Submitted by Rabbi Salth

My staples during this week have been cans of soup that I purchased on sale for $1.33 each, a box of granola bars, and bananas, four for a dollar, and apples, two for a dollar.

Earlier this week we held a meeting at Central that included a hot lunch: kosher Chinese food.  I walked into the gathering with a bowl of lentil soup that I had heated up in our microwave and a granola bar in my pocket.  While no one asked me why I was the only one around the table not eating the Chinese, I felt odd.  I also found myself peering at my colleagues plates of steaming rice, chicken, beef and broccoli.  It looked delicious.  People arrived for the lunch part of the meeting at different times and fifteen minutes after I sat down, both Cantor Angela Buchdahl and Cantor Julia Katz arrived.  Being that they too were participating in the challenge they both had brought a simple sandwich to eat.  Seeing them and their modest lunches, made me feel better about being different and not being able to partake in what seemed like the relative feast that everyone else was enjoying.

I have been regularly humbled this week by this experience.  Fortunately for me, this challenge was an exercise. Trying to find a way to eat on a extreme budget is the norm for millions including, I know, the guests we welcome into our lobby each Thursday and Friday morning for a hot breakfast served by our dedicated volunteers.  In addition, I had a microwave to heat my soup each day.  What do people do when that is not an option?  At minimum it limits their choices even further.   

Over the years I have heard about the effort to have more fruit stands on the streets of city, especially in neighborhoods where supermarkets and bodegas are not found on every corner.  These stands were a source of reasonably inexpensive and healthy food for me this week.  I do wonder if families on food support can use their vouchers at these stands where the fruits and vegetables are often less expensive than in stores. 

I was particularly drawn to eat lentil soup this week.  We are in the midst of reading the Torah portions that tell of the saga of Jacob and Esau.  In one of these stories, Esau “sells” his birthright to his brother Jacob for a bowl of lentil soup.  Jews often speak of the importance of food for us as a people and this week, I experienced this in a different way.  As I ate the type of soup that Jacob and Esau once ate so long ago, I felt an irrational but deeper connection to their story and our story.

Lastly, I want to remind people that the organization Mazon does very important work nationwide to help feed those who are hungry.  I am donating the cost of the meals that I would have normally paid for this week to Mazon and I welcome others to join me in making a contribution to this worthy Jewish non-profit.

Read more clergy and congregant posts about this challenge