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Ha'azinu 5773: In the midst of our festive season . . . 

9/28/2012

2 Comments

 
Sunday evening, our lush, colorful, joy-to-the-senses festival of Sukkot begins.  We will gather in our Torat Yisrael Sukkah (erected last Sunday by a great group of three generations of TY members; to be decorated this Sunday morning by our Yeladon and Cohen School students!).  With Jews all over the world, we'll recite blessings thanking God for this season of joy and for the natural world that sustains us.  

While we are literally counting our blessings on Sukkot, a growing number of Rhode Islanders are struggling to do with less and less.  This morning, I attended a meeting of the steering committee of The Rhode Island Interfaith Coalition to Reduce Poverty.  We were greeted with sobering statistics recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau.  

My friends, this is a reality on our doorstep, our tradition, our God, expects us to act on behalf of our neighbors who are barely (or falling short of) providing food, shelter and health car for themselves and their families:

More than 1 in 5 (47,127 / 21.9%) of Rhode Island's children was living in poverty in 2011.
In 2008, 34,816 children in Rhode Island (15.5%) were living in poverty.

In 2010, Rhode Island's child poverty rate of 19.0% was ranked 6th in New England and 22nd nationally.
In 2011, Rhode Island ranked 6th in New England and 27th in the country for child poverty (where 1st is best).

The Providence Journal reported on Friday, September 21st that in August 2012, 175,590 Rhode Islanders used the federally financed plan, now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.  That's a nearly 6% increase from August 2011.

This is a season for compassion. 
This is a season for action. 

I ask you to join me in organizing ourselves as a community to explore how me might bring some small relief and modicum of hope to our struggling neighbors:

1.  Please bring non-perishable foods of all types when you come to our Sunday morning Cornerstone Dedication Ceremony.

2.  Please bring non-perishable foods of all types when you come to Pizza in the Hut on Tuesday evening.

3.  Please contact me directly if you are interested in being part of a TY team to explore further what kind of projects we might want to pursue in the realms of food, shelter or other types of basic needs or in education and training pathways out of poverty.

On Yom Kippur morning, we read the following passage from Isaiah as part of the haftarah:
"Share you bread with the hungry, and take the wretched poor into your home;
when you see the naked, clothe them, and do not ignore your own flesh.
Then shall your light burst through the dawn
and your healing spring up quickly.
Then, when you call, God will answer; when you cry out, God will say: 'Here I am.'
If you banish the yoke from your midst; the menacing hand, and evil speech,
and you offer compassion to the hungry and satisfy the famished creature--
then shall your light shine in the darkness, and your gloom shall be like noonday."

Amen.
2 Comments
David
10/3/2012 01:47:12 pm

Rabbi,
I wrote a while ago asking about the relative benefit of food donations versus monetary donations. RIPR recently did a fundraiser in which $10 of every $100 they raised went to the RI Food Bank. They explained that cash donations were much better than food donations because the Food Bank is able to stretch the buying power of each dollar far more than you or I can when shopping at the supermarket. I assume they are able to buy in bulk, etc. Perhaps we should be asking people to bring $10 to events rather than $10 worth of groceries?

Reply
Rabbi Levin link
10/3/2012 01:58:00 pm

Thank you, David.
I think there is value in both types of donations.
Our state's central Food Bank does purchase in bulk and large quantities with the funds donated to them. They also have an operating budget to cover for staff, utilities, etc. All of which are worthy of our support.
Neighborhood efforts like those we support at Torat Yisrael, (the Edgewood Food Closet and the Chester Full Plate Kosher Food Pantry) often use the funds donated to them to purchase food from the central Food Bank, usually at prices much lower than those available to us at local retail outlets.
So, why is it of value for individuals to bring food donations?
The central Food Bank shelves are drained when all of the local food closets must turn to the Food Bank to fill their shelves. When we can make a donation of a signficant amount of food to the local programs we support, more food is available from the Food Bank for those local programs that do not enjoy the support we offer to our projects.
Fungible resourcing.
Also, I think that there are some people who feel more personally connected to the mitzvah of feeding those in need when they can imagine a family sitting down to enjoy the cereal or soup or tuna that we have personally selected and donated.
Thank you for asking.
Rabbi Levin

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    Rabbi Amy Levin

    Rabbi Amy Levin

    has been Torat Yisrael's rabbi since the summer of 2004 and serves as President of the Board of Rabbis of Greater Rhode Island.  
    Rabbi Levin lived in Israel for 20 years and was the second woman to be ordained by the Masorti/Conservative Movement in Israel.

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  • Home
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    • Members' Pages >
      • Gabbai Group
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  • About Us
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    • Cohen School >
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    • Audio Tutorials
    • Bar and Bat Mitzvah preparation