Considering hunger this Shabbat

by: Philip Bump

Thu Mar 18, 2010 at 09:27:35 AM EDT

As I write this, it's 9:15 in the morning on the East Coast. And, according to Stop the Hunger, 11,000 people have died of hunger so far today. In the past nine-and-a-quarter hours.

Our partners at American Jewish World Service have developed a unique campaign to raise awareness of this crisis. This weekend, they're organizing a Global Hunger Shabbat, with a set of tools, readings and prayers to encourage consideration of the hunger and opportunities to develop solutions.

From the website:

Global Hunger Shabbat will be an opportunity for Jews nationwide to unite for this common cause and to raise our collective voices against the injustice that is claiming lives around the world. As Jews, social justice has always been in our prayers and our actions, and this day of solidarity is designed to bring about our deepest impulse for effecting change.

The site also has a map and search tool that will allow you to find a Hunger Shabbat event in your area. If you'd like to host an event at your home, they also have an archived video seminar on doing so effectively.

It's a sobering and difficult issue, and one for which systemic resolution often seems hopelessly distant. By spending even one Shabbat considering the role we can play, we are taking a stride toward that goal.