Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the wealth that they had amassed, and the persons that they had acquired (literally, made) in Haran; and they set out for the land of Canaan. Breysheet / Genesis 12:5
The souls which Abram had brought beneath the sheltering wings of the Shechinah. Abraham converted the men, and Sarah converted the women and Scripture accounts it unto them as if they had made them. Genesis Rabbah 39:14
The midrash speaks of the uniqueness of Abraham and Sarah’s tent as having an opening on each side to make it easier and more accessible to everyone. Once inside, our first patriarch and matriarch demonstrated radical hospitality to their guests, demonstrating the values by which they lived and introducing them to their monotheistic faith. Entering Abraham and Sarah’s tent meant becoming an object of their concern and beneficence. The souls they acquired became an expanding circle of caring for, and responsibility for, those they encountered. Later, the Torah would codify these values in laws requiring concern for the stranger, obligations to provide for those in need or on the margins of society.
Jewish text and tradition compel us to honor the dignity of every person, especially those who are struggling. No matter a person’s circumstance, no one deserves to be hungry. MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger was created 40 years ago to highlight personal responsibility and encourage collective action. Through the decades, Mazon has advocated on behalf of military families and veterans, single mothers, college students, indigenous communities, and LGBTQ older adults; many of them SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) recipients.
SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) was crafted by bipartisan Congressional leadership and has worked effectively for over 50 years. The ongoing government shutdown will result in an interruption of funding for this program leaving over 42 million people around the country without the ability to buy food and pay other bills. This will drive many families, including military families on the Peninsula, to seek assistance from food banks and soup kitchens in their communities.
Deepening food insecurity during this shutdown is a choice, and we must call upon the Trump administration and Members of Congress to quickly release guidance to states, send out contingency funds, and find additional dollars to fill the gaps so that food insecure families don’t have to rely on charity or skip meals in order to survive this political gridlock.
Until the current crisis is resolved, MAZON and its deep connections to those who provide food assistance throughout America, is an excellent vehicle for being authentic descendants of Abraham and Sarah in fulfilling our obligation to provide for those in immediate need. You can find multiple mechanisms for donating to MAZON on their website, mazon.org.
Shabbat Shalom –
Rabbi David M. Eligberg
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