By Rabbi Michael S. Beals
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As we have done for the last 3,200 years, the Jewish community is once again preparing to observe the eight-day holiday of Passover. It is a time when we reflect on our liberation from slavery in ancient Egypt and are reminded that the Torah calls us to take care of “the stranger,” “the orphan,” and “the widow.”
Today, of course, these euphemisms allude to marginalized communities here in the U.S. and around the world. At a moment where there seems to be injustice at every turn, it can be daunting to know where to begin. Recently, however, I had the opportunity to act on those values as part of a rabbinic group advocating in Washington, D.C., with the American Jewish World Service (AJWS).
During past lobbying experiences, I have often found myself engaging with politicians about why ongoing support for Israel is essential to their Jewish constituents and U.S strategic interests. I still occupy that complicated position of loving and supporting the People and Land of Israel, while morally rejecting most of the decisions of the current, long-serving government. However, as a Jewish American and world citizen, my moral concerns do not begin and end with the State of Israel. We are all made b’tselem Elohim, in the image of God; my concern for humanity does not begin and end with the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
That is why, when I met with Senator Chris Coons and Representative Sarah McBride, as well as and top staffers from the office of Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester, it was on behalf of other vulnerable groups suffering grave injustices around the world.
We spoke about Haiti, which is in the midst of multiple overlapping crises: millions of people are facing food insecurity; violent gangs have taken control of the nation’s capital and using sexual violence as a weapon of war; and its governance remains complicated and fragile. We asked Congress members to prioritize human rights and accountability and to co-sponsor the Haiti Women’s Resolution which would secure human rights for women and girls.
It was gratifying to learn that Representative McBride did not need convincing at all—in fact (surely inspired by her moral upbringing at Wilmington’s Westminster Presbyterian Church by retiring minster Reverand Dr. Greg Jones) she was a co-sponsor of the resolution. And it was equally gratifying to hear Senator Coons say that he remains committed to the U.S. being a nation of compassion, not cruelty.
Our cohort also lobbied against the expansion of the Mexico City Policy, also known as the Global Gag Rule, which would deny life-giving help to any organization even tangentially associated with reproductive health needs, serving members of the LGBTQI+ community, or providing services that would be considered diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Modern-day widows, orphans, and strangers, receiving aid through both international and bilateral organizations, as well as U.S.-based NGOs operating overseas would all be cut off from critical funding. Now that is cruelty.
The U.S. government has a long history of using foreign aid program to help those in need, promote goodwill for the U.S. overseas, and support our broader national security priorities. These programs also reflect our great nation’s morals and values, as well as deeply held Jewish values. Judaism teaches us that we have a duty to care for all people, to ensure that all people have day machsoro—resources sufficient for their needs. This proposed expansion would worsen the pain, chaos and confusion people are already feeling following the closure of USAID. It would endanger even more lives and deepen inequities. Knowing all this, I couldn’t stay silent. None of us should.
As I crisscrossed the halls of Congress, I was reminded of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel’s awe-inspiring quote when he marched alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, in 1968: “I felt my legs were praying!”
With all the gloom and doom dominating world news, undoubtedly many of us are aching to counter feelings of powerlessness and disenfranchisement by doing something, anything, for the modern-day “widows, orphans and strangers.” My time in D.C. reminded me that we are not powerless. And so, as we head into Passover, and as Christians enter Holy Week, let us take the holy words from our respective faith traditions, and turn them into action.
About the Author
RABBI MICHAEL S. BEALS serves as rabbi at Temple Beth-El in Newark, DE.
