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.