Resolution on Mazon, A Jewish Response to Hunger

Resolution Date:

Jan 1986

Sponsoring Organization:

JRF

Affirming the fundamental traditional Jewish commitment to sustaining the hungry, while recognizing hunger as one of the most tragic and scandalous of ongoing crises in this country and abroad, the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation resolves:

To recognize as an important part of our social action commitment support for MAZON A Jewish Response to Hunger;
To recommend participation in MAZON by all of our congregations and havurot and their members;
To recommend that the guidelines, as set forth by MAZON, be accepted by all congregations and havurot as a plan of action and participation for themselves and their members.

Additional Information or Context:

The Hebrew Bible states, “justice, justice you shall pursue” (Deut. 16:20). For us as Jews, the imperative to respond to the devastating impact of hunger in the United States and around the world is not only intensified by the physical deprivation that so many are experiencing, but also a profound moral and spiritual crisis that cannot continue. That one child or adult should lack sustenance would be dayenu (enough) to raise our voices. That millions go hungry and die of starvation is a situation that demands our pursuit of a just and large-scale united response across religious, social and political lines. We join our hearts and hands with all of you to pursue the Divine call to do what is just—to work to end hunger everywhere.

Rabbi Shawn Israel Zevit
JRf Director of External Affiliations, 2005