Economic Justice
Status
The current recession that began in late 2007 is the worst economic downturn in the post-war era. The unemployment rate has reached double digits for the first time in 25 years. Between November 2008 and April 2009, the economy shed an average of 645,000 jobs a month, and the numbers of workers were going without work for longer periods of time rose to record levels. Home foreclosures and hunger have also reached historically high levels.
Congress responded to the recession with the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, the “stimulus bill,” which provided boosts in funding for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, Medicaid, and unemployment insurance, among the other, more publicized, financial provisions. Job loss, underemployment and unemployment continued throughout the year, to a low point of 10.2% unemployment in November. Some economists, however, point to a rebounding stock market as evidence that the recession is over. Whether or not this is the case economically speaking, unemployment is one of the last numbers to improve, meaning that the recession continues for millions of out-of-work Americans.
Legislative Summary
Child Nutrition Reauthorization
Every five years Congress reauthorizes the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act. The School Breakfast, National School Lunch and Special Milk Programs are authorized permanently and will continue even without Congressional action, but all other child nutrition programs, including Child and Adult Food Care Program, Summer Food Service Program and Afterschool Snack and Meal Programs, will expire if actions are not taken in 2010.
These programs are critical to maintaining the economic stability of millions of families. For more on Child Nutrition Reauthorization, visit the RAC’s issue page on Hunger or the Food Research and Action Center.
Judaism and Hunger
Our harvest festivals remind us to rejoice in our abundance, but we must also remember that the value we place on compassion and our tradition of generosity compel us to act on behalf of those less fortunate. Again and again our biblical tradition demands that we share our resources, for they belong not to us, but to God. "God says to Israel, 'My children, whenever you give sustenance to the poor, I impute it to you as though you gave sustenance to Me.' Does God then eat and drink? No, but whenever you give food to the poor, God accounts it to you as if you gave food to God" (Midrash Tannaim on Numbers 28:2).
Affordable Housing
In October 2009, bills in the House and Senate were introduced that included $1 billion for the National Housing Trust Fund. While those bills have stalled, the money they would have put into the Fund has been placed in different legislative vehicles, the latest of which is the Jobs Bill (HR2847), passed by the House and waiting to be introduced in the Senate in early 2010.
For more on Affordable Housing, visit the RAC’s issue page on Housing & Homelessness, or the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
Judaism and Housing
The prophets themselves exhorted us to follow a long-standing tradition of hospitality among the Jewish people. According to one midrash, Abraham is judged to be greater than Job because while the latter "opened his doors to the road" (Job 31:32), Abraham left his tent to seek guests among the passers-by (Genesis 18:1-8). Furthermore, Abraham "got busy and built spacious mansions along the highways, and stocked them with food and drink, so that whoever entered ate, drank, and blessed Heaven" (Avot 1:5; Avot d'Rabbi Natan 7).
Position of the Reform Jewish Movement
The Reform Movement has always acted upon fundamental Jewish ideals by advocating for children, the poor, disenfranchised, the elderly, the sick, the disabled and the "stranger among us." In past resolutions we have called for full employment programs, social welfare entitlements for public housing, day care, family planning, health and legal services and income maintenance assistance programs. In 1973, the URJ urged Congress to expand social programs, and in 1981 opposed efforts to cut funding to education, job training, food subsidies and many other social programs that were in danger of losing some, if not all, of their funding.
Just before the passage of the 1996 welfare reform law, the URJ passed a resolution entitled "Our Economic Commitment to America's Poor." This 1995 resolution recognized the importance of prudent fiscal reforms and welfare reform, but asserted that these reforms should not be made on the backs of the most needy. The resolution further asserted that "the United States government [must]"ensure an adequate, federally guaranteed safety net to protect our nation's most vulnerable populations." Any legislation that does not meet the above standard should not be passed by Congress or signed into law by the President.
Economic Justice and Jewish Values
Hebrew scripture details for us one of the world's earliest social welfare systems. We are taught to leave the corners of our fields and the gleanings of our harvest to the poor (Leviticus 19:9), and to open our hands and lend to people whatever it is they need (Deuteronomy 7-11). We learn that helping fellow human beings in need, tzedakah, is not simply a matter of charity, but of responsibility, righteousness, and justice. The Bible does not merely command us to give to the poor, but to advocate on their behalf. We are told in Proverbs 31:9, to "speak up, judge righteously, champion the poor and the needy."
Jewish history also provides us with an example for helping the needy. During Talmudic times, much of tzedakah was done though tax-financed, community-run programs that provided form the poor, the hungry, the ill, and the children - a close parallel to the entitlement security we fought, and continue to fight, to preserve in our society today.
Publications
