DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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OCTOBER 5 • 2023 | 7
J
N

Detroit’s high poverty rate, 
means that many Detroit 
residents pay a sizable 
percentage of their monthly 
income — a good number 
pay 10% or more — on water 
bills. 
The residents (dispro-
portionately people of 
color) paying such a sizable 
percentage are below the 
poverty line, and thus face 
the dilemma of whether to 
spend money on their rent 
or their water bills. Detroit 
residents unable to afford 
them had their water shut 
off. 
These shutoffs were 
exacerbated in 2014 with 
Detroit’s bankruptcy. From 
then until 2020, over 140,000 
households in Detroit 
(disproportionately people of 
color) have had their water 
shut off. Due to COVID, 
there was a moratorium on 
shutoffs, but it ended as of 
Jan. 1 of this year. 
 Detroit residents have 
been given time to sign 
up for a hardship program 
called Lifeline, which reduces 
their payment for water bills, 
though this grace period is 
ending.
The city of Detroit has 
found it difficult to reach 
all of those eligible and get 
them to sign up (due to both 
lack of information channels 
in marginalized communities 
and difficulties navigating 
the application process). 
One expert on these 
issues informed me that it is 
considered a success if even 
25% of those eligible for the 
hardship program sign up. 

NEW BILLS IN 
LEGISLATURE
In the coming weeks, State 
Sen. Stephanie Chang 
will be putting forward a 
Water Affordability bill 
package that would provide 
affordable water access to 
Michigan residents without 
requiring a cumbersome 
application process. Among 
other things, the proposed 
legislation would end water 
shutoffs. 
 It would also cap water 
bills at 3% of monthly 
income for (just about) all 
Michigan residents. Funding 
for the program would 
come from nominal fees 
that would be added to all 
water bills across the state. 
(Needless to say, the fee — 
probably less than $5 per 
water bill — would count 
toward this 3%.)
I believe that many 
Talmudic and other 
Halachic sources suggest 
similar approaches to water 
affordability and access. In 
fact, I would say that my 
passion on this issue in large 
part stems from my studies 
of these and other sources. 
This space does not allow 
for a detailed discussion 
of all related sources 
and legal argumentation 
(or respond to possible 
counterarguments), but I will 
give some broad outlines.

JEWISH SOURCES
Jewish legal sources state 
that everyone who lives in or 
does business in a city has a 
responsibility to contribute 
toward the creation and 
maintenance of a functioning 

water system (Tosefta Bava 
Metzia 11:17), because a 
city without it becomes 
uninhabitable (Ri MiGash on 
Bava Metzia 7b). 
Most Halakhic sources 
suggest that the costs for 
a water system (as well as 
that for other public works) 
should be apportioned 
according to wealth (e.g. 
Arukh HaShulchan Choshen 
Mishpat 163:14). 
Of particular note is a 
response by the 17th-century 
rabbinic authority Rabbi 
Menachem Mendel 
Krochmal, in which he 
decides that a Jewish com-
munity upgrading its water 
delivery system should 
apportion three-quarters of 
the expenses according to 
wealth, with the rest being 
determined by property 
values — which wouldn’t 
change much, he says, since 
more expensive homes would 
be owned by rich people 
anyway (Teshuvot Tzemach 
Tzedek 34).
One early rabbinic source 
(Tosefta Bava Metzia 
11:37) suggests that water 
shutoffs due to an inability 
to afford water payments 
are abhorrent. It states 
that a town with a water 
supply should give its extra 
water to a town without. 
The town giving its supply 
can calculate the amount 
of water given and ask the 
recipients in the other town 
to pay for what they have 
used. However, it may do 
so only after it has already 
given its water to the other 
town. This is because, as one 
commentator puts it, “water 

is absolutely necessary for 
life” (Mitzpeh Shmuel on 
ibid.).
Another series of Talmudic 
sources suggest that most 
bodies of water are public 
goods that are really meant 
to be accessed for free (e.g. 
Bava Kamma 81b). The 
19th-20th century analytic 
scholar Rabbi Yosef Rosen 
(known as the Rogotchover 
Gaon) builds on these 
sources and others to argue 
that, ultimately, water is a 
public good not meant for 
sale (Tzafnat Pa’aneiach, 
Hilkhot Mattanot Aniyim, 
4:8, p. 104). 
(For those interested in 
learning these sources in 
greater depth, I will present 
them at Limmud Michigan. 
See page 26.)
Aside from these Halachic 
arguments, we can also 
take inspiration from our 
righteous ancestors like 
Rebecca (Genesis 24:15-20) 
and Moses (Exodus 2:17), 
who help marginalized 
strangers access water.
Once the Water 
Affordability bill package is 
formally submitted, I hope 
that you will contact your 
state legislators to express 
your support. I further hope 
you can reach out to Detroit 
Jews for Justice to learn 
other ways you can help. 
I believe that in the merit 
of committing ourselves to 
water access for others, God 
will judge us favorably this 
Sukkot. 

Rabbi David Polsky is a rabbi, 

educator and Kashrut professional 

living in Southfield with his wife and 

two girls.

