Global Hunger
Rabbi Ron Shulman
Shabbat Lekh Lekha 5772
I remember childhood dinners at my grandparents’ home. They lived in a nice, modest apartment. They so loved when we grandchildren came over to eat with them. They especially liked it when each one of us came over by ourselves. I remember Grandma making my favorite dishes.
I also remember her putting too much food on my plate. When I stopped eating and couldn’t finish she always said, “Don’t waste food. Children are starving all over the world. Now finish your dinner.”
You’re right, it makes no sense! The more we eat here doesn’t help anyone who may be hungry someplace else. It was just my grandmother’s way of caring. No one’s going hungry on my account, is how I understood it. I’m feeding those for whom I’m responsible. Shouldn’t everybody else do the same?
This weekend we are participating in a nationwide effort organized by the American Jewish World Service called Global Hunger Shabbat. We link ourselves with hundreds of synagogues across the country as we focus on those who face hunger because they do not have consistent access to and control over the sources of their food. Their families and societies either cannot or are not feeding those for whom they are responsible.
Global Hunger is one of the most pressing challenges facing the world community today. All of us have seen the images of famine from impoverished areas. Many of us have volunteered to feed those who stand in lines at soup kitchens hoping to receive a meal. Some of us may be, may have been, and may know individuals who do subsist on minimal or poor diets as a result of unemployment or insufficient income.
Every day 925 million people, 98 percent of whom live in developing countries, go hungry. One of out four children in developing countries, roughly 146 million, are undernourished. Every six seconds a child dies from starvation or another hunger-related cause. More than 60 percent of those who are chronically hungry are women.
Each week, there are 50,000 people in Maryland relying on emergency food programs - food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters - to put food on the table for their families. More than one third are children and the elderly.
In Israel, 600,000 children are considered at risk for hunger. 400,000 families are labeled as facing “nutritional insecurity.”
Much of this hunger is not a problem stemming from a lack of food, but from the challenges of how food is distributed world wide and the political, social issues of market access. For a variety of economic and political reasons, as well as drought or other weather conditions, communities that used to get their food from nearby farms are now dependent on imported food, which is often too expensive or unavailable. And locally, in our community, hunger is also a function of unemployment, underemployment, and escalating food prices.
There seems to be an emerging consensus that creating and supporting sustainable food systems that empower farmers and individuals can be the foundation of a solution. Here’s an example.
Jean Saint Georges is a struggling farmer who lives in a rural village in Haiti. Over the past 20 years, he has been unable to place his harvested crops in local food markets because of government controls and subsidized imports. As he has lost his livelihood others have lost access to the food his farm provided.
As this circumstance played out for others, overtime it came to be that 1.9 million Haitians faced hunger before January 2010 when the earthquake hit Haiti. The mass migration to Port-au-Prince of rural farmers who had lost their farms contributed to the magnitude of the loss of life during the earthquake. Living in poverty forced so many people to dwell in poorly constructed homes on steep mountainsides.
In the aftermath of the earthquake, donations from all over sent food aid to Haiti. In the short term, this food helped feed thousands of earthquake survivors who had lost everything. But, there was an unintended consequence. The influx of free rice from abroad brought prices so low that Haitian farmers couldn’t compete. Because they couldn’t earn an income from their crops, they couldn’t purchase seeds for this year’s crop. As one farmer put it, “When they don’t give rice to us anymore, are we all going to die?”
The current focus, therefore, is to provide support for rural farmers, including seed and grain storage and training in methods to increase agricultural production. Today, Jean Saint Georges and his family have received seeds to plant corn, beans and sweet potatoes. They have been helped with soil conservation. They are building a new farm that, hopefully, will be viable for many years to come. This is one of the many projects we help to support as a community through our partnership with the American Jewish World Service.
Why am I sharing this with you today? Why did our Gemilut Hasadim committee choose to honor Global Hunger Shabbat? Because: as a Jewish community, as a synagogue community, and as a caring community, it is our obligation to be aware, to stir our consciences, and to respond. This morning we met Abraham, the first to challenge God; the first to call out on behalf of others; the first to respond to a famine; the first from whom we are all spiritual and moral descendents.
The Mishnah teaches us that feeding the hungry is a mitzvah of on-going duration. The Midrash reminds us, “Just as God feeds the hungry, so shall you feed the hungry.” That Talmud tells us that feeding the hungry is like achieving redemption.
“The world is dark for anyone who depends on the tables of others,” said Rav. “When one eats of his own, his mind is at ease,” replied Rabbi Achai ben Josiah.
We ask your awareness. When you sit to eat a meal, in addition to the blessings of thanksgiving you speak, do what my grandmother did. Remember there is someone somewhere close by and far away who is not as fortunate. You don’t have to overeat in order to be mindful that others cannot eat.
Aware, we ask you for your conscience and response. Give voice where you can to those who need food aid and security. Give resources where you can to those who provide food aid and security.
In 1989, through the generosity of many, a hunger fund was established here at Chizuk Amuno. I must admit it is very satisfying when we administer this fund for the sake of those people and organizations, like the American Jewish World Service, we’re able to support. I’m not making an appeal, though a contribution to this cause is always welcome.
On this and every day remember God’s children, created in the Divine image, who hunger for bread and thirst for water. Let’s take heed of all those who wander in search of food, whose worlds have gone dark through no fault of their own. We can give of our hearts for the lives of the myriad children who faint from hunger. We can pray. God, show them mercy and kindness. Because You God, provide the world with a bounty of food, even though too often we fail in our responsibilities. We resolve to feed all whom we can with food and love.
© 2011 Rabbi Ronald J. Shulman
