Selected Reform Responsa 155

A POVERTY PROJECT AND SHABBAT 1986

QUESTION: Members of the congregation are involved in a social action program which seeks to rebuild homes in various deprived areas of the city. Plans are made for this throughout the year; the building material is gathered; hundreds of volunteers both in the Christian and Jewish community are involved in the process. The actual rebuilding takes place twice a year each time on a shabbat. Should members of the Jewish community be involved in this activity which violates the spirit of shabbat, but on the other hand helps the poor?(Rabbi J. Zabarenko, Houston , TX )

ANSWER: The commitment of Judaism to help those who are poor has been very clear from biblical times onward. The legislation of the Torah , and the constant exortation of the prophets, have moved us in this direction. The statements about charity by the legal literature from the Mishnah onward have been very specific, and makes this one of the highest priorities of Judaism . Tzedakah in all forms has always been important to us. Maimonides ’ eight steps of charity have systematized our efforts. The last of his steps is akin to the project undertaken by your community, as it enables the poor to provide for themselves with dignity, and in this case, proper homes in which their families can live.

Reform Jews have placed special emphasis on social action programs, and the eighth point of the Pittsburgh Platform of 1885 stressed this:

In full accordance with the spirit of Mosaic legislation

which strives to regulate the relation between rich and

poor, we deem it our duty to participate in the great

task of modern times, to solve on the basis of justice

and righteousness the problem presented by the

contrasts and evils of the present organization of