Jewish Life Update, Week 5

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IMG_8748Did you know that 48 million people in the United States are food insecure? That means they have trouble affording enough food to feed themselves on a regular basis. That is more people than the entire population of Canada. 13 million of these people are children.

IMG_8729Our Ofarim campers learned these facts this week as they kicked off their session of exploring social justice and Tikkun Olam. They heard from special guest Josh Protas from Mazon, a Jewish organization working to fight hunger. Over two days, they learned how this organization advocates for hunger relief in this country and Israel. They wrote letters to President Obama about the issue, having learned that the most common way that food assistance is given is through government programs. Their letters will be delivered to the White House though Mazon’s D.C. office.

This lesson was especially relevant as all of camp spent time on the first day of the session learning the meaning of the Birkat Hamazon, our blessing after meals, and met some of our kitchen staff. We focused on the Harachaman part of the blessing, in which the leader can add blessings about his or her hosts, peace in the world, or anything else! Then we wrote our own blessings that we read each day after breakfast.

Here’s Hannah A.’s blessing, from Ofarim bunk 19:IMG_8749

We give thanks to God for the food we eat, for the beds we sleep on. We give thanks for being here in Eisner. As we sit together, eat together, we hope that we can all learn to get along.

We look forward to sharing these original blessings each morning!