WHEREAS Jewish tradition teaches “Open your hand [to the poor person] and provide sufficient for the need” (Deut. 15:8), and “Just as God clothed the naked…so too you must supply clothes for the naked [poor]” (Talmud B. Sotah 14a);” and
WHEREAS the burden of the current recession and the aftermath of Sept. 11 falls disproportionately on low income families; and