For millennia Jews have been witness to acts of senseless violence, hatred, and inhumanity. In some cases, it was the Jewish community which suffered directly. In all cases the holiness of the human spirit was diminished. Even two thousand years ago our Torah recognized that the plight of the needy is as eternal as our covenant with God, “since there will never cease to be needy ones from amongst your land, therefore I [Adonai] command you to open your hands to your brethren, to the poor and indigent in your land.”1 Even though poverty and suffering are not something that we can permanently solve, our Torah compels us to act in the face of the seemingly impossible. To be a Jew means that we must look at the enormity of the task and take action. One of the ugliest ways poverty manifests itself is in hunger. Hunger is such a pernicious and existential threat that our great teacher Maimonides tells us that if a stranger asks us for food or water, we must provide it without question.2 … [Read more...]