Why I will not be fasting on Shabbat but will resume on Sunday.
I take vows and promises seriously, even as I am careful not to invoke God’s name when I make a promise. So while I’ve committed to fast until SNAP benefits are restored to one out of every eight Americans, I’m also committed to my observance of Shabbat. And I don’t give up my Shabbat for anything, no matter how important, unless my violation of Shabbat directly saves someone’s life.
I don’t travel on Shabbat. I walk to synagogue on Shabbat, no matter the weather. I don’t drive to rallies on Shabbat, no matter how much I support the cause. I don’t go to weddings, no matter how much I love the couple getting married. In my life, Shabbat comes first. One of the mitzvot of Shabbat is to eat three meals – Friday evening, Shabbat afternoon, and a third meal, literally named se’udah shelisheet, third meal, before the end of Shabbat Saturday evening. A biblical fast like Yom Kippur supersedes Shabbat, while other fast days, like Tisha B’Av, are delayed until Sunday. Some fasts, like the fast of the firstborn before the Seder or the fast of Esther before Purim, are observed on Thursday so they not only don’t fall on Shabbat, but also so their observance doesn’t even infringe on the opening minutes of Shabbat Friday evening.
Therefore, my commitment to the voluntary fast for SNAP does not supersede my obligation to eat Shabbat meals. I’ll refrain from eating at Kiddush, but following services on Shabbat morning, I’ll go home and eat lunch. And then, if necessary, if our government is still closed and if full SNAP benefits are still unfunded, I’ll resume my fast on Sunday.
If you are not able to fast for medical or other reasons, we still invite you to sign the Fast for SNAP pledge. This more people who publicly add their names at FastforSNAP.com, the greater the chance that our fast will catch the attention of our leaders in DC and remind them of their obligation to take bipartisan action to reopen the government.
You can donate to Mazon, Feeding American West Michigan, or your local food pantry. You can donate to Ahavas Israel’s Project Isaiah fund, an annual collection beginning on Yom Kippur in response to the reading from Isaiah reminding us that fasting without also feeding the hungry is an empty fast. I have sent money from this fund and my discretionary fund both to an organization supporting hunger relief and to specific individuals in the Jewish community who are in need.
Why are you still fasting? Haven’t the courts ordered the government to restore SNAP benefits?
My understanding of the emergency SNAP funds that the court ordered the government to begin distributing is that the original intent of those funds, which were authorized at the beginning of the COVID pandemic, were to be used for people who lost jobs or income because of widespread economic disruption. Apparently, the court believes that the disruption caused by a lengthy government shutdown is also a legitimate reason to use those funds.
However, the emergency funds only meet about 50% of the expected need. Some states, like Michigan, have been able to allocate money towards SNAP benefits. But even in Michigan, which has allocated enough to meet about 1/3 of the expected need, recipients will fall about 17% short of the full benefit.
SNAP is intended to supplement low income families, who may be spending a high proportion of their income on rent, heat, and transportation to get to work, so they can also afford better and more nutritious food. The maximum benefit is $298 for one person and $218 for each additional person (to a maximum of eight people). That is less than $10 a day. How much do you spend on food per day? For people who are working and barely making it through the month, relying on support from food pantries and other sources, every dollar counts.
The recipients of SNAP funds are our friends and neighbors. The vast majority are not freeloaders and criminals, taking advantage of our tax dollars instead of going out and getting a job. They are hardworking people barely scraping by. For some, the government shutdown is an inconvenience. For others, it is life-threatening.
Among the priorities of the Democrats is a desire to make sure that the Affordable Care Act remains affordable and low income people can afford insurance. And among the priorities of the Republicans is a desire to lower taxes and encourage investment in businesses which will provide employment. I am fasting until the leadership of both parties sit down together and figure out a way for each side to get some of what they want and reopen the government. This is a bipartisan fast. I’m calling on people from both sides of the aisle to join me in this daily sunrise to sunset fast, along with making donations to organizations that address hunger, to pressure the majority and minority leadership of the Senate and the President to come to the table and find a solution.
I’m not a big fan of fasting, but I’m doing it because the Isaiah verses I mentioned yesterday really spoke to me, connecting fasting with taking action. Let me address a couple of responses I got yesterday.
Why are you doing a useless fast rather than donating food or money to actually feed the hungry? A great comment! In fact, I am doing both. Action is not an either/or proposition. I’m hoping that the idea of fasting to remind ourselves of our obligations to take corrective action ourselves gains traction around and outside of Michigan, such as donating to to Feeding West Michigan or local food pantries. And I’m hoping the Fast for SNAP, especially if it goes viral, will be an effective way to catch the attention of our leadership in DC and prod them to take substantial action.
And speaking of our leadership … why not call on our Senators to change their votes and end the government shutdown? I’m calling on the leadership of the Senate, both majority and minority, and ideally the president as well, to sit down and negotiate an end to the shutdown in which everyone both gives up and gets a little bit of what they want.
And finally, why am I spending time focused on SNAP when we as a Jewish community have our own serious concerns, like antisemitism, that we should address first? Hunger is our concern it’s not just someone else’s problem. There is food need in the Jewish community. This is both our concern and that of every ethnic and religious group in the country.
Please, join me in Fasting for SNAP. Or give to organization working to address the problem of hunger. Or both.
With some hesitation, this morning I joined with the mayor of Grand Rapids and a group of about 35 people from various faith traditions in a sunrise to sunset fast (drinking only water) that will last until SNAP benefits are restored. My hesitation came about because of some skepticism about whether a small group of people in West Michigan can really make a difference in Washington, DC. I agreed to join the effort because of Isaiah in a passage we read on Yom Kippur:
No, this is the fast I desire: To unlock the fetters of wickedness, And untie the cords of the yoke To let the oppressed go free; To break off every yoke. It is to share your bread with the hungry, And to take the wretched poor into your home; When you see the naked, to clothe him, And not to ignore your own kin.
Isaiah 58:6-7
I proposed that fasting is not the end goal. Fasting is a tool to draw attention to real human needs. Fasting is a tool to get the president and the leadership of the senate to do what they need to do to work together to reopen the government and return to one of its primary responsibilities, taking care of the vulnerable of our society. Food, clothing and shelter are basic human needs. We fast to remind our leadership in Washington to do their jobs!
I invite you to join me and this request among your friends and family. Below is the mayor’s initial call for action and a website set up to gather support. I pray that SNAP benefits are restored and that this fast ends soon.
As you all know, SNAP benefits are on the brink of being unfunded and indeed are already not funded as of today. This will affect approximately 30,000 Grand Rapids residents. SNAP is used for roughly $300,000 in purchases a day in GR. As of this writing, the State’s ameliorating response seems to be a $4.5 M statewide infusion of food banks. That scales to about $100K for Grand Rapids, or 1/3 of daily SNAP use. While a federal district court judge has ordered funding to be used for another 2 weeks of SNAP, the Trump administration seems to be saying only that it is “looking into” complying.
While I am working on avenues for real city aid, and will keep working on and monitoring this, and while many of our charitable groups are working to respond, the scale is huge, and the gap too pressing for a full “substitute” for SNAP. I am coming to the conclusion that more is needed, and a public response by faith leaders and others is needed to focus urgency on restoration of food to the community in need
Faith communities have a long history of observing fasting. Jesus’ first act of ministry was a fast. Every year, our Jewish community demonstrate the power of fasting during Yom Kippur, as do our Muslim brothers and sisters during the month of Ramadan. And, as Gandhi and others proved, the political power of fasting- which is after all personally directed and non-violent, but powerful, nevertheless.
In this spirit, I intend to begin fasting for stable funding for SNAP. My political advisors pointed out to me that committing to a fast with a group of committed persons making the same testimony of concern would make the action more visible, powerful, corporate, etc. It is also less easy to dismiss the acts of a group (See “Alice’s Restaurant” for the proof text on this).
I would ask you all:
consider joining in a public pledge to fast until stable funding for SNAP is restored
Help build out a broader group of participants- in your congregation, community of care, etc.
I think the best fast in this context would be limited to a fast that is not life threatening- no food from sunrise to sunset, only water. The purpose is to make us urgent to work on responses, to take the pain of our SNAP brothers and sisters on ourselves in some sense, and to not “pass by on the other side of the road”.
Peace and Love. David LaGrand, Mayor, Grand Rapids, MI
Embodied Torah 