Contradictions are popping up a lot around here lately: By now, you’ve likely heard AJWS say “U.S. food aid saves lives but it’s also causing more hunger.” We’re often uncomfortable with contradictions like these, and instead, crave clear messages that we can embrace: hunger is bad. Aid is good. Too bad things can’t be that …
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The ongoing famine and food crisis in Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia has fallen out of the headlines. But it continues to have devastating effects on communities. The international community is still responding to the crisis, but resources are limited. Most relief efforts are focusing on the regions of Somalia where the famine has resulted in …
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There’s been considerable coverage of the East Africa famine over the past two weeks. In his NY Times op-ed last Sunday, Nick Kristof wrote about a famine-related subject that, for many people, is an afterthought: the unspeakable violence against women and girls that escalates in the face of food insecurity. Kristof writes: “At the very …
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There is no denying the severity of the crisis in East Africa right now. We’ve read the headlines and seen horrifying photos of starving children. The situation is getting worse every day. Two days ago, the United Nations declared a famine in three more areas of Somalia. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) …
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Originally posted on AlertNet. Headlines tell us that a severe drought in the Horn of Africa is responsible for creating “the most severe food security emergency in the world today.” But is it? Images of emaciated children and desperate parents have flooded the news. More than 10 million people in Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia are …
Read MoreWhat does it mean to “count”? To count can mean to tally items to determine the total—as in, the teacher counted her students. To count can also mean to have merit, importance or value—as in, every little bit of help counts. In Parashat Ki Tisa, God instructs Moshe to count the Jewish people. Men over the age of twenty are included in this census, and each is commanded to donate a half-shekel, which is used for the construction and upkeep of the Tabernacle.
Read MoreFew things are prettier than a rainbow. The picturesque spectrum of color across an ashen, rain-filled sky elicits feelings of calm, gratitude and awe in even the most jaded of people. But a rainbow is more than just a sight of beauty. The Jewish tradition pushes us to see each rainbow as a prismatic vision …
Read MoreWhat does it mean to “count”? To count can mean to tally items to determine the total—as in, the teacher counted her students. To count can also mean to have merit, importance or value—as in, every little bit of help counts. In Parshat Ki Tisa, God instructs Moshe to count the Jewish people. Men over …
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