Open Your Hand to the Hungry

 Shabbat Shalom from Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow

 

August 14-15, 2020 / 15 Av 5780

Shabbat Re’eh - Mevarechim

Torah: Deuteronomy 11:26-16:17

Haftarah: I Samuel 20:18 - 20:42 | Shabbat Machar Chodesh

 

“Open Your Hand to the Hungry”

 

Dear Friends,

 

What is our obligation to those who are hungry? There is food everywhere, from retail supermarkets to discount food stores and food pantries.  Food is now sold in pharmacies, big box departments stores, hardware stores, and even home centers. With all this abundance in our midst, no one could possibly go hungry in America.  This week’s Torah portion makes the same claim. Moses describes a rich and lush land of Israel, where there will be no poor because the land is good and will provide for everybody’s needs.

 

Nevertheless, in biblical times and nowadays, we know that many were and are impoverished and without means to provide for themselves and their families. Rabbi Gunther Plaut commented on this verse, suggesting that the real intention was to say that with all the abundance around, there should be no reason for anyone to be needy.  The food is present and the resources exist.  Therefore, it is up to us to finish the job and make sure that everyone has what they need. We must partner with God and open our hands, our hearts, and our minds to the hungry and the poor.  The solution is in our hands.

 

Zay a Mentsch – Be a Good Person.

 

Shabbat Shalom,

 

Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow