Fast and Famine
For many American Jews, the Yom Kippur fast is a vehicle of both repentance and connection. We focus inward on our personal failings, and outward toward a world where hunger is a constant, not a 25-hour interruption in lives of bounty.
A fast is not a famine, but a fast can at least prompt us to remember that famine is ravaging the horn of Africa, where the United Nations predicts that up to 750,000 people could die in the coming months. Caused by drought, this famine is made immeasurably worse by the inconscionable actions of Somali fundamentalist Muslim militias. Much more targeted foreign aid is desperately needed.
We know our own hunger will be sated when the fast ends. Let’s not forget those who are dying awaiting such assurances.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.