Keren B’Kavod<\/i>, IRAC’s
\nhumanitarian aid project, has a “no photography” policy. For Keren
\nB’Kavod<\/i>, whose name translates to “The Dignity Fund,” dignity begins with a
\ndecision not to exploit needy people by photographing them in misery. This goes against tradition – we’ve been trained that the way to our wallets
\nmust be through emotional extortion, and so we’re given photos of children with
\ndistended bellies and families with sad-eyed looks of deprivation. I like
\nto call it humanitarian aid pornography.<\/p>\n
Keren B’Kavod<\/i> rejects this
\npractice. We give with dignity by breaking with tradition. We take
\nphotos of happy people packing food and care packages for others; we photograph
\nthe hands that give and not the hands that receive.<\/p>\n
Lately, Keren B’Kavod<\/i> has
\nbeen logging especially long hours. While most of the country was still
\nin full Purim mode, our Keren B’Kavod<\/i> team was busy coordinating with dozens of
\nReform congregations, schools, and welfare agencies to pull together enough
\nvolunteers to pack hundreds of holiday food and care packages to be distributed
\nthroughout Israel during the Pesach season. Tons and tons of packages
\nwill soon be filled with rice, olives, canned carrots and peas, hummus, tuna,
\npotato flour, chicken soup, matza meal, pickles, pineapples, chocolate spread
\nand cocoa, jam, coffee, tea, toothpaste and shampoo.<\/p>\n
One of the most impressive
\nthings about Keren B’Kavod <\/i>is its practice of giving to absolutely every sector
\nof Israeli society: Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze, Bedouins, foreign
\nworkers, refugees; our Reform Jewish congregations are the only religious
\nstream in Israel which gives to minorities. There is no discrimination,
\nand no one is turned away. We operate according to the teaching “let all who
\nare hungry come and eat” by recognizing that food alone is insufficient
\nnourishment. To this end, recipients of the packages often work alongside
\nvolunteers, and the project is turned from simple packing into something
\nempowering and fun. Israelis who would not encounter each other in daily
\nlife are brought together.<\/p>\n
And while Israelis have a
\nreputation for being lazy philanthropists, over 50% of donations to come from within Israel. But we never have enough food to give to
\nall our recipients. The need is greater than ever before.<\/p>\n