…Jewish tradition recognizes a meal as a time for intimacy, fellowship, and significant conversation… Because eating creates intimacy amongst people it creates opportunities for encounters of the intellect and the soul… Rabbi Yehiel E. Poupko
I was blessed to experience the gift of an intimate table as a child. Then as an adult, my husband and I were fortunate to have had the emotional and physical resources to attempt to provide our children with a similar family table.
There was the usual normal meal-time hubbub, but our children, now grown, speak of our family table as the place where they learned about the world and connected with others. They now host people at their own tables. As their mother, I take great comfort in this. From experience I know that these table connections provide an essential web of support that we all need in order to face life’s unavoidable challenges.
At the same time, I’m aware that not everyone has the opportunity for this kind of deeply connecting meal experience. What if a person is isolated by illness or abuse or by any of the many factors that can make it difficult or impossible to invite others to a shared table? What if one’s resources are so limited that there simply isn’t enough food to feed others? What if a person doesn’t even have a home?
One of the indignities of poverty is that it can, and often does, isolate people. While having financial resources in no way guarantees a healthy family or a meal table where people talk about issues of substance, we know that the lack of basic financial resources is one preventable factor that can stand in the way of creating those tables. We also know that meals shared with others are places where intimate bonds can be created. These bonds can sustain us through the inevitable tough times in our lives.
And yet, there are people in our community unable to create those communal meal connections simply because they don’t have the financial resources to put food on the table.
When I support the Polack Food Bank, I am aware that I am not solving the problem of hunger. I am aware that food insecurity is a symptom of deeper difficulties in our society. And yet I believe in the power of shared food to help ease the ache of isolation caused by these bigger problems.
A simple meal shared with others has the potential to ease a tremendous amount of pain. I believe everyone should have access to intimate shared meals in their own homes. Being part of a healthy community means providing the physical resources to help make possible the creation of this holy space.
The JFS Community-Wide Food Drive is September 14 – October 4. Learn about ways to get involved. Take a Polack Food Bank Virtual Tour now.
Photo by Aidan Sally.
By Beth Huppin
Beth is the Director of JFS Project Kavod/Dignity. She has enjoyed teaching Judaics to children and adults of all ages in both formal and informal settings for over 30 years. She is the recipient of a 2010 National Covenant Award for Excellence in Jewish Education.
