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Just Call him McDavid

by Aliza Wasserman · September 23rd, 2007
On The Web

In an update to the previous post about the JCPA’s Food Stamp Challenge this past week, the New York Jewish Week reports that, in search of cheap food while participating in the $21/week Food Stamp Challenge,

“McDonald�s Dollar Menu fit the bill for Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.”

Closer to the action, the Washington Jewish Week reported that Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), in fact, did not take the Challenge in the end, but hopes to participate with the Washington JCRC later this fall.

JCPA Director Steve Gutow also referred to some of the problems underlying food injustices in that article, and the need for Jews to be more involved in addressing them:

“We are no longer connected to the communities from which the poor usually come,” Gutow said. “We’re not as close to the Hispanic community or the African American community, and we need to regalvanize that. Part of our strength as American Jews is that we have always been able to connect with different groups, and we need to get back to that.”

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2 Responses to “Just Call him McDavid”

  1. balabusta Says:
    September 23rd, 2007 at 8:34 pm

    It’s really weird for someone in the official Jewish community to assume that there are no low-income Jews who might need foodstamps.

    Wait, did I say it was weird? No. It’s really too damned normal for someone in the official Jewish community to assume that no Jews are poor. After all, he didn’t seem them in schul on the hagim. (Oh yeah, they can’t afford the tickets or the synagogue dues.)

  2. Aliza Says:
    September 23rd, 2007 at 8:44 pm

    balabusta, I left out another quote from the article, that I considered putting in, but decided against so as to keep the post short and sweet:

    “Jews are not immune to poverty. Between 8 and 9 percent of American Jews live below the poverty line, which in 2006 was $16,079 for a family of three and $20,614 for a family of four.

    America’s overall poverty rate is higher and growing. According to numbers culled from the 2006 census by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 12.3 percent of Americans live below the poverty line. ”

    Perhaps I should have included it.

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