Feeding the Hungry in the Torah
Context: This text is from the Biblical Book of Leviticus, in the “Holiness Code” chapter.
This text is about people without much money still getting food with dignity. Besides “food stamps” (getting food from the supermarket with a debit card like everybody else), how else would you design a system so that people in poverty can still get food with dignity?
(18) G-d upholds the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and befriends the foreigner, providing him with food and clothing.— (19) You too must befriend the foreigner, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
Context: This is from the Biblical Book of Deuteronomy, talking about what G-d does. Many times, the Torah talks about “the fatherless, the widow, and the foreigner”, and how we must care for the vulnerable in our society.
Practically speaking, what does it look like for you to provide food for the vulnerable in society?
(7) If there is a needy person among you, one of your kinsmen in any of your settlements in the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not harden your heart and shut your hand against your needy kinsman. (8) Rather, you must open your hand and lend him sufficient for whatever he needs.
Context: This is from the Biblical Book of Deuteronomy, talking about how to have an equitable society.
The rabbis describe a “concentric circle of giving”, starting with yourself, then your family, then your friends, then your Jewish community (since you share being Jewish), then the general community, then the national Jewish community, then the general national community, then the international Jewish community, then the international general community. This approach is supported by anthropology - primates first take care of those closest to them before those less-closely related, and scientists have deduced that humans follow the same pattern.
How does this text connect to what Rabbi Hillel says in Pirkei Avot: If I'm not for myself, who will be for me; but if I'm only for myself, what am I; and if not now, when?
Feeding the Hungry in the Prophets and Writings
(3) “Why, when we fasted, did You not see? When we starved our bodies, did You pay no heed?” Because on your fast day you see to your business and oppress all your laborers! (4) Because you fast in strife and contention, and you strike with a wicked fist! Your fasting today is not such as to make your voice heard on high. (5) Is such the fast I desire, a day for men to starve their bodies? Is it bowing the head like a bulrush and lying in sackcloth and ashes? Do you call that a fast, a day when the LORD is favorable? (6) No, this is the fast I desire: To unlock shackles of wickedness, and untie the cords of the yoke; to let the oppressed go free; to break off every yoke. (7) It is to share your bread with the hungry, and to take the wretched poor into your home; when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to ignore your own kin.
Context: This is from the Biblical Book of Isaiah, where Isaiah is telling the Judeans that they aren't behaving properly. It's also part of the Haftarah for Yom Kippur morning.
Why would this be in the Haftarah for Yom Kippur morning?
(16) You open Your hand, feeding every creature to its heart’s content.
Context: This is from the Biblical Book of Psalms, from Psalm 145. It comes in a set of verses describing how G-d takes care of those having a tough time. Psalm 145 also forms the bulk of the prayer "Ashrei". Ashrei is mostly an alphabetical acrostic and this text is the "pey" line. The rabbis said in the Talmud (in Brachot 4b) that whomever says Ashrei 3 times a day is guaranteed a positive outcome after they die, specifically because of this line. It is customary to open up our own hand when we say this line in Ashrei, reminding us to be generous just like G-d opens G-d's metaphorical hand.
Recognizing that nobody knows what happens after we die (because nobody has been dead for a long time and then come back to give a report of what it's like), why might a positive outcome after you die be the reward for saying Ashrei 3 times a day and remembering to be generous?
Feeding the Hungry in the Talmud
אָמַר רַב אַסִּי שְׁקוּלָה צְדָקָה כְּנֶגֶד כׇּל הַמִּצְוֹת
Rav Asi says: Providing charity for poor and hungry people weighs as heavily as all the other commandments of the Torah combined.
Context: This is from the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Bava Batra (written around 500 CE). Bava Batra is about laws related to property and money, and it includes discussion about giving tzedakah.
Do you agree with Rav Asi that giving tzedakah and helping people is equal to everything else in the Torah?
Feeding the Hungry Since the Talmud
(יח) וּכְשֶׁהוּא אוֹכֵל וְשׁוֹתֶה חַיָּב לְהַאֲכִיל לַגֵּר לַיָּתוֹם וְלָאַלְמָנָה עִם שְׁאָר הָעֲנִיִּים הָאֻמְלָלִים. אֲבָל מִי שֶׁנּוֹעֵל דַּלְתוֹת חֲצֵרוֹ וְאוֹכֵל וְשׁוֹתֶה הוּא וּבָנָיו וְאִשְׁתּוֹ וְאֵינוֹ מַאֲכִיל וּמַשְׁקֶה לַעֲנִיִּים וּלְמָרֵי נֶפֶשׁ אֵין זוֹ שִׂמְחַת מִצְוָה אֶלָּא שִׂמְחַת כְּרֵסוֹ.
(18) While eating and drinking, one must feed the foreigner, the orphan, the widow, and other poor unfortunates. Anyone, however, who locks the doors of his courtyard and eats and drinks along with his wife and children, without giving anything to eat and drink to the poor and the desperate, does not observe a religious celebration but indulges in the celebration of his stomach.
Context: This is from the Mishneh Torah, which was written by Maimonides (also known as Rambam) in the 1100s CE. The goal of the Mishneh Torah was to reorganize the Talmud, take out the discussion, and just give answers about what to do in various situations. This text is part of a set of answers about how to celebrate Jewish holidays. Just like on Purim we are supposed to give Matanot Le'evyonim to ensure that all people have enough money to celebrate the holiday, this text says that we should think about others on all holidays.
What are actions you can take, either through direct service or through an organization, to follow what Rambam says here?
הָא לַחְמָא עַנְיָא דִּי אֲכָלוּ אַבְהָתָנָא בְאַרְעָא דְמִצְרָיִם. כָּל דִכְפִין יֵיתֵי וְיֵיכֹל, כָּל דִצְרִיךְ יֵיתֵי וְיִפְסַח. הָשַּׁתָּא הָכָא, לְשָׁנָה הַבָּאָה בְּאַרְעָא דְיִשְׂרָאֵל. הָשַּׁתָּא עַבְדֵי, לְשָׁנָה הַבָּאָה בְּנֵי חוֹרִין.
This is the bread of poverty that our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt. Anyone who is hungry should come and eat, anyone who is in need should come and partake of the Pesach sacrifice. Now we are here, next year we will be in the land of Israel; this year we are slaves, next year we will be free people.
Context: "Ha Lachma Anya" is the first thing we say in the Magid section of the Passover seder. Before we start telling the story of how we were freed from slavery, we think about those who are still suffering. In the Haggadah it says, "In every generation a person should see themselves as if they went out of Egypt." Doing the seder each year ensures that leaving Egypt is not just Jewish history, but Jewish memory. By remembering what it was like for us to be in an awful situation, we will have more empathy for those who are suffering today, and thus be more likely to help when we are asked.
What does it feel like when your body wants food? What do you think it might be like if you didn't know when you might get to eat next? How would you want people to respond if you needed them to help you so you could eat that day?