Mahsh’pi’a
Impacting Global Poverty
Mahsh’pi’a, the Hebrew word that has come to mean to influence, means to have an impact. Mahsh’pi’a has its roots in the biblical cognate shin-fey-ayin, which means to flow abundantly, to overflow, to stream forth.
From our Rabbi, Joey Wolf:
MAHSH’PI’A is the name we have given to our program, because it means ‘to influence’ or ‘have an impact’. We embrace the economic reality of taking what we need, and more, from the world; and the knowledge that others live austerely. While we choose which goods we think we need and will consume, we reckon with the fact that many people will live without enough to eat and drink, and will go without basic medical care. We think carefully about who we are and our place in a global civilization. This has become a pivotal Jewish issue: there is acute poverty that laps up at the shores of the island of affluence we inhabit.
Jubilee
Havurah Shalom is a Jubilee Congregation and a member of the Jubilee USA Network. We support, through advocacy, the goals of debt cancellation for poor countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. We believe that canceling these often illegitimate debts will enable poor countries to be able to focus their limited resources on education, health care and infrastructure development instead of paying interest to the developed world’s financial institutions. The goal is to support the people of these countries to escape from extreme poverty. For more information about how you can advocate for these goals, contact Bob Brown.
You can also go to this link http://www.jubileeoregon.org/ to find out more about Jubilee Oregon.
Green Empowerment
Havurah is partnering with Green Empowerment to raise funds to install a solar water pump in a Nicaraguan village. The installation of the pump will allow the villagers to develop a sustainable water system. This project is part of Havurah’s Mahsh’pi’a: Impacting Global Poverty initiative. Contact Linda Boise or Lee Gordon for more information or find out more about our efforts in this area by going to our green empowerment page.