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The Tyranny Of Hunger:
Our Shame And Our Responsibility
There comes a moment during Yom Kippur when
concentration wanes, knees weaken and the spir-
it dips. You may become cranky, inattentive and
woozy. You feel like putting your head down and
tuning out.
It's at those moments when you can begin to
understand the tyranny of hunger, how depri-
vation of food and drink can destabilize even the
sturdiest among us.
Imagine, then, what it does to some of our weak-
est citizens, the children of poverty. At schools in
the inner city, rural outposts and even in seem-
ingly prosperous suburbs, there are students
whose academic progress is stunted for lack of
proper nutrition.
The nutrition-cognition link is clear: how well
a young person thinks is critically dependent on -
how well he or she is nourished.
Beyond the lack of academic performance, there
are other consequences for chronically hungry chil-
dren, including long-term effects on physical
growth, immune functioning and cognitive deficits.
And what makes it all the more horrible is that
the damage done by hunger in America is total-
ly preventable. We aren't waiting for the cure. The
answers exist.
That hunger persists in this bountiful land is
our shame, but also our responsibility to eradi-
cate.
Judaism has never looked to the state or gov-
ernment to solve social ills. Quite the contrary,
it asks each individual to do their part. "If Judaism
is to be more than ritual observance, we each have
to take on responsibilities." says Rabbi Jerome
Epstein of the United Synagogues of Conserva-
tive Judaism in New York, a national board mem-
ber for the organization called Mazon: A Jewish
Response to Hunger.
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This year, when hunger sets in on the Day of
Atonement, we ask that your thoughts turn to
those who daily face the grim reality of hunger.
"On Yom Kippur, people can at least psycho-
logically identify with someone who is chronical-
ly hungry," Rabbi Epstein says. "Our task then is
to take that psychological awareness of Yom Kip-
pur and turn it into helping those who are hun-
gry in the weeks and months after the holiday.
The danger is that we become immune to the pain
in our society, because there is so much of it. Too
often we forget that there is something we can do
about hunger."
In that light, we ask that you consider affix-
ing this editorial to your refrigerator before Kol
Nidre to remind yourself to fill with nonperish-
able, preferably kosher items the grocery bags
passed out at many congregations during Rosh
Hashanah. Bring them to your synagogue before
the evening services or drop them off at Yad Ezra
after the holiday.
And once the High Holy Days are over, consid-
er sending a tax-deductible donation to any one
of a number of worthy anti-hunger agencies, in-
cluding:
Yad Ezra, 26641 Harding, Oak Park, MI 48237,
(810) 548-3663.
Forgotten Harvest, 21711 W. 10 Mile Road, Suite
200, Southfield, MI 48075, (810) 350-3663.
Oakland County Food Bank, P.O. Box 431385,
Pontiac, MI 48343, (810) 332-1473.
Meals on Wheels, c I o National Council of Jew-
ish Women, 30233 Southfield Road, Suite 100,
Southfield, MI 48076, (810) 559-1500.
Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger, 12401
Wilshire Blvd., Suite 303, Los Angeles, CA 90025-
1015, (310) 442-0020.
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Letters
Seats Versus
Belonging
While we applaud your thoughts
that every Jew should have a
place to worship during the High
Holy Days as well as your sug-
gestions to identify specific agen-
cies, such as Yad Ezra, that can
help in the ticket distribution
process, we would like to share a
different approach taken by Tem-
ple Israel.
We agree that no Jew should be
denied a place to pray during Rosh
Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but
we would go a step further and say
that no Jew should be denied
term "Jewish people," we need at least to try to membership in a congregation be-
understand one another.
cause of financial constraints.
The bottom line is not the synagogue, Feder- Every Jew should have a spiritu-
ation or any outside communal organization. For al home in which he or she can
pray, study, volunteer, make Jew-
Judaism, it's the family.
Beginning with today's issue and then month- ish connections and create Jewish
ly, we give you The AppleTree. It is for and about memories.
The point is not that High Holy
our life "on the ground" as Jews in the metro De-
tickets should not be a dilem-
Day
troit area. As a member of the Jewish commu- ma for
anyone, but that congre-
nal family, you'll see that the stories you read gation membership should not be
affect your life no matter how you label your re- a problem for anyone.
ligious observance. More importantly, you'll find
Temple Israel will not sell any-
useful, relevant Jewish information for your fam- one a ticket for the holidays. In-
stead, we invite those who call for
ily.
The AppleTree is, if you will, a tasty bite of Jew- tickets to become a member of the
ish life. In that "bite," however, are the seeds we temple. We have a dues policy
whereby no one will be denied
hope will help all of us continue to grow and pros-
per as Jewish families. It doesn't matter where membership because of finances.
We will work with everyone to
any of us fit in the "family." But we all do. And develop a dues structure that
The AppleTree shows us how.
works for a particular individual
An Apple That Doesn't
Fall Far From The Tree
Several years ago at a Council of Jewish Feder-
ations General Assembly, a statistician of note
came up to the podium and proceeded to shock
his audience.
No more, lie said, could we define the Jewish
"family" in terms of two Jewish parents and two
children living under the same roof. The num-
ber ofJewish families in that condition was well
under 50 percent.
The Jewish "family," he continued, now had
to be defined differently and much more di-
versely. Some Jewish families are now headed
by a single parent. Many Jewish families work
through custody situations as the result of di-
vorce. Even more Jewish families have inter-
married heads of household. Some involve
conversions. Many include dual-wage earning
parents and latchkey children.
There are definitions ofJewish family that we
may or may not be comfortable with. Yet, if we
are to continue to survive under the aegis of the
WS 'NE DAY OF
AfONEMErti ya,
BECAUSE WE
M5.6 WE
or family, thereby affording peo-
ple the opportunity to become ac-
tive members in the life of the
congregation, to send their chil-
dren to religious school and, most
importantly, to have a spiritual
home.
David M. Tisdale
President, Temple Israel
More Options
To Explore
Isn't it about time that Jewish
News editorials about Jewish De-
troit include mention of the large
and active secular Humanistic
and Reconstructionist communi-
ties?
It was particularly noticeable
to us that the recent editorial
("Seats For The Needy" Sept. 6)
about "how we come together as
a people in many ways" at the
New Year, mentioned only Or-
thodox, Conservative and Reform.
There are more than three op-
tions to being Jewish. We are not
unaffiliated; but even if we were,
we still have Jewish voices and
live our lives filled with Jewish cul-
ture, values and history.
We feel ourselves vitally con-
nected to Judaism. Please re-
member to include us when you
write about our Jewish commu-
nity.
Paula Weinberg
Martin L. Kotch
Birmingham