Last week together with a team of TE volunteers I participated in a poverty simulation organized by United Way and Jewish Federation as part of the Neighbor-to-Neighbor Lifeline campaign. I was assigned a role of a nine-year old boy, Roland, who lives with his father (who has a full time job and a paid off car), his 20-year old sister (who is in college and works part time) and her one-year old baby. We were given the details of the family income and expenses, as well as food stamps info and a little background. Having quickly added up the money, it was obvious that we were a little short but things looked pretty stable! And then the simulation began. Four weeks were squeezed into four 15 minute periods, and things began to unravel rather quickly. 
As our ‘family’ of three (plus a baby) – in reality, three grownups (plus a cute doll) trying to analyze the situation and act accordingly – desperately tried to keep afloat, we failed miserably. It wasn’t just money – it was life itself! I was ‘taken’ to a juvenile detention center, my ‘nephew’ was taken by CPS and we were almost evicted from our home. Oh, and we never managed to get any food.
I watched people of all ages in that room, picking up the pace as they went along, overwhelmed and bewildered as the evening progressed. And while I know that some of what happened to my ‘family’ that night was done to demonstrate the point, it was also shockingly clear that it was not so far-fetched at all! As we left that night, all of us knew that we had to renew our efforts – as individuals, as religious communities and as a society at large. The next simulation is scheduled on Feb. 22 at Mishkan Israel – I highly recommend you find time to participate, even if you feel you know all about the struggles and the challenges.
The third week of February this year is Temple Emanuel’s week at Abraham’s Tent, the remarkable program of collaboration between the faith communities all around New Haven and Columbus House, providing shelter, food and human interaction for 12 homeless men throughout the winter months. We cook, and we share the meal with the men. We listen to their stories, and we share ours. Every year I am humbled and inspired to do more. This year we are looking for additional volunteers (male) to spend the night as chaperones – so if you can stay up for one night, please get in touch with Ronda Stiekman. Remember, no matter what you do to make this world a little better, you will ALWAYS receive a lot more than you are able to give.
