Insights, Ideas, and Thoughtful Questions for Discussing
Jewish Approaches to Social Justice with Students
A step-by-step guide to creative use of There Shall Be No Needy: Pursing Social Justice through Jewish Law & Tradition in adult education, college, and advanced high school classes. Each lesson includes:
• Clearly stated goals
• Trigger exercises to draw out participants’ own experiences
• Intriguing discussion questions that facilitate the use of There Shall Be No Needy in the classroom
• Text studies that engage students in a personal exploration of classical and contemporary Jewish approaches to the most important social justice issues of our time
• A glossary of important terms
This comprehensive teaching tool will help students to gain a deeper understanding of Jewish perspectives on key social justice issues, and to explore what we can do to make a difference in our communities.
About There Shall Be No Needy:
Pursuing Social Justice through Jewish Law & Tradition
Confront the most pressing issues of twenty-first-century America in this fascinating book, which brings together classical Jewish sources, contemporary policy debate, and real-life stories.
Rabbi Jill Jacobs, a leading young voice in the social justice arena, makes a powerful argument for participation in the American public square from an authentically Jewish perspective, while deepening our understanding of the relationship between Judaism and such current social issues as:
• Poverty and the Poor
• Collection and Allocation of Tzedakah
• Workers, Employers and Unions
• Housing the Homeless
• The Provision of Health Care
• Environmental Sustainability
• Crime, Punishment and Rehabilitation
By creating a dialogue between traditional texts and current realities, Jacobs presents a template for engagement in public life from a Jewish perspective and challenges us to renew our obligations to each other.
Praise for There Shall Be No Needy: Pursuing Social Justice through Jewish Law and Tradition
“[An] excellent examination of the Jewish response to contemporary issues of social Justice…. Explores problems of poverty, workers, housing, healthcare and the environment, highlighting the contribution of Jewish teachings to answering these social questions.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Learned, eloquent and impassioned,
Rabbi Jacobs is a welcome new voice in the effort to make
Jewish values relevant to today’s problems.”
—Rabbi Harold Kushner, author, When Bad Things Happen to Good People
“A contemporary Guide for the Perplexed…. Thoughtful and detailed … it acknowledges different perspectives, engages the debate, challenges our assumptions and pushes us to chart our own Jewish way in the world.”
—Ruth W. Messinger, president, American Jewish World Service
“A powerful textual journey that
compels us to engage with the Jewish tradition’s mandate
for economic justice. Impressive scholarship, lively writing,
and provocative analysis … breathes new meaning into our
ancient texts in the very best tradition of our ever-living
Torah.”
—Rabbi
David Saperstein, director,
Religious Action
Center of Reform Judaism
Center of Reform Judaism
“Groundbreaking and urgently needed
… skillfully demonstrates the role that religion can play
in American public discourse…. A timely and profoundly
insightful contribution to a growing literature on Jewish
social justice.”
—Rabbi
Sharon Brous, IKAR
“A landmark work…. A model for
how informed Jewish discourse on issues in the public square
ought to take place. Required reading for all persons
interested in what Judaism has to say on matters of social and
public import. I cannot recommend it highly enough.”
—Rabbi
David Ellenson, president, Hebrew
Union College–
Jewish Institute of Religion
Jewish Institute of Religion
Rabbi Jill Jacobs is rabbi-in-residence at Jewish Funds for Justice, a
national public foundation dedicated to mobilizing the
resources of American Jews to combat the root causes of
domestic social and economic injustice. She was named to Forward’s list
of fifty influential Jews and Jewish
Week’s list of
“thirty-six under thirty-six.” She received
rabbinic ordination and a MA in Talmud and Rabbinics from The
Jewish Theological Seminary, and holds a MS in Urban Affairs
from Hunter College.
