Open our hearts, hands

Editorial

Homelessness will always exist in our society, but that does not mean we should turn a blind eye. The Torah states, "For there will never cease to be needy people in your land, which is why I command you: open your hand to the needy." (Deuteronomy 15:7-8)

The construction of a Human Services Campus in downtown Phoenix provides a valuable opportunity for us to give our money and time. At a single location, scheduled to open in the winter 2005, the homeless will be able to eat a hot meal and receive medical attention, job training and a clean bed.

Approximately 1,000 homeless live in downtown Phoenix, and 12,000 in the Valley. While this number has stayed constant, an increasing number of adults and young families are inching closer to the edge of poverty, and a higher number are becoming "chronically homeless" - measured as one year of continuous homelessness or four or more incidents of homelessness in a three-year period, according to the Maricopa Association of Governments.

Many worthy causes tug at us. Primary for many of us are needs within the Jewish community.

Yet, homelessness, bred from poverty - often in conjunction with mental illness or drug addiction - weighs heavily upon our society. Another tradition states, "If all the sufferings and pain in the world were gathered on one side of a scale, and poverty was on the other side, poverty would outweigh them all."

We can make it routine to address the suffering of the homeless: Place money in tzedakah boxes every week and make a donation at the end of the year; make larger quarterly contributions to one of the agencies at the Human Services Campus or one closer to home. If we cannot afford to give money, we can give gemilut chasadim, acts of loving kindness, by volunteering.

In the end, the suffering of the homeless is our suffering, to be relieved only if we open our hearts and our hands.

Hispanic-Jewish inroads

Efforts are underway to revive dormant Hispanic-Jewish coalitions in both Phoenix and Tucson.

Our respective peoples have much in common: stories of immigrants arriving in a new land and struggling so that later generations can thrive; rich ethnic traditions of food, family and culture; businesses built by families and passed to later generations; the centrality of religion.

Though our communities are politically diverse - representing every party - if we work together, we can foster mutually beneficial relationships, find common ground, and when the time is right, pursue a complementary legislative agenda.

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