Jewish tradition places an extremely high value on charity (tzedakah) and alleviating suffering. In Judaism, giving to charity is not seen as something optional. Tzedakah is better translated as ‘justice’, meaning that giving to charity is not just something generous, but the right thing to do.
Helping to solve the problem of hunger and food insecurity can also be seen as tikkun olam, which translates to ‘repairing the world’. Food insecurity can be extremely damaging to both an individual and society as a whole because of its long lasting physical and mental effects. Having empathy and compassion for the ‘stranger’ in society means that we are obligated to try to alleviate their suffering, including the issue of hunger.
Several laws that are discussed in the Bible were intended to help the hungry, specifically through the donation of food. These include rules for farmers like leaving the corners of fields uncut to be collected by those in need, or not harvesting during a sabbatical year so that crops can be gathered by the less fortunate. These guidelines were meant to provide assistance to less fortunate members of the community. Food banks are a modern version of this, centralizing donations of nutritious food in order to help others.
The Rambam (Maimonides), one of the most influential Jewish scholars, outlined eight levels of charitable giving. One of the highest forms of charity is giving anonymously, when both the giver and the recipient are unknown to each other. Donations to a food bank can certainly fall into this category, and allow donors to take advantage of a fund that is administered by the JRCC, a neutral third party.
Examining the Jewish tradition of charity and assisting those around us makes it clear that donating to a food bank is one way to emulate this Jewish value. Everyone can benefit from taking time to think about and care for others, including making contributions to organizations that support vulnerable members of our community, like the JRCC.