Challah and Food Stamps...

I write these words preparing for Shabbat and considering the intersection of Shabbat’s celebration and Baltimore Hebrew Congregation’s exploration of one aspect of American poverty.  Our siddur, Mishkan T’filah, offers an appropriate consideration of the same intersection on the facing pages to Yism’chu and V’shamru for Shabbat morning, praises of Shabbat.  On the bottom of page 251, we read a commentary from Rabbi Lawrence Hoffman, of HUC-JIR.

“A famous Jacob Riis photograph of the Jewish Lower East Side displays a bearded immigrant dressed in his only suit, sitting with challah and wine at his Shabbat table, regally enjoying his respite from the backbreaking labor that filled his weekdays.  He sits alone; his table virtually fills his tiny one-room home—which is a coal cellar!  But even there, he insists on fulfilling the mitzvah of oneg Shabbat, “declaring Shabbat a delight.”

Celebrating Shabbat in the midst of Food Stamp Challenge should speak to all the other Shabbatot of our lives.  Judaism teaches us that celebration is acceptable, even at bleak moments.  Judaism also instructs us to remember that life is not all celebration.  Not every day is a simcha.  One of the many reasons for celebrating a weekly Shabbat is to be schooled in the practice of that intersection: celebration and awareness.  When our lives are relatively comfortable, it can be difficult to be cognizant of the pains of the world.  However, when our lives are challenging, it can, likewise, be difficult to remember that we are not the only ones facing troubles.  Judaism encourages balance and Shabbat helps reinforce the possibility of emotional balance.

Those of us trying the Food Stamp Challenge are trying to find a similar balance between our personal reality and that of those who face different challenges.  Honestly, trying to live on the income of someone receiving SNAP benefits is not as rich an educational model as the timeless Shabbat.  I have found it near impossible to truly follow the strictures of the challenge.  I have found myself eating with others in range of settings when I have been aware of the finances, but not following the experiment’s guidelines.  The very fact that it is an experiment in my life is what enables me to make those exceptions.  Additionally, the true economic reality of those on food stamps is different than that of those who simply taste of the reality.  Poverty is complex.  It has many causes and many realities.  Society’s efforts to help confront society similarly come with different realities and influences. 

This week’s attention on our food and our shopping; our incomes and our expenses, enables me to consider the plight of others.  May this imperfect teaching device enable us to turn to more long-lasting sources of insight.  Our siddur and our Shabbat encourage us to celebrate with awareness.  May each week’s challah remind us of the importance of celebrating and of taking seriously our tradition’s broader concern.  As Shabbat draws to a close, may we take seriously the work of confronting poverty and of understanding those who suffer its impact.

Rabbi Andrew Busch