Shavua Tov
One of our core Jewish obligations and privileges is the mitzvah of looking out for one another. We call that areivut mutual responsibility. And in this moment here in Tucson that responsibility is real, urgent, and close to home.
Food insecurity is rising. More families in our broader Tucson community are experiencing the quiet, painful shame of not knowing where their next meal is coming from.
And Judaism is unambiguous about our duty here:
“If your brother becomes poor… you shall strengthen him.”
— Vayikra / Leviticus 25:35
“When you reap the harvest of your land, do not gather the corners of your field… leave them for the poor and the stranger.”
— Vayikra / Leviticus 23:22
Our tradition does not just encourage feeding the hungry it mandates it. And we are blessed deeply blessed to have a member of our community who has stepped up in meaningful partnership.
A JCF fund holder has generously offered a $10,000 matching gift every dollar donated to the Community Food Bank will be matched, dollar-for-dollar, up to $10,000.
You can participate in two ways:
If you have a JCF DAF, you can make a gift directly from your DAF.
Or you can donate online directly to the Community Food Bank of Southern of Southern Arizona HERE.
Every gift will be doubled, and every doubled dollar means more meals in the homes of our neighbors.
Food insecurity often feels like a private storm.
Families don’t announce that there’s not enough food in the pantry.
People feel shame, isolation, vulnerability.
You’ll Never Walk Alone, this version by Josh Groban reframes that:
When you walk through a storm
Hold your head up high
And don’t be afraid of the dark
And the emotional arc of the lyric ending in solidarity makes it a deeply Jewish value statement without being explicitly Jewish:
Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart
And you’ll never walk alone.
That’s areivut.
Another broadways song blends two core Broadway texts:
“The Story of Tonight” (Hamilton) a call to show up and change the world together
“You Will Be Found” (Dear Evan Hansen) a pledge that no one is left behind.
When Lin-Manuel Miranda and Ben Platt stitched those together, they created a single anthem about collective responsibility, solidarity, and radical presence.
Those are the exact values behind feeding the hungry.
Look at a few key thematic lines:
“Raise a glass to freedom —
something they can never take away.”
For our moment — this is about dignity.
Food is not charity.
Food is dignity.
Food is freedom from shame.
And…
“Even when the dark comes crashing through…”
This is what food insecurity feels like dark crashing through.
And then:
“You will be found.”
That is: we see you we will help you you are not invisible.
Putting all that together:
Found/Tonight becomes a cultural metaphor for areivut the Jewish obligation to take care of one another and in this case, to feed one another.
This moment is the Jewish value of areivut in action. We take care of one another. And we take care of those whose names we will never know — because feeding a hungry human being is itself sacred.
May we be worthy of the match.
May we be generous.
And may this act together move us one step closer to a world built on chesed, dignity, and daily bread for all.
Cochenu b’Achduteynu | כחינו באחדותינו | Our strength is in our unity.
Am Yisrael Chai | עם ישראל חי
Bring them Home Now I מחזירים אותם הביתה עכשיו
Todd Rockoff
President + CEO, Tucson J
