Jewish Value: Achrayut (social responsibility)

The soup kits you are making will be donated to several nonprofits including Community Crisis Center, Baltimore Hunger Project, Asylee Women Enterprise, and many more. Soup kits will benefit individuals and families in our area experiencing food insecurity. When someone receives a soup kit pouch, they just have to add water (and whatever vegetables they like) and boil on the stove. One soup kit pouch contains 4-6 servings.

What is Achrayut? The Jewish value of Achrayut, or social responsibility, is the moral belief that we as individuals have a responsibility toward the larger society. One way to be socially responsible is by being aware of and taking steps toward helping others who are in need. 

Why is this project important? 

• In 2017, the food insecurity rate in Baltimore City was 21.7%, or approximately, 131,860 people. (feedingamerica.org) 
• Food insecurity refers to USDA’s measure of lack of access, at times, to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members and limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods. Food-insecure households are not necessarily food insecure all the time. Food insecurity may reflect a household’s need to make trade-offs between important basic needs, such as housing or medical bills, and purchasing nutritionally adequate foods. (feedingamerica.org) 
• According to the 2021 Maryland Food Bank Public Perceptions Study, tackling hunger is a high personal priority for Marylanders. Nearly six in ten Marylanders (57%) consider hunger to be at the top of their priority list, or an above-average priority, when considering “all the issues and challenges that need to be addressed,” which is the highest level measured across the three surveys (https://mdfoodbank.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/MFB-Public-Perception-Survey-Overview-2021.pdf)  

 

Go Deeper: Learn more about food insecurity.

Websites and articles:

• Feeding America: Hunger and Poverty in Baltimore 
• Maryland Food Bank  
• Making Mensches: Achrayut text study  

Children’s Books:

• Bagels for Benny by Aubrey Davis 
• Mitzvah Pizza by Sarah Lynn Scheerger 
• Bim and Bom: A Shabbat Tale by Daniel J. Swartz 
• Kamala and Maya’s Big Idea by Meena Harris 

Actions:

• Offer time and resources to organizations that feed the hungry. Find opportunities through JVC at jvcbaltimore.org/opportunities 
• Participate in JVC’s weekly Bunches of Lunches program that delivers lunches to various organizations around the greater Baltimore area. Visit jvcbaltimore.org/lunches 
• Participate in JVC’s annual Casserole Challenge around Thanksgiving and make one or a few casseroles for families in need. Visit jvcbaltimore.org/livewithpurpose/