Rabbi's Week in Review Blog

For the next couple of weeks, I will be providing information on an important event taking place March 2 in Jefferson City, Mo. I would be more than remiss, however, if I did not make some mention of the horrific shooting that took place at the end of the Chiefs Super Bowl celebration.

I, like many with whom I have spoken, have feelings of both sadness and anger. Sadness over life lost and lives irreparably changed for worse, due to both physical harm and emotional trauma. Anger over senseless and needless gun violence. Typical and exasperating among the post-incident political responses was that of Missouri Governor Parson, attributing the shooting to “criminal thugs,” a not-too-well-veiled racist reference, with no mention of Missouri’s lax or virtually nonexistent gun regulations (among the most lax in the nation). The truth is that no other democratic nation on the planet is faced with the plague of gun violence.

Now, on March 2, we here in Missouri will be among those in 30-plus states gathering in state capitals to kick off a Poor People’s Campaign, to give voice to all those who live in poverty in our state and in our country.  

Poverty is the fourth-leading cause of death in our country, and 800 people die each day due to poverty. Yet no political leaders from either party address poverty as part of their election campaigns. The Poor People’s Campaign is intent upon registering 15 million low-wage, impoverished people to vote. This is out of the more than 140 million people in our country who live in poverty.

Here is the information for March 2:

• Those who wish to attend a kick-off rally in Jefferson City need to RSVP to rabbidoug@kolamikc.org.

• We will gather in the parking lot at All Souls for a departure at 7 a.m. to head to Jefferson City.

• When you RSVP, let us know if you can drive to Jefferson City. It will be helpful if we can organize so no one is left behind.

• We will have a short Shabbat-morning service beginning at approximately 9:30 a.m.  (This is similar to what we have done in the past for the AIDs Walk — participating in important events for a more just world on Shabbat morning.)

• After the service, we will gather with all attendees at 10 a.m., and head down the street for a rally to begin at 11 a.m. The rally itself will last about 30-45 minutes.

• After the rally, we may gather our group for a possible lunch stop before we head back to KC.

I will give this information again in next week’s newsletter. In this election year, we need to make sure that those who are marginalized and left voiceless due to poverty are finally given a voice.