Freedom From Hunger
This Passover reminded us again of how food and freedom are inextricably linked. It’s not just that, around day six or seven, one wishes to be liberated from yet another meal of fried matzo and Seder leftovers. It’s that we are commanded to eat differently to better understand exodus, deprivation, longing and the need not only to be free but to act as free people.
This season, the connection is even deeper, since the economic downturn has left so many hungry. As the Israelites learned wandering the desert, it’s difficult to behave like responsible, autonomous people when bellies are aching for food. The need is especially acute for children — there are an estimated 12 million hungry kids in America today.
President Obama has pledged to end child hunger in America by 2015, not as far away as it sounds. Some Jewish groups are pushing for additional federal funding for the Child Nutrition Program — a tough sell for an already bloated budget. But unless and until families can provide for their own, government has an obligation to nourish the next generation. Consider it manna by another name.
It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news.
This week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions.
We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.
As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday!
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
