THIS WEEK: Food Aid Shabbat at your congregation and dinner table

June 14, 2025 / 18 Sivan 5785

Parshat Behaalotecha

Let us know you plan to participate in Food Aid Shabbat by filling out this form.

As part of the Jews for Food Aid for People in Gaza campaign we are calling on congregations and communities to dedicate this Shabbat to drawing attention to food aid.

In Jewish tradition, feeding the hungry is considered a profound moral and religious obligation. It's viewed as a mitzvah. Jewish texts and traditions over the generations – from Torah, to rabbinic literature, from medieval law codes and to contemporary ethical works – emphasize that feeding the hungry is a fundamental Jewish obligation. Our Torah and Sages describe feeding those in need of sustenance as imitating God’s providing food. The Rabbis remind us that the obligation to feed the hungry extends to all people mipnei darchei shalom, in order to build a peaceful world for all.  

Over two months ago, the Israeli government imposed a blockade on all food and medical aid into Gaza. There remains widespread starvation in Gaza and the tiny number of aid trucks the Israeli government has allowed to cross the still-enforced blockade does not come close to meeting the need. Parents in Gaza cannot feed their children. The United Nations World Food Agency has reported that its food pantries in Gaza are empty; World Central Kitchen has had to cease operations in Gaza because it has run out of food.

Anwar Hamad, a 38-year-old mother of six from Jabalya Refugee Camp, recounted to B’tselem as they conducted their research on the starvation crisis:

How long will this go on? I am just one of two million people trapped in the Gaza Strip. We are facing bombings and killings, hunger and thirst. I long to bring home a potato or an eggplant! We have reached a point where we dream day and night of vegetables and meat. They have turned us into people who dream only of food. 

This Shabbat, we will be reading Behaalotecha in which the Israelites complain of their lack of food while wandering the desert:

The Israelites wept and said, “If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish that we used to eat free in Mitzrayim: the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. Now our gullets are shriveled. There is nothing at all! Nothing but this manna to look to!” (Numbers 11:4-6)

In the Torah and in much of rabbinic commentary, the Israelites complaining about their dissatisfaction with the manna is seen as the Israelites being ungrateful, whiny, and petulant. The Israelites are meant to be satisfied with what they have. Ultimately, the tradition teaches that this episode in Behaalotecha tests Israelites’ faith in and relationship with God. 

When we read Torah, we mine it for ethical insight. One insight to come out of this week’s parsha is that food is a human right; after all, God would not have left the Israelites to fend for themselves in a foodless desert. The moral failing of the Israelites in that moment was that they felt starved while their bellies were full. They confused their discomfort with suffering that threatens their lives. We are challenged to ask ourselves: If our ancestors could not bear even a little monotony in our diets, how can we look away when others are truly starving? We are called to extend ourselves with empathy toward those experiencing food scarcity and to remember that we should not imagine our own discomfort as more extreme than it is. It should be no surprise that Jewish tradition is replete with obligations to feed the hungry, both those of our community and beyond it.We have an important role to play in changing the reality facing people in Gaza right now. 3,000 trucks full of food aid are waiting at the border. The Israeli government can reverse course today and allow this life-saving aid to reach the people in Gaza who need it.

Jewish tradition teaches us: choose life, so that you and future generations may live. By participating in Food Aid Shabbat, you’re joining together with tens of thousands of Jewish people in all 50 states and countries around the world to send the clear message that we support food aid for families in Gaza and an end to the Israeli government’s food aid blockade. 

This is what it means to choose life: for every Palestinian. For every Israeli. For all the people of the land. For all of us.

Ways to Participate in Food Aid Shabbat

At Home

1. Recite this short kavannah (intention) before you Shabbat candle-lighting or havdalah ritual.

Erev shabbat cande lighting kavanah:

This Shabbat I will connect to the human right to food and to our communal responsibility to advocate for the Israeli government to immediately lift the food aid blockade on Gaza.

Havdalah candle lighting kavanah:

This week I will take action toward  our communal responsibility to advocate for the Israeli government to immediately lift the food aid blockade on Gaza. I commit to (give tzedakah to Gaza Soup Kitchen, recruit new signers to the food aid campaign, and/or reach out to my representatives in Congress asking them to take action to end the blockade)

2. Help us reach 36k signers: 

    • Send this link to join our Jews for Food Aid for People in Gaza campaign to 3-5 friends.

    • Share your reasons for signing on with friends and family at your Shabbat table, and encourage them to join you.

    • Talk about why you’re participating in Food Aid Shabbat on social media – follow the campaign and tag us in your post at @jews_for_food_aid and use #JewsForFoodAidForPeopleInGaza. Find graphics and a sample caption here and if your Shabbat practice supports this, post a photo of yourself at your Shabbat table with a print out of this sign.

3. Donate tzedakah to the Gaza Soup Kitchen before Shabbat or after havdalah. Consider donating the amount you spent on groceries for your household’s meal, or double it if you’re able to, or give generously – whatever that means to your family.

4. Let us know you plan to participate by filling out this form. Please also tag @jews_for_food_aid on Instagram with a message of solidarity to people in Gaza.

In Your Congregation

Please “RSVP” here if you plan to participate in ANY way in Food Aid Shabbat!

1. Give a devar Torah on the importance of supporting food aid for people in Gaza. 

Recommended resources for inspiration:

2. Make visible your support for the campaign 

    • Share your support for the campaign with congregants and encourage everyone to sign on at FoodAidforGaza.org. 

    • Print out one of our posters and hang it in your space, in your community building or home 

    • Print out these flyers and hand them out with the siddurim

3. Encourage tzedakah to the Gaza Soup Kitchen

    • If possible, forgo Oneg Shabbat and donate money you would have spent on the oneg to the Gaza Soup Kitchen.

    •  If not possible to forgo make a comparable donation to Gaza Soup Kitchen

    • Email your community (again) to invite them to add their name to the campaign and to encourage them to give tzedakah to the Gaza Soup Kitchen

Sample text to send out in your weekly newsletter and/or Shabbat announcements:

Jewish teaching is clear: if there is a hungry person, one must feed them. That’s why, this Shabbat we are proud to be participating in “Food Aid Shabbat” as part of the Jews for Food Aid for People in Gaza campaign. We are one of 50 congregations who have endorsed the campaign that has been signed by over 19,000 Jews around the world. The campaign expresses a clear, simple message from the Jewish community: that we support food aid for people in Gaza and an end to the Israeli government’s food aid blockade. 

The situation is catastrophic for people in Gaza who are trying to feed their families. Though some limited aid has gotten in, the majority of Palestinians are unable to access adequate food to feed their families. But it doesn’t have to be this way: 3,000 trucks full of food aid are waiting at the border. The Israeli government can reverse course today and allow this life-saving aid to reach the people in Gaza who need it now. By participating in this campaign, we’re joining together with tens of thousands of Jews in every state and around the globe to  show our support for food aid for people in Gaza right now.

  • If you have not signed on yet, we encourage you to do so now at foodaidforgaza.org 

  • Once you have signed, please send it on to 3-5 people in your life who share your commitment to ending the starvation in Gaza.

  • Before Shabbat comes in or after havdallah, please consider making a donation to the Gaza Soup Kitchen. Our campaign has already moved over $50,000 to feeding people whatever food is available in Gaza.

This is what it means to choose life: for every Palestinian. For every Israeli. For all the people of the land. For all of us.