Joel Simpson

Reform Jewish Movement Statement on Starvation in Gaza July 27, 2025 - The ongoing crisis in Gaza is a devastating reminder of the immense human cost of war. Nearly two years into Israel's war against Hamas, Israelis are still waiting for the return of their loved ones held hostage, and innocent Palestinians are caught in a mounting humanitarian catastrophe. Hamas has repeatedly demonstrated its willingness to sacrifice the Palestinian people in its pursuit of Israel's destruction, but Israel must not sacrifice its own moral standing in return. Neither escalating military pressure nor restricting humanitarian aid has brought Israel closer to securing a hostage deal or ending the war. While long-delayed and not-yet-certain to be more effective than previous efforts, we are encouraged by Saturday night's announcement that the Israeli military would revive the practice of dropping aid from airplanes and make it easier for aid convoys, including those from the UN's World Food Program, to move through Gaza along "designated humanitarian corridors," and to temporarily cease fighting in Gaza for a humanitarian pause. No one should be unaffected by the pervasive hunger experienced by thousands of Gazans. No one should spend the bulk of their time arguing technical definitions between starvation and pervasive hunger. The situation is dire, and it is deadly. Nor should we accept arguments that because Hamas is the primary reason many Gazans are either starving or on the verge of starving, that the Jewish State is not also culpable in this human disaster. The primary moral response must begin with anguished hearts in the face of such a large-scale human tragedy. Our tradition teaches that all people are created b tzelem Elohim — in the image of God. One consequence of this is the moral priority, which is affirmed throughout the Bible and rabbinic tradition, of feeding the hungry - both for the individual and for the self-governing Jewish community. More than a few members of t…

Despite PM Netanyahu's calls to ignore these full members of his cabinet, their presence in this government has consistently morally compromised Israel's actions. Starving Gazan civilians neither will bring Israel the "total victory" over Hamas it seeks, nor can it be justified by Jewish values or humanitarian law. It's hard to imagine that this tragic approach will bring home the 50 remaining hostages, including the 20 who we pray are still alive. It's imperative that the Government of Israel ensures that the recently announced plans to deliver humanitarian aid succeed as Israel works with international partners to ensure its safe and sustained delivery and do whatever possible to reduce or eliminate the shootings and other injuries sustained at food distribution centers. We applaud Israel's green light for foreign nations to resume providing humanitarian aid to the Gaza population desperate for food and are confident that they will do all they can to ensure that such aid does not fall into the hands of Hamas. As Israel has effective control of 70% of Gaza, with the intent to remain in significant swaths of it, even if only temporarily, it should be directly involved, facilitate and cooperate with the international community, international humanitarian NGOs, and regional friends, to take urgently needed actions, such as these suggested by Israeli Reform rabbi and Member of Knesset Gilad Kariv: • To prevent the alarming number of civilian deaths in and around the food and humanitarian aid distribution sites. • Opening a significant number of food distribution centers at various locations across the Gaza Strip. • Large-scale entry of infant formula (especially liquid formula) and ensuring safe delivery to both functioning medical centers and the few remaining international aid facilities. • Establishing secure methods - potentially through cooperation with regional countries - for delivering food supplies to aid organizations and international agencies. • Resuming su…

Finally, while it is imperative that Israel and the U.S. resume diplomacy to bring home all hostages and end this war, denying basic humanitarian aid crosses a moral line. Blocking food, water, medicine, and power- especially for children- is indefensible. Let us not allow our grief to harden into indifference, nor our love for Israel to blind us to the cries of the vulnerable. Let us rise to the moral challenge of this moment. Union for Reform Judaism Shelley Niceley Groff (she/her) North American Board Chair Rabbi Rick Jacobs (he/him) President Central Conference of American Rabbis Rabbi David A. Lyon (he/him) President Rabbi Hara Person (she/her) Chief Executive Officer American Conference of Cantors Cantor Josh Breitzer (he/him) President Rachel Roth (she/her) Chief Operating Officer

INBOX: Union for Reform Judaism, Central Conference of American Rabbis & American Conference of Cantors issue a lengthy statement declaring:

"Starving Gazan civilians neither will bring Israel the 'total victory' over Hamas it seeks, nor can it be justified by Jewish values or humanitarian law."

Thanks to Gaston Gazette for running an Op-Ed reflection I wrote on the Moral Monday in Gastonia. It shares some stories about people who will be impacted, clarifies facts vs lies, and insists nice sounding words won’t distract people from what’s happening

www.gastongazette.com/story/news/2...

We were arrested as we prayed for those who will be killed by this immoral budget Congress is trying to pass. We brought 51 coffins for the 51,000 people health policy experts say will die next year if this budget is passed. We demand a moral budget, not a death dealing scheme.

“Seeing this masked man on the floor, with this woman, I got triggered. I said, ‘Where am I?’ in one moment. I said, ‘Where I am, in the street of Tehran [Iran] or the street of Los Angeles?’”

We Are Not Fooled. We Know the Truth. I grew up on food stamps. My family depended on them even while my dad worked multiple jobs. If someone from work called him while he was sleeping, we knew the rule was to wake him up no matter what, ...

open.substack.com/pub/joelsimp...

Thanks for being there. Powerful and important time of prayer.

Shane Claiborne, four other faith activists arrested while protesting GOP budget bill WASHINGTON (RNS) — 'Stir the conscience of our nation. Let justice rise up on these very steps, let truth trouble the chambers of the Capitol,' Shane Claiborne said as he prayed.

Yesterday, I was arrested in the Capitol building while praying about the budget with other faith leaders

This budget kills the poor by cutting essential resources all while giving tax breaks to the rich and increasing the military budget

This is moral issue

religionnews.com/2025/05/05/s...

FYI. Jesus quotes Leviticus 19:18 when he says “love your neighbor as yourself.” That includes immigrants. But just to be clear, a few verses later Leviticus 19:34 says this: “Any immigrant who lives with you must be treated as if they were one of your citizens. You must love them as yourself."

“The hardest part isn’t envisioning the end but living in the sluggish in between.” ~ Charles Marsh.

that if I do thisyou will lead me by the right road,
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore, will I trust you always,
though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
~ “The Merton Prayer”

and the fact that I think I am following your will
does not mean that I am actually doing so
But I believe that the desire to please you
does in fact please you
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire
And I know

A prayer for when you feel lost and uncertain, which might be a lot these days

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going
I do not see the road ahead of me
I cannot know for certain where it will end
nor do I really know myself

St. Patrick’s Day is rooted in the life of a real person, St. Patrick - whose story might just baffle your mind and challenge you to rethink everything about your life and relationships, especially in a time like ours

St. Patrick - The Saint for a Time Like Ours St. Patrick’s story might just baffle your mind and challenge you to rethink everything about your life and relationships.

St. Patrick’s Day is rooted in the life of a real person, St. Patrick - whose story might just baffle your mind and challenge you to rethink everything about your life and relationships, especially in a time like ours.

joelsimpson.substack.com/p/st-patrick...

Love is not some feeling. Love always shows up in material and physical ways. Don’t get lost in what people are saying. Look at what they’re doing. That’s the proof of love.

I am regularly reminded that those who have experienced so much suffering and pain have pursued justice with determination and a refusal to be silent, but they have done this out of a spirit of love rather than hate…because love is the only way.

Classic

Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.
~ Martin Luther King Jr.

as such but the presence of the Spirit in the particular pain, whether physical, emotional, or mental. Thus, it is the full acceptance of the content of the present moment. [In] giving the experience over to the Spirit, the false-self system is gradually undermined and the true self liberated.”

Father Thomas Keating said,
“Welcoming Prayer is the practice that actively lets go of thoughts and feelings that support the false-self system. It embraces painful emotions experienced in the body rather than avoiding them or trying to suppress them. It does not embrace the suffering...

So, we “repent” of the ways we’ve failed to live our short, fragile lives in these ways

and we commit to changing and being more intentional…

Stopping wrong and learning to do right.

And seeking to live lives of love, justice, and mercy.

As we care for those whose lives are valued the least.

Ash Wednesday is a reminder that “From dust you came, to dust you shall return”

Life is temporary, fragile, and short

Which makes special and sacred.

And because of that, we want to live in intentional ways

Ways that add to life for ourselves and others...

stripping him of a power that he does not know how to use, and that diminishes his own humanity and that of others."

~Pope Francis' Fratelli Tutti (basically a long letter the Pope wrote on fraternity and social friendship in 2020)

"We are called to love everyone, without exception; at the same time, loving an oppressor does not mean allowing him to keep oppressing us, or letting him think that what he does is acceptable. On the contrary, true love for an oppressor means seeking ways to make him cease his oppression; it means

"Let no man pull you so low as to make you hate him.”
~Booker T. Washington

With all the chaos, fear, and disorder happening - I’ve found 2 things helpful.

1) making sure I am doing things to stay grounded and compassionate.

2) spending more time listening and learning from people in our community who have been ignored, excluded, and stripped of power long before now.

I think some of it has to do with intention for sure.