concerned only with our own welfare. "If I am not
for myself, who will be for me? But if I am for myself
alone, what am I?" (Ethics of the Fathers !:14
). The Haggadah, which we read at the Passover Seder,
exhorts us to share. We are to reach out to all who
are hungry and in need. The act of prolonging one's
meal, on the chance that a poor person may come so that
one may give him food, is so meritorious that the table
of the person who does this is compared to the altar
of the ancient Temple.
Judaism's great emphasis on sharing is also illustrated
in the following Chassidic tale:
The story is told of a great rabbi who is given the
privilege of seeing the realms of Heaven and Hell before
his death. He was taken first to Hell, wherehe was confronted
with a huge banquet room in the middle of which was
a large elegant table covered with a magnificent and
crystal. The table was covered from one end to the other
with the most delicious foods that the eyes have ever
seen or the mouth tasted. And all around the table people
were sitting looking at the food...and wailing. It was
such a wail that the rabbi had never heard such a sad
sound in his entire life and he asked, "With a
luxurious table and the most delicious food, why do
these people wail so bitterly?" As he entered the
room, he saw the reason for their distress. For although
each was confronted with this incredible sight before
him, no one was able to eat the food. Each person's
arms were splinted so that the elbows could not bend.
They could touch the food but could not eat it. The
anguish this caused was the reason for the great wail
and despair that the rabbi saw and heard.
He was next shown Heaven, and to his surprise he was
confronted by the identical scene witnessed in Hell:
The large banquet room, elegant table, lavish settings,
and sumptuous foods. And, in addition, once again everyone's
arms were splinted so the elbows could not bend. Here,
however, there was no wailing, but rather joy greater
than he had ever experienced in his life. For whereas
here too the people could not put the food into their
own mouths, each picked up the food and fed it to another.
They were thus able to enjoy, not only the beautiful
scene, the wonderful smells, and the delicious foods,
but the joy of sharing and helping one another.
Rabbi Jay Marcus of the Young Israel of Staten Island
comments on the fact that karpas (eating of
greens) and yahatz (breaking of the middle
matzah for later use as the dessert) are next to each
other in the Passover Seder service. He suggests that
those who can live on simple things like greens (vegetables,
etc.) will more readily divide their possessions and
share with others.
To help share God's abundant harvests with the poor,
the Torah instructs farmers:
1) If less than three ears of corn were dropped during
the harvest, they were not to be gleaned, but were
to be left for the poor (Leket).
2) A sheaf forgotten by the farmer could not be retrieved
but had to be left for the poor (Shik'khah).
3) A corner of the field always had to be left unharvested;
it was the property of the poor (Pe'ah).
4) Every third year a part of the tithe of the harvest
had to be set aside for the poor (Ma'aser Ani).
5) On the eve of every holy day, "mat'not Yad,"
a special gift to the poor, had to be put aside.
Vegetarianism is consistent with this Jewish concept
of sharing. As Jay Dinshah, former president of the
North American Vegetarian Society, states:
After all, vegetarianism is, more than anything else,
the very essence and the very expression of altruistic
SHARING,... the sharing of the One Life,... the sharing
of the natural resources of the Earth,... the sharing
of love, kindness, compassion, and beauty in this
life.
Recently a new Jewish group, Mazon, was formed to help
Jews share their joyous events with hungry people. It
urges people to contribute 3 percent of the money spent
for weddings, bar mitzvahs, and other celebrations to
the group which funnels the money to organizations working
to reduce hunger.
7. SIMPLIFYING LIFE STYLES
While millions starve, it is imperative that those
who have much simplify their lives so they can share
more with others. A group of outstanding religious leaders,
including representatives of different branches of Judaism
in the United States and Israel, met in Bellagio, Italy,
in May 1975 to consider "The Energy/Food Crisis:
A Challenge to Peace, a Call to Faith." They agreed
on a statement that included this assertion: "The
deepest and strongest expression of any religion is
the 'styles of life'that characterizes its believers.
It is urgent that religious communities and individuals
scrutinize their life style and turn from habits of
waste, over consumption, and thoughtless acceptance
of the standards propagated by advertisements and social
pressures. The cry from millions for food brought us
together from many faiths. God--Reality itself--calls
us to respond to the cry for food. And we hear it as
a cry not only for aid but also for justice."
Simpler life styles, with less wasteful diets, can
be an important first step toward justice for the hungry
of the world. Simpler diets do not imply a lack of joy
or a lack of fellowship. As Proverbs 15:17 states: "Better
a dinner of herbs where love is than a stalled ox with
hatred."
During the Middle Ages, local Jewish councils sometimes
set up "sumptuary laws" for the community;
people were forbidden to spend more than a limited amount
of money at weddings and other occasions. These laws
were designed so that the poor should not be embarrassed
at not being able to match the expenditures of the wealthy
and so that a financial strain was not placed on the
community as a whole. Perhaps the spirit of such laws
should be invoked today. Can we continue to consume
flesh that wastes so much grain at a time when many
are starving? Is it not now time for officiating rabbis
to specify guidelines to reduce waste and ostentation
at weddings, bar mitzvahs, and other occasions?
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