Reform Rabbis Urge Federal, State Governments to Combat Hunger, Poverty

Federal and state governments were called upon today by the Association of Reform Rabbis of New York to increase present programs to alleviate growing conditions of hunger and poverty in the United States. The organization, representing 250 Reform rabbis, urged in a statement “immediate action to relieve the tragic plight of all Americans who are suffering from extreme poverty, to the point of starvation.” The association also said that, in the New York area, “we are especially conscious of unfair pressure put on welfare systems, here and elsewhere, by poor people, driven by hunger from their native communities.” The Reform rabbis declared that “only national action can relieve this problem.” They termed poverty and hunger in America “a moral and political failure in today’s affluent society.” Copies of the statement were sent to Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare Robert Finch, and to New York Senators Jacob K. Javits and Charles Goodell.