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Commentary
by Dr. Gerhard Falk |
Jewish Poverty
In New
York City and other American communities there are many Jewish poor. In New York
there are 410,000 Jews who are so poor that they are eligible for government
programs. Worst off among these poor Jews are the “near poor” who are not
entitled to receive most government benefits because their income is deemed too
high. Eligibility for government programs is calculated on the basis of these
guidelines: A family of eight is considered not eligible if they have an annual
income of $26,930.-. The same holds for a family of six with an annual income of
$21,490; a family of four earning $16, 050.-; a family of two earning $10,610
and a single person with $7,890 income per year.
Poor women
outnumber men by about 14% because women live longer than men. Many of the poor
Jews are intact families. Jews are seldom involved with drugs and we have few
unmarried mothers among us. Therefore, 49,000 Jewish children under 21 are among
the poor Jews of New York. Similar conditions exist in other Jewish communities
as well. For example, there is a tent city in downtown Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
This tent city serves the homeless, including the Jewish homeless. These Jews
receive no help from the Florida Jewish community organizations except the
Jewish Defense League, who has been giving the homeless the limited help the JDL
has available.
Now one of
the most widespread and vicious anti-Jewish canards is the assertion that “the
Jews have all the money.” This lie was used by the European/Arab hate mongers
for years to somehow justify the mass murder of the poorest of the poor, the
Jews of Eastern Europe and Israel.
It is of
course true that here, in the United States, Jewish income is generally good,
reflecting an overall Jewish middle class status. There are also a few American
Jews who have very large holdings and very large incomes. All that is to the
good as it allows us to promote numerous strong Jewish communities here and
ensure Jewish life in the United States forever.
Unfortunately,
the relative wealth of our Jewish community overlooks that there are in this
country some very poor Jews. This is in the main overlooked because the poor are
indeed “invisible”. That “invisibility” has a number of causes. The
first is that the poor cannot access our Jewish institutions. Our synagogues,
Community Centers, Jewish schools and all our activities are located in wealthy
suburbs, far away from the homes of the poor who often have no transportation
with which to reach such establishments.
The poor
are also invisible because by definition they cannot afford to participate in
Jewish activities. It costs the poor too much to be a member of a synagogue,
particularly because High Holiday tickets are so expensive. I am reminded of the
story of the Jew who comes to a “shul” on Yom Kippur and tells the guard at
the door that Dr. Refuah is in that “shul” and that he must get a hold of
Dr. Refuah at at once. “It is an emergency,” says the visitor. The guard
asks for the visitor's ticket. The visitor has no ticket but insists on seeing
Dr. Refuah at once. So the guard calls the president of the “shul” to deal
with the ticketless visitor. The president hears about the emergency and tells
the visitor, “Dr. Refuah is in the first row. Go get him but since you have no
ticket, don’t let me catch you praying.”
Numerous
Jewish “affairs” such as dinners, dances, public speeches, etc. are all out
of reach of the poor.
Thirdly,
the poor are invisible because they cannot make big donations to the various
Jewish institutions. Those who make such donations are generally praised
publicly, and their names are engraved on buildings or printed on programs. The
poor evidently receive no such publicity and are hence invisible.
The story
is told of the man who visited a “shul” and asked the rabbi to make his dog
Bar Mitzvah. The rabbi refused and felt insulted at such are request. He asked
the dog lover to leave. In leaving the dog lover said, “I am sorry you won’t
make the dog Bar Mitzvah. I will therefore take the dog to Temple Ahavath
Behaymah for his Bar Mitzvah and give them the $50,000 I would have given
you.” “Wait a minute,” shouted the Rabbi. “Of course I’ll make the dog
Bar Mitzvah. I just didn’t know before that the dog is Jewish.”
In the
fourth place, the poor are invisible because our poor brethren are generally
ashamed to ask for help. Many never come to any Jewish institution for fear of
exposing their poverty and reaping the disdain which so frequently devolves on
the poor in all societies. Here are some examples: Two small Jewish girls,
recently arrived from Naziland, lived in a Jewish neighborhood. Too poor to buy
more than one dress, they wore the same dress every day. Too poor to eat more
than twice a day, they were overjoyed to be invited by a local
“establishment” Jew to the wealthy man’s house, there to receive a gift.
They came to the house at the appointed time and were shown a stick of gum and a
piece of candy. They were asked to pick either the gum or the candy but not
both. One girl took a piece of candy, the other a stick of gum. Thereupon the
“donor” sang in Yiddish ‘Shayn is dos Zigeuner Lebben, ze voll’n nur
nemmen un’ gor nisht gebben”. English translation- “Beautiful is the life
of the gypsies, they only want to take and give nothing.”
Second
example, which I have previously mentioned in this column: Having recently
arrived from Naziland I was unable to use the English language. I was unemployed
at the time, lacked any education, had no income and lived in a Philadelphia
slum. On Yom Kippur I went to the nearest synagogue, unaware that a ticket is
needed to enter. European Beth Hatefillim never ask for money or a ticket to
enter a synagogue. I arrived at the door only to find a large woman had placed a
table across the door to prevent the entrance of “schnorrers”. She asked for
my ticket. I said in broken English that I knew of no ticket and that I did not
understand what she meant. Said she: “You need a ticket when you want to get
into a theater and you need one here. Get out.” I spent Yom Kippur on a park
bench. I also think of that event every time I am asked for money by the
collectors who write or ‘phone me every day in my office and at home.
Third
example: While living in Philadelphia I became very hungry as I had no means to
buy myself a meal. I was told that the Hillel Foundation at the University of
Pennsylvania was then maintaining a kosher dining room and that a rabbi was in
charge of that establishment. Being hungry and homeless, I visited there and
asked the “rabbi” to let me eat one meal. The “rabbi” refused to give me
any food and told me never to come back as he feared to let a fellow with my
accent and disheveled appearance to be seen by the wealthy Ivy League crowd
eating there. I think of that event every time I am solicited for money from
“guess who”.
Fourth
example. My family and I arrived in Buffalo forty five years ago. We had three
small children then. I had just been appointed an assistant professor and had
very little money. Hence my furniture at a rented apartment looked shabby.
Because we were newcomers and not acquainted with anyone in town we telephoned a
professional man whose name was given us before we came. The professional man
came to our apartment on our invitation and then and there severely criticized
our furniture and our appearance. He felt insulted by our lowly life style and
never spoke to us again. Likewise there are those in the Jewish community who
even now cannot tolerate the presence of anyone poor for fear that the poor may
want something or that the presence of the poor will contaminate them.
All of
this is remembered by those so affected. None of this is admitted or known to
those not involved. This is true everywhere and has always been the case at all
times. It will never change. It need only be understood but it cannot be
alleviated. The poor are not only devoid of the basic necessities of life. They
are also the targets of insult and emotional pain. Their lives are shorter than
that of the wealthy because they cannot afford health care. The poor are also
less likely to gain access to that most important American social elevator,
education. Those who lack a college education can seldom earn much nor attain
the professions that depend on such an education. This does not negate the
evidence that there are some folks who are exceedingly rich precisely because
they did not spend time in school.
In sum, we
learn here that poverty is not unknown in the Jewish community and that contrary
to the lies of our enemies there are indeed many Jews who are in need.
Shalom u’vracha.
Dr. Gerhard Falk is the author of numerous publications,
including Stigma: How We Treat Outsiders.
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