Affliction Beyond Hunger

Affliction Beyond Hunger 
by Jews for Racial and Economic Justice  
In our city today, some of our neighbors are forced to work in order to receive their meager welfare benefits, which barely enable them to survive. Tonight we share their bread of affliction: 
 
The affliction of work without dignity 
The injustice of no minimum wage 
The theft of protection from injury 
The anxiety of work with no future 
Panic at the threat of lost benefits. 
The stress of leaving a child for work 
The shame of forced placement 
The death of educational opportunity 
The robbery of the right to organize 
Silenced voices of protest. 
Who speaks aloud alongside those whose speech has been muted? 
Who breathes together with those who cannot catch their breath? 
We can breathe the breath of life, we can join these struggles, we can face the Pharoahs and strip them of their power.