‘Honoring the responsibility of meeting people’s needs’

This past Thursday Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Camden held their Justice for All Dinner at the Adelphia Restaurant in Deptford. Each year at this gathering an organization or individual is recognized for some kind of extraordinary service to others within the area of the six southernmost counties of New Jersey which comprise the Diocese of Camden. According to the official Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Camden’s website, nominees for this prestigious award should possess the following characteristics:

— Provides services to those less fortunate than themselves.

— Advocates for and empowers the poor, oppressed and vulnerable.

— Promotes change and transformation in support of the well-being of family and community.

— Sees the opportunity to receive the gift of humanness, holiness and faith in interactions with all people.

— Honors the responsibility of meeting people’s needs in the moment and developing people to meet their own needs in the future.

What is different about this year’s award for an organization is that it is the first time a Jewish organization was recognized for the above mentioned reasons. This year, the Jewish Federations of South Jersey received the Organizational Action Award. Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Camden explained one of the reasons the Jewish Federations were recognized: “In the Jewish tradition, these same values (mentioned above), expressed in a different way, are enshrined in the mission statement of Jewish Federations across the country in the concepts of tzedakah (charity), chesed (loving-kindness) and tikkun olam (repairing the world).”

Of course, all these virtues are shared in our Judeo-Christian tradition. We would do well to remember that the wonderful Catholic social teaching tradition that we have received in unbroken succession from the time of Jesus and the Apostles came to us through them from the rich treasure trove of Jewish teaching and traditions. The covenant made with the Jewish people was based not on individual commitments but rather with the community. We read in the Talmud, which is one of the central works of the Jewish people, a record of rabbinic teachings that covers a period of about 600 years: “When the community is in trouble do not say, ‘I will go home and eat and drink and all will be well with me…’ Rather, involve yourself in the community’s distress… as was demonstrated by Moses (Exodus 27:12) in this way Moses said, ‘Since Israel is in trouble, I will share their burden.’ Anyone who shares a community’s distress will be rewarded and will witness the community’s consolation” (Ta’anit 11a).

Catholic Charities explained: “The Jewish Federations comprise a network of agencies that deliver a wide range of services to the vulnerable. Their programs include services for refugees, the homeless, the elderly and disabled, children and families and victims of Hurricane Sandy. Catholic Charities, which shares a service area with three Jewish Federations, partners often with Federation agencies to deliver social services to those in need in the region. For their work on behalf of justice in the South Jersey region, Catholic Charities is pleased to award the 2016 organizational Justice in Action Award to the three Jewish Federations that serve Southern New Jersey: Jewish Federation of Cumberland, Gloucester & Salem Counties; Jewish Federation of Atlantic and Cape May Counties; and Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey (serving Camden, Gloucester and Burlington counties).”

Jews and Catholics share in the ethical and moral imperative that comes to us from the Hebrew Scriptures that ground us both in the shared belief that God cares about human wellbeing. And that calls us both to care about social justice as an essential aspect of our faiths and love of God. Even though we do not find the words “social justice” in the Jewish or Christian Scriptures, we know it is woven throughout our texts. And we both know and affirm that this call to practice justice is to know and love God. We also know that God rejects any kind of piety or worship that is devoid of justice and concern for others, especially the less fortunate.

Congratulations to our Jewish friends who work alongside their Catholic brothers and sisters in “letting justice roll down like water, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream!” (Amos 5:21, 24).

Father Joseph D. Wallace is director, Ecumenical and Inter-religious Affairs, Diocese of Camden.