Saturday, May 26, 12:30pm
Leaving from Kane Street after Kiddush
Come join other pedestrian seekers as we take to the sidewalks and green spaces of Brooklyn. Our next saunter will be a Shabbat walk to Brooklyn Bridge Park and the DUMBO waterfront, with historical insights from member Bob Cohen. Our walks are a wonderful way to meet new people of all ages and enjoy Shabbat. Contact Rabbi Jason for more information.
Don’t miss our Anniversary Celebration
Sunday, June 10, 6:00pm
Join us for great company, delicious food, and wonderful music.
The deadline to reserve your seat is Wednesday, May 30.
As we celebrate the holidays together and look ahead to the possibilities of the year ahead, we are pleased to report that Kane Street has taken significant steps forward in our renovation initiatives. Please take a moment to review the September 2017 New Year Omnibus Update, which outlines developments of the past several months.
Rabbi Sam Weintraub
A message from Rabbi Weintraub
Restoring a Moral Agenda to America: The Poor People’s Campaign
“G-d said to Job, ‘Which would you prefer—poverty or suffering?’ Job responded, ‘Master of the Universe! I will take all of the sufferings in the world as long as I don’t become poor, for if I go to the marketplace and don’t have any money to buy food, what will I eat?’ This shows that poverty is worse than all of the other sufferings in the world.”
Our beloved country once epitomized freedoms and possibilities which almost all the world sought to emulate. Now we are suffering a moral breakdown. Because of what passes for “breaking news”, 11-year olds can tell you the names of porn stars and what “NDA” means, while PhD’s are ignorant about the conditions of fellow citizens living in misery just a neighborhood or two away.
According to US Census data, almost half of our population is poor or low income, and 15 percent (45 million people) live below the poverty line. With one-in-five American children living below that line, we have the highest child poverty rate in the developed world. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the number one reason for personal bankruptcy in the US is not self-indulgence, but medical debt.
In this assault on human dignity, economic injustice is joined by racism and militarism. Hugely disproportionate percentages of those who are poor, near poor, “nutritionally-deprived”, medically uninsured, homeless, victims of voter suppression, and incarcerated are people of color. Meanwhile, 53 cents of every federal discretionary dollar goes to military spending while 15 cents are spent on anti-poverty programs. In 1961, Dwight D. Eisenhower warned of the “military-industrial complex”. Today, military spending continues to benefit private corporations more than the troops. In 2016, CEOs of the top five military contractors earned almost 100 times the pay of a US General with twenty years of experience.
Read the full text
Rabbi Weintraub’s Reflections on Social Issues
Me’avdut L’cherut – From Slavery to Freedom
“To Work and to Preserve” Judaism and the Environment
Spirituality and Politics, Social Change, and my Trip to Israel
Michael Brown and Eric Garner – A Jewish Perspective
