Whereas the Torah (Deut. 15:8) enjoins us to provide for the basic needs of the poor (de mahsoro);
Whereas Jewish tradition has always valued work for bringing dignity to the worker, as the Talmud (Nedarim 49b) says, “Great is work, for it honors the workers;”
Whereas the Welfare Reform Act of 1996 profoundly changed the structures within American government and society for meeting the needs of the poor and supporting them while they find work;
Background:
We, members of the Rabbinical Assembly, are heirs to traditions that ingrain in us an “aggressive attitude toward improving life,” exemplified in Pirkei Avot 2:20-1 “Rabbi Tarfon taught: The day is short, the task is great. You are not obliged to finish the task, but neither are you free to neglect it.”* Over the years the Rabbinical Assembly has adopted stances via resolutions passed at annual conventions on a wide variety of social issues.
Whereas Jewish tradition commands us to “open your hand [to the poor person] and provide sufficient for the need” (Deut. 15:8), and reminds us that “just as God clothed the naked- so too must you supply clothes for the naked [poor]” (Talmud B. Sotah 14a);
Whereas the Jewish community has long demonstrated a commitment to economic and social justice in the United States as exemplified by the involvement of hundreds of Conservative synagogues, schools and camps in social justice programs such as food banks, homeless shelters, home rebuilding projects and medical clinics;