Mikeitz - I’m hungry for your understanding

Mikeitz  - I’m hungry for your understanding

 December 11/12, 2015  Kislev 29/30, 5776

41:45 And Pharaoh called Joseph's name “Tzafenat-pa'neach” and he gave him, Asenat, daughter of Poti-fera, Chief of On, for a wife. Thus, Joseph became in charge of the land of Egypt!

41:46 Now Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt; Joseph left Pharaoh's presence and he passed through the entire land of Egypt.

41:47 The earth produced during the seven years of abundance by the handfuls.

41:48 He gathered all food of the seven years that came to pass in Egypt, and he placed food in the cities; the food of the field around each city he placed within it.

Now let’s skip ahead just a little…………..

41:53 The seven years of abundance that came to pass in the land of Egypt ended!

41:54 And the seven years of famine began approaching just as Joseph had Promised. There was famine in all the lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread…………………………………………….

Such a contrast of opposites from year 1 thru 7, VS. that of 8 thru 14!

Feast vs. Famine!

“I’m Starved”; an all too common phrase we may hear from our children! So, I ask, is that child ‘really’ starved??? Or when you go out on a Saturday evening with friends for a nice dinner and the service is good, but a bit slow, and someone at the table mumbles, “Geeee, I am absolutely famished!” 

True FOOD FOR THOUGHT!

In the uSA, over eating is a huge problem (millions of dollars are spent on this or that diet plan or worse, pills/drinks/Stimulants, etc..); and starvation and malnutrition is of very great concern, not only here, but it is A worldwide issue!

A few years back, I remember reading a very interesting article that really struck a chord; In the Jewish Newspaper of Northern California, an article was written; an outstanding 2 full page article titled, a lesson in Hunger, Rabbi’s Challenge: 1 week on a food-stamp budget. This article was surrounded by articles of How to make Latkes, what is your Hanukkah meal going to be? Advertising from Restaurants for the New Year! Kosher Wines, and basically everything and anything about food and enjoying that awesome and gastronomically delightful experience!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The article outlines a Northern Californian (My origins!) Rabbi taking the following challenge and others across the Area and U.S.A.:

Quoted from the article:

“Abby Leibman, president and CEO of Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger, has examined the stats and knows what they mean in real life.

“Fifty million people are food insecure in America,” she said. “That’s a wonky way of saying there are people in this country who do not know where their next meal is coming from. They can’t reliably know if they will have three meals a day.”

To drive home the point, she notes that 50 million is more than the population of Canada.

Mazon has been a co-sponsor of the Food Stamp Challenge since JCPA first launched it. Leibman has done the challenge before, and knows it gets harder as the week progresses.

“I was obsessed with food the whole week,” she recalled. “I was really sick of what I was eating by the end. The food was boring. It also constrained a lot of what I could do socially because a lot of our social lives are built around meals, and I couldn’t go out to eat. Sometimes the only thing that made it tolerable was knowing it was only [for] a week.”

From the web page:

”The food stamp challenge is one of the best ways to learn about the nutrition hurdles that low-income Americans face every day. The Challenge usually entails eating on a budget of roughly $1 to $1.25 per meal (per person), an amount that approximates the average allocation of food stamp benefits.

Since restaurants do not accept food stamps, dollar value-meals and the likes are off limits. Most supermarkets, as well as many farmers’ markets accept food stamp dollars – if you’re not sure, just ask!

Many people who have taken the challenge, such as members of U.S. Congress, have done so for a period of one week. However, the longer your challenge, the more you will learn! And again, their hunger is for a short period of time!

You may also want to download the Food Stamp Challenge Toolkit at www.frac.org.

As you take the Challenge, you may want to keep a journal, write a blog, or invite your friends and family to take the Challenge as well.  You can blog about your experiences on our SHARE YOUR STORY forum.  Just click on the link below!  To assess your nutrition intake, you can review what you ate with a nutritionist or enter the information into a free online nutrition assessment website such as www.nutritiondata.com. You may never look at your grocery list the same way again.”

Just a few weeks back, As we ate our Thanksgiving Feast, many of us had food over dose, or enjoying the fried latkes and brisket this week of hanukkah, and  it doesn’t stop; we’re getting ready to indulge over the next weeks watching ALL the football games and constantly noshing, sincerely think, ONE WEEK on this challenge!  ONE WEEK! ONE WEEK!!!!!  But wait, does that mean NO guacamole and chips, or a few glasses of wine?  How about the midnight snack , or bowl of ice cream……????

Can I make it ONE week on a VERY limited budget, and truly experience real hunger-pains, not eating so healthy, yearning for food?  One week is a very short span of time vs a life-time of hunger!  Yom Kippur is JUST 1 day, as ‘we’ all moan and say, “When is Break The fast???- Another 2 hours, as I am absolutely starved!”   WRONG!!!!  Hungry, yes!

Maybe, Next time you see a person that is hungry, truly hungry, ask if you may purchase a hot cup of coffee or a sandwich for him or her; it may just be the meal that you buy that really helps somebody that IS indeed REALLY HUNGRY!