Making Poverty History: Dvar Torah for Shabbat Sh'lach L'cha 5765, 25th June 2005

Rabbi Dr. Margaret Jacobi

Among the 4.4 billion people who live in developing countries: three fifths have no access to basic sanitation one third are without safe drinking water one fifth live beyond the reach of modern health services. one fifth of all children do not complete their primary education one fifth of all children are undernourished. every day 30,000 children die because they live in extreme pover But at the same time, some other statistics make us wonder why we cannot change this: Basic education for all would cost $6 billion per year $8 billion is spent annually on cosmetics in USA The installation of water and sanitation for all would cost $9 billion plus some annual costs. $11 billion is spend annually on ice cream in Europe. For the cost of our luxuries we could save millions of lives. We CAN change the situation, and Judaism makes it clear we not only can but must. As our reading stated: 'If there are poor amongst you,  you shall surely open your hand to him and offer him as much as he needs'

The Making Poverty History Campaign focuses on three areas: aid, trade and debt relief. Aid is the most obvious -  we can give to the countries in need. In 1970 the richest countries agreed to spend 0.7% of their GNP on aid, but in 2005 all but three of the richest countries have failed to reach the target.  But giving aid is not enough. It needs to be given effectively. At present, it is not targeted at the poorest countries. And often it is tied to production of certain items which the donors require, or to certain projects which benefit western companies.

Neither does it promote self-sufficiency. Maimonides stated that the highest degree of charity is setting a poor man up in business so that he is no longer dependent on communal help.  The second part of the MPH campaign concerns trade. One way to develop self-sufficiency is to start with a level playing field. At the moment, trade rules are heavily biased towards the richest countries.  Subsidies allow western countries to swamp poorer countries with goods, whilst imposing tariffs on imports from those countries. For example, Europe and the USA combined subsidise their farmers around £1 billion a day.  At the same time, farmers in Africa are forced to accept whatever price is offered. For example, between 1996 and 2000, Ghana increased cocoa production by almost a third, but was paid a third less. A Ghanaian cocoa farmer only gets 1.2% of the price we pay for a bar of chocolate.  The fair trade movement aims to make sure farmers are paid a fair price for its produce, and our Synagogue, along with other Liberal Synagogues, is committed to being a Fair Trade Synagogue. But only when international trade rules are changed to make the system fair will real progress be made.

Finally, there is the issue of debt.  Poor countries were lent money in the 1960s and 1970s, but shortly afterwards interest rates shot up so that they ended up still owing more than the original loan, even after years of repayments.  The debt repayments are often more than is spent on health or education. For example, Malawi spends more on servicing its debt that on health, despite nearly one in five Malawians being HIV positive. The Jewish attitude to debt is clear from our Torah reading. Extortionate interest is forbidden.  The Hebrew for interest is neshech, which is similar to the word for 'bite'. At first a snakebite seems small, but eventually it becomes fatal.  One who demands such interest is considered hard-hearted and is condemned.

The Making Poverty History Jewish Coalition has brought the Jewish community together in an unprecedented way, with members from Orthodox to Liberal, from the Union of Jewish Students to the Board of Deputies. It recognises that we have an imperative as Jews to give those in need;  to end unjust trade inequalities and to cease exacting credit from the poor.  There is still time to join the demonstration in Edinburgh next Shabbat, when Orthodox and Progressive communities are joining together. But even if you cannot, there is much you can do. You can send a card of protest. You can buy a Make Poverty History kippah. You can change the way you buy goods. Public pressure can make a difference - our government is already starting to respond.  The special section in our Siddur on Prosperity reminds us that when we live in prosperity it is easy to ignore those who suffer. But we must not.  Rather, we have all the more responsibility to help them.

The seemingly contradictory verses in Deuteronomy 15 reflect different possibilities. If we do nothing, then the poor will not cease from the land. But if we act now, then we can bring about the time when there are no poor amongst us. And, as Theodore Herzl said: ''If you wish it, is it no dream."

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