Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger

In 1985, I read an article in Moment Magazine about an idea floated by then editor Leonard Fine, whereby he proposed instituting a Jewish tax on simchas to alleviate the problem of world hunger. His idea was simple: when we spend our money and other resources celebrating happy times in our lives, we ought to think about those who are less fortunate. He invited the Jewish community to set aside an additional 3% of the amount we spend on Bar and Bat Mitzvah celebrations, wedding receptions, birthday parties and the like, and donate it to help the hungry. The idea quickly blossomed into Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger.

I invited the first director of Mazon, Irv Cramer, to speak at my congregation that year, the first place at which he proposed the details of the newly formed organization. But Mazon flourished rapidly, and in the 18 years since, it has grown into a national organization committed to helping hungry people of all faiths and backgrounds by supporting the most effective hunger-relief groups in the United States, Israel and in developing countries worldwide.

Mazon (which means "food" in Hebrew) is supported by nearly 80,000 donors. This year, Mazon made more than 3 million dollars in grants to alleviate hunger. More than 90% of the money raised goes directly to programs and services. In North Carolina alone, Mazon has made 57 grants totaling $508,000 to 10 organizations, including the Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina right here in Charlotte. Other organizations in Asheville, Elizabeth City, Greensboro, Morganton, Raleigh, Winston-Salem, and Yanceyville also benefited from these funds. Mazon has enabled the Jewish community to make a significant impact on hunger in our state. We should be justifiably proud.

This is the time of year when hunger seems to take a back seat to other needs. We tend to think about the hungry in the fall and winter, when so many campaigns surround Thanksgiving and the winter holidays, or during the coldest months when the homeless are most in need. But hunger is a 24-7-365 problem. People need to eat every day, and the mitzvah of feeding the hungry remains just as important now as it is every day of the year.

The most recent Annual Report from Mazon notes that Mendele Mokher Seforim, a giant of 19th century Yiddish literature, once described hunger as "a kind of suffering like burning slowly and incessantly on a still fire." Two centuries later, too many men, women and children experience that feeling on a daily basis.

Our tradition teaches us that we are all responsible for one another (Talmud Sanhedrin 27b). We are called, right now, right here, to reach out our hands to the hungry, to share our bread. Please think of the hungry every day. Please drop canned goods in the basket at Temple, or send us a check made out to Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger. You matter.

James M. Bennett, Rabbi