Hunger and Poverty

Omer Week Three - Hunger and Poverty

Brian Fink — Mon, 05 May 2008 07:41:51 -0400

This week's Omer Study Packet on hunger and poverty highlights teachings from the 2006 JRF Omer Study and from our partners at Mazon: A Jewish Repsonse to Hunger and the Jewish Council on Public Affairs (JCPA).

Especially time-sensitive is the action alert on the 2007-2008 Farm Bill, currently making its way through Congress.

We also feature innovative programming from JRF congregations Dorshei Derekh, Mishkan Shalom and Darchei Noam.

In the packet's introduction, Rabbi Shawn Zevit reminds us that Mordecai Kaplan once wrote: “A theology which is not a plan of social action is merely a way of preaching and praying. It is a menu without the dinner.”

Jewish values provide us with recipes for repairing the world. As Jews and fellow travelers, our challenge is to discern how to embody these values in our lives and in our communities.

Often times this task can seem daunting. With so much brokenness in the world, where is one to begin to attempt to return the balance to the world?

To this end, we might view the holy task of tikkun in the area of hunger and poverty as expanding Kaplan's view of Judaism as the evolving religious civilization of the Jewish People. That civilization must be a spiritually, economically, socially, politically and ecologically sustainable religious civilization.

Hopefully, this information and the study texts that represent centuries of Jewish wisdom will inspire each of you to discover ways in which your communities can assist in alleviating the shadow of hunger and poverty that hovers in the light of all the abundance in our society.

January is Jewish Poverty Month

Lisa Tuttle — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 13:08:35 -0500

This January the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) and United Jewish Communities (UJC) announced a partnership on JEWISH POVERTY month.

Hillel taught "Do not separate yourself from the community." – Pirkei Avot 2:5

"It’s a shonda in our community to be poor . . . people don’t want to self-identify." – Joan Strauss, Director of Programs and Training for the Association of Jewish Family and Children’s Agencies

As part of JCPA’s national anti-poverty campaign, “There shall be no needy among you,” the JCPA is partnering with United Jewish Communities (UJC) to provide the information and resources to fulfill this call. Read on to find information on advocacy opportunities, a toolkit of suggested activities and other resources to help you strengthen the connection between direct service and advocacy and enhance and coordinate your anti-poverty activism with other communities across the country.

Poverty in the Jewish Community

While Jews are largely viewed as an affluent minority, we in the organized Jewish community know that this is not a complete picture. In reality, American Jews experience poverty and economic vulnerability at similar rates as their non-Jewish counterparts. According to the United Jewish Communities most recent National Jewish Population Survey, approximately 7 percent of the American Jewish community lives below the federal poverty line and over 14 percent live near the poverty line in homes considered to be economically vulnerable. Data reveals that over 700,000 Jews in America fall into these categories, including 190,000 children. However, due to underreporting, it is probable that these numbers underestimate the true nature of the problem

In the New York metropolitan area alone over 348,000 Jewish people live at or below the Federal Poverty Line, a standard of income adequacy well below the level needed to meet basic needs and achieve self-sufficiency in the New York Metropolitan area. If we use a more realistic measure, such as 150 percent of the federal poverty line, as a benchmark, we would find that 20 percent of all Jews, 44 percent of Jewish Russian-speaking households, and 91 percent of elderly Jewish Russian-speaking community live at poverty-level incomes in New York City. (Learn about the Federal Poverty Line and measuring poverty and Jewish poverty in New York).

In the Jewish community, the poor that come to federated agencies are usually the elderly, refugees and immigrants, single parents, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries, mentally or physically disabled individuals, the working poor, or ordinary people hurt by extraordinary circumstances (i.e. people who generally manage financially but are hit by a catastrophe and do not have the means to absorb the hit).

When assisting the Jewish poor, one must also take into consideration the unique costs of being Jewish including: kosher food, bar/bat mitzvah costs, day school, JCC membership and other social norms that can cause families financial stress or make them feel excluded from the community. Other factors are not unique to the Jewish community: the affordable housing crisis, the collapse of sub-prime mortgages, the rising costs of food and energy, and stagnant wages.

The Jewish community has a long tradition of providing social services to help our fellow Jews in need. Federated agencies provide services such as crisis intervention, emergency financial assistance, domestic violence assistance, employment training, homecare, 202 housing units, and kosher meals on wheels. They run kosher food pantries, offer referrals for Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income benefits, and run counseling/mental health services.

Social services provisions are a critical component of ending poverty, but they alone cannot end Jewish poverty in the United States. As Peter Brest, the Chief Operating Officer at the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, related, it has been more difficult for New York City food banks to distribute sufficient food due to shrinking TEFAP[1] funds. In fact, the Metropolitan Council on Jewish poverty has lost one-third of its commodity allocation in the past few years.

At a briefing co-sponsored by JCPA and the National Council of La Raza on Capitol Hill, Brest stated that, “Cuts to the TEFAP program coupled with increasing need have meant that our service providers have a shrinking pie and more and more pieces to be given out. Food banks are grossly oversubscribed, stretched to the breaking point. It is unconscionable that in 2007, in the midst of an economic boom, we are facing these issues.”

We must combine our service with effective advocacy and public-private partnerships, calling for a stronger social safety net, promoting decent work and insisting on opportunity for all.

Connecting Poverty to Tu B’Shevat

Because January holds Tu B’Shevat it provides a timely opportunity to explore the mandate of the Jewish people to share the yield of the land with the poor:

“On Tu B’Shvat, we become conscious of what we eat from the orchards that we have planted. We become conscious of those who do not have the means to acquire proper nourishment, and to those who do not have access to the groves and fields that they have planted, which supply their families and their communities with food and sustenance[2].”

The origin of Tu B'shevat in the Torah was a time for renewal of our commitment to God and to share the yield of the land with the poor. "Every year, you shall set aside a tenth part of the yield, so that you may learn to revere your God forever." (Deuteronomy 14.22-23). During Tu B’Shevat, it is also common for Diaspora Jews to give money to the Jewish National Fund for tree planting in Israel and to collect money for Ma'ot Peirot - tz'daka for those in need.

Finally, Tu B’Shevat is a time for us to speak out against the degradation of the world G-d created. Many Jews relate the holiday to environmental activism, honoring the Birthday of the Trees by advocating against deforestation, global warming, and irresponsible disposal of hazardous wastes. On December’s poverty campaign call, Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin, Director of the Baltimore Jewish Environmental Network and General Consultant to the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL), asked us to expand our activism on traditional environmental issues to include an emphasis on “environmental justice,” defined as:

“The intersection of environmental and economic justice concerns, in which we focus on the impact of environmental degradation on the health and welfare of the poor and powerless, both across national boundaries and within societies.”

This emphasis is highlighted by the connection between the Hebrew words, “adam” (man/person) and “adamah” (land/earth) and the Jewish mandate to care for both.

Advocacy Opportunities

January will be a key month for policy issues that relate to Jewish poverty. Although Congress will not pass its FY2009 Budget Resolution until mid-April (the earliest), decisions are already being made about funding priorities. NOW is the time to call members of Congress and let them know that funding for programs that disproportionately impact vulnerable Jewish communities is important to us as we head into the FY2009 budget process. The more calls we generate, the more appropriators will understand that our concerns and priorities should be incorporated into the budget resolution and the appropriations bills that follow.

Please call your elected officials and urge them to support legislation that will help reduce Jewish poverty Below are some joint JCPA-UJC policies and programs you can support:

Housing Programs (Section 8, Section 811 and Section 202): HUD’s Section 202 Housing for the Elderly provides funding that allows the federation system to maintain more than 10,000 independent living units for low-income elderly. HUD’s Section 811 is the only federal program that funds the construction of affordable and accessible supportive housing units for disabled people, and a number of federations receive this funding for group homes. Section 8 Housing Vouchers provide rental subsidies to elderly and other low-income families, allowing them to live in private buildings. Each of these programs has been significantly cut since the 1990s and in recent years, there have been annual attempts to further decrease their funding. UJC and JCPA will continue to work together to block Section 8 cuts and restore Section 202 and 811 housing funds.
Social Services Block Grant (SSBG): SSBG has suffered severe cuts since the late 1990s. SSBG is an essential source of flexible funding for states delivered through countless Jewish agencies that provide child care, refugee services, adult day care, nutrition, job training, adoption, etc. This vital funding stream needs to be strengthened. UJC and JCPA will continue to advocate for vulnerable Jewish and non-Jewish populations, urging investments in housing, healthcare, transportation, job-training and nutrition programs, including food stamps and support for food pantries.

Toolkit of Activities

Below are suggested service and advocacy activities that your community can engage in to participate in January’s theme of Jewish poverty. Many of these ideas take [und]no money[/und] and [und]very little time[/und] to put together.

Learn more about the budget process and how to advocate for Jewish communal priorities!

o Set up a joint federation/CRC budget and appropriations meeting. Schedule a joint federation-JCRC meeting to discuss points of collaboration and an advocacy strategy on shared priorities for the upcoming year!

o Join an anti-poverty cluster: Starting this spring, JCPA will launch its anti-poverty cluster program. JCRCs will have the opportunity to join working groups on hunger and food insecurity, affordable housing, healthcare and education, allowing communities to set joint priorities and goals, share best practices and resources and coordinate advocacy and programming for maximum effect. JCPA will provide educational opportunities and training on the various issue topics, allowing the clusters to engage in sustained activism, while focusing on the issues that most impact their member communities. Each cluster can elect to “adopt an appropriations bill[3]”, receiving the up-to-date information needed to track and advocate for funding for Jewish communal priorities.

o Join JCPA and UJC for a joint call on advocacy around the 2009 federal budget! (more information to follow)
Organize a community sign-on letter: Write a letter to your members of Congress (especially if your member is on the budget or appropriations committee), outlining joint federation and JCRC priorities for the FY2009 budget and appropriations process. Emphasize how these programs assist the poor in the Jewish community and all vulnerable populations and ask all local Jewish organizations and congregations to sign on. Click here for an example of a budget sign-on letter.
Plan a day of service at a federated agency. Deliver kosher meals on wheels, volunteer in a federation-sponsored food pantry, or work with your local Jewish service providers to design an appropriate project that can be continued on a regular basis. Jewish poverty month provides the impetus to strengthen the connection between anti-poverty service and advocacy.
Call-in days for Jewish poverty. Designate January 29th and 30th as national call-in days for Jewish poverty. Ask community members to call members of Congress on those days to let them know that the Jewish community cares about programs such as Sections 8, 811 and 202 housing and the Social Services Block Grant.
Hold an event with the African-American community on “economic justice as a civil right” for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday. Celebrate the historic community relations between the Jewish and African-American communities by holding a joint event on Black and Jewish poverty around Martin Luther King day (January 21st). For example, you can invite a local NAACP chapter president to speak at a meeting, hold a joint day of service, or organize a panel to speak to shared priorities.

Additional Resources

United Jewish Communities: www.ujc.org
MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger: www.mazon.org
Jewish Coalition for Service: http://www.jewishservice.org/
The Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty: http://metcouncil.brinkster.net/index2.html
Association of Jewish Family and Children’s Agencies: www.ajfca.org

Tikkun Olam Issue Resources

Brian Fink — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 13:39:16 -0500

Below is a growing list of programmatic resources to aid congregations in their pursuit of Tikkun Olam, organized by issue, and type of resource.

The initial issues included are:

These represent the most common issues being addressed by Congregation Based Community Organizing (CBCO) groups throughout the country.

For a more expansive selection, please see the list of Tikkun Olam resources located within the JRF Resources Library, as well as specific resources on advocacy within congregations.

JRF supports JCPA Confronting Poverty Campaign

Rabbi Shawn Zevit — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 18:30:53 -0400

JRF, a member of the Jewish Council of Public Affairs and an affiliate member of MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, joins in supporting the JCPA's 2007-8 National Anti-Poverty Campaign.

There shall be no needy among you. (Deuteronomy 15:4)

See a summary of the JCPA Confronting Poverty Campaign.

INTRODUCTION:

The JCPA proposes the launching of a national anti-poverty campaign to:

Re-energize the organized Jewish community around combating domestic poverty
Strengthen the natural connection between direct service and anti-poverty advocacy in the Jewish community
Enhance and coordinate anti-poverty activism taking place in communities around the nation

Foster partnerships between agencies to further the goals of the initiative
Ensure that poverty becomes a first-tier issue in the 2008 elections
Provide technical assistance to Jewish organizations for social justice work; and
Attract new members both affiliated and non-affiliated with the organized Jewish community, particularly young people.

GRASSROOTS ORGANIZING:

Community engagement will be structured according to working groups— clusters organized according to different aspects of poverty centering on issues such as:

Hunger and Food Insecurity
Affordable Housing
Environmental Justice and Poverty
Healthcare
Education

Through the campaign, these clusters will meet via conference call at least once a month to set priorities and advocacy/service goals, share best practices, and coordinate programming for maximum effect. When anti-poverty legislation relevant to a particular cluster needs grassroots action, the JCPA will help the communities mobilize activists. When a particular community service project draws large numbers of young people to the CRC, that community will share materials with other members of the cluster to help duplicate successful results. These working groups will be the force behind the campaign, ensuring grassroots involvement and continuity of activism and community service.

NATIONAL PROGRAMMING:

JCPA Executive Director and local communities will be taking the food stamp challenge
Monthly themes around the Jewish holidays for the campaign’s first year
Network and Partnership Opportunities
Online Activist Manual and Reference Guide and development of a poverty Speaker’s Bureau
Consultation and Technical Assistance

OTHER ONGOING CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES

Weekly D’var Torah on domestic poverty issues.
Monthly nationwide calls to highlight themes that do not necessarily fit into one specific cluster or monthly theme, but should be mainstreamed into the entire campaign. Ideas include: poverty and disability, public-private partnerships to address poverty, poverty and gender, the role of business, poverty amongst the elderly, poverty and immigration, children’s poverty, and poverty and globalization.

CONCLUSION

As the Confronting Poverty campaign is implemented, Jewish communities across the country will engage in community service and anti-poverty activism in a broader and deeper sense. Within the Jewish community, there will be a strengthened connection between the services we provide and the advocacy needed to affect systemic change. Our partners -- other faith groups, civil rights organizations, unions and businesses, and government officials -- will recognize the Jewish community’s commitment and our activism will inspire deeper and more powerful relationships that will strengthen coalitions around our other priorities, including Israel. Finally, as momentum builds, the profile of poverty will be raised in town halls, school houses and political campaigns across the country, galvanizing a true national commitment to take the concrete steps needed to significantly reduce poverty in the next ten years.

If you are interested in joining the JCPA campaign or receiving resource materials on how to take the food stamp challenge, please e-mail Melissa Boteach or call her at 202-212-6039.

See JRF resources on hunger and poverty.

Jewish Community Unites to End Hunger

Rabbi Shai Gluskin — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 11:05:38 -0400

Start: Jun 11 2007 - 5:00pm

Jewish Community Unites to End Hunger Logo

On June 11, at 6:30 P.M. thousands of people of all faiths and backgrounds will gather at the Washington National Cathedral for the second Interfaith Convocation on hunger. We will raise our voices as one and work together to end hunger throughout the United States and the world.

A pre-Convocation gathering of the Jewish community is happening at 5:00 P.M. at Temple Michah, 2829 Wisconsin Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20007.

Let’s communicate that we care as Reconstructionists by attending in large numbers. JRF's Rabbi Shawn Zevit will be leading the Reconstructionist delegation.

Speakers include:

H. Eric Schockman, Ph.D., President, MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger
Steve Gutow, Executive Director, Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Ruth W. Messinger, President, American Jewish World Service

Find out more and RSVP Today. A light Kosher meal will be served.

The web site for the national event.

The Jewish Community Unites Against Hunger pre-Convocation event is sponsored by: MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, American Jewish World Serivce, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Religious Action Center, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, Jewish Reconstructionist Federation, and Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life.

JRF Participates In National Hunger Awareness Day Symposium 2006

Brian Fink — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 00:00:00 -0400

On the anniversary of the 2005 Anti-Hunger convocation, JRF was asked through Mazon and Second Harvest to represent the Jewish tradition and community's teachings on responding to hunger and poverty at a national symposium day on ending hunger in Washington, D.C., June 5th, 2006. Learn more about the symposium...

On June 6, 2005, the first ever Interfaith Convocation on Hunger assembled one of the largest gatherings of anti-hunger and anti-poverty activists in the nation's capital in decades. The Jewish Reconstructionist Federation was pleased to be represented at and endorsed this event and invited all people of faith to call for an end to hunger.

2006 Omer Study on Hunger and Poverty

Brian Fink — Mon, 05 Jun 2006 00:00:00 -0400

In 2006, the focus of JRF's Interactive Omer Study, was Tikkun Olam (repair of our world), specifically on the issues of hunger and poverty.

Visit the site to see the teachings and study texts from rabbis, hazzanim (cantors), educators, rabbinical students and members of JRF congregations, all accessible from its left side-bar menu.

Religious Coalition Addresses Hunger and Poverty

Rabbi Shawn Zevit — Mon, 05 Dec 2005 00:00:00 -0500

JRF had been a partner with Mazon in the area of hunger and poverty relief for over two decades. As part of our affiliation with Mazon, we were invited to participate in a major international convocation and lobbying effort in Washington in June 2005. Out of that event a Religious coalition was formed that has continued to communicate through the auspices of Bread for the World and Mazon about national and international hunger and poverty concerns.

On December 1st, 2005, we were invited with a select group of national religious leaders to meet with Secretary Condoleezza. Rice Rabbi Fred Dobb of JRF congregation Adat Shalom in Bethesda, Maryland, represented the JRF. Secretary Rice learned that Bread for the World, Mazon and other groups will be pushing for a $5 billion increase in poverty-focused development assistance next year.

Read Bread for the World's report of the meeting...

In total, 13 Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders met with Secretary Rice on Thursday afternoon. After the meeting the religious leaders continued to exhort them before the press to push strongly for the issues.

The leaders were impressed by the scope of changes that the president had been putting forward on agriculture reform here in the United States to eliminate subsidies that penalize rural farmers and those in developing countries. Taking that as an example, some also looked into mobilizing people to action within their own spheres of influence.

The administration has put a strong proposal on the table in the Doha negotiations, said the Rev. David Beckmann, President of Bread for the World. We hope President Bush and other world leaders will go the extra mile to achieve a breakthrough this month.

On the issue of aid, McCarrick spoke about the benefits of aid and debt relief and how they improved the prospects for fairer trade.

Poor countries need the support of more generous foreign aid and broader debt relief so that they can invest in education and health care for their people and in building their capacity for trade, he said.

Dr. H. Eric Shockman, President of MAZON – a Jewish Response to Hunger – pointed out several shared traits among all the leaders gathered including a commitment to global justice, the recognition that what were once obscure issues such as debt and trade relief were starting to resonate in congregations of different faiths. He urged that those people of faith take their scriptures and used them for social action.

Without social action ... we are nothing. We are not living our faith, he said. I think that ultimately brings us back in a united common effort where my colleague quotes Luke and I quote Isaiah and we’ll come to the same conclusion.

Dr. Sayyid M. Syeed, Secretary General for the Islamic Society of North America said the grouping of religious leaders was a historical gathering.

We are instrumental in mobilizing the world’s resources, our resources to fight this big challenge. The challenge of poverty. The challenge of hunger. And the challenge of deprivation.

Over the next months, there will be occasions when your voice may be needed to your representatives in Congress or to the Bush administration. We will be in touch with you as these opportunities come up. What you do to involve your members in Mazon's lobbying to increase poverty-focused development assistance is especially important.

JRF Endorses Interfaith Convocation on Hunger at the National Cathedral

Brian Fink — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 00:00:00 -0400

On June 6, 2005, at 7:00 p.m., the first ever Interfaith Convocation on Hunger will assemble one of the largest gatherings of anti-hunger and anti-poverty activists in the nation' s capital in decades. The Jewish Reconstructionist Federation is pleased to be represented at and endorse this event and invites all people of faith to call for an end to hunger.

For those able to attend the convocation you will hear Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane of Cape Town, South Africa, faith leaders offering guidance from the sacred texts of many traditions and the music of Beth Nielson Chapman, Salvation Army National Capital Area Band, Siyaya Youth Choir (South Africa) and Saint Camillus Multicultural Choir. Members of the Knesset are also scheduled to fly in and participant in various events.

In the spirit of prayer, more than 30 leaders from major faith traditions will unite with representatives of millions of volunteers who feed the hungry in the US and overseas. National leaders of Christian, Jewish, Muslim and other faith groups will call on the president and Congress to join them in galvanizing a new national commitment to end hunger.

Read more about the convocation and its accompanying events.

In addition to the evening gathering, a three day training event entitled, "One Table, Many Voices: A Mobilization to Overcome Poverty & Hunger," will create wonderful opportunities for learning how to engage on this topic. Co-sponsored by Bread for the World & Call to Renewal and Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger on June 4-7.

In addition, a Lobby Day with various government officials and representatives on Capitol Hill will be held on June 7 in which representatives from JRF will participate, in coordination with MAZON, with whom JRF has an organizational affiliation .

For more information about any of the above or to find out how you can make your voice heard even if you cannot attend, contact Mazon.

National Hunger Awareness Day sponsors are America's Second Harvest: The Nation's Food Bank Network, Bread for the World Institute, The Interfaith Anti-Hunger Coordinators, MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger and the Alliance to End Hunger.

2002 Kehillat Tzedek Award: Congregation Darchei Noam of Ottawa, Canada

Brian Fink — Sat, 10 Aug 2002 01:00:00 -0400

From left to right: Suzanne Klein, President of Darchei Noam and the co-chairs of the Tikkun Olam Initiative, Rabbi Toba Spitzer and Carol Ann Schubert

At the JRF Convention in Montreal, Canada, the first Kehillat Tzedek (Community of Justice) Award was presented to Congregation Darchei Noam of Ottawa, Canada.

In the past ten years, Reconstructionist Congregation Darchei Noam has:

Sponsored a 133-unit affordable housing co-op, Moshav Noam
Partnered with a Roman Catholic congregation to run a homeless shelter
Sponsored Trellis Gardens, a 24-unit affordable housing building

Read more about their inspiring initiatives...

Sponsored a 133-unit affordable housing co-op, Moshav Noam

Moshav Noam, which opened in 1995, was the product of five years of work for the Darchei Noam Social Action committee. Members of Darchei Noam created a board that saw the project through from start to finish, working with developers, architects, and city officials.

Partnered with a Roman Catholic congregation to run a homeless shelter

Each week last winter -- and for the past seven winters -- the Darchei Noam Out Of the Cold program served approximately 140 dinners, and 75 breakfasts and sleeping accommodations for 75 homeless men and women. In the summer months the Out to the Parks program delivers 80 bagged dinners a week to poor and homeless people in Toronto’s parks. This program is entirely run and funded by volunteers from Darchei Noam and St. Peter's Roman Catholic Congregation.

Sponsored Trellis Gardens, a 24-unit affordable housing building

In 1999, members of Congregation Darchei Noam formed Trellis Housing Initiatives, an independently incorporated board whose mission is to develop affordable housing. In September 2002, the doors of Trellis Gardens will open to the first tenants in the three-story, mixed income building that will offer affordable housing to approximately 65 people.

In light of their sustained efforts for social justice, building of partnerships with diverse communities, and demonstration of a powerful commitment to address issues of hunger, homelessness, and affordable housing, the JRF Tikkun Olam Committee recognizes Congregation Darchei Noam as an outstanding example of congregational tikkun olam work.

May their efforts serve as an inspiration to all of us!