by Susie Davidson

Advocate Correspondent

Traditional Jewish social activism is alive and well in Harvard Yard.

News reports detail rallies, marches, visits by Ted Kennedy, John

Sweeney (AFL-CIO), folksingers, poets etc. at the site of the two

weeks-plus occupation of Mass. Hall and adjacent 80-tent city.

But Kabbalat Shabbat and Havdalah services?

In an attempt to secure a living wage of $10.25 per hour for all

Harvard employees (some food service and custodial workers earn only the statewide minimum wage of $6.75; the Cambridge City Council mandates $10.25 for Cambridge workers), students have boldly displayed the best, or the worst as some would have it, of conviction and selflessness.

And Jews are, perhaps not surprisingly, an integral component of this

particular struggle. Hence, challah and grape juice, along with spices and braided candles, have made the scene for the past three weekends, with Jewish Mass. Hall occupiers (comprising 50% of the "insiders") singing and praying along from the windows.

"How could anyone not care that the men and women who feed us and

clean up after us live in poverty?" asks David Wolkenfeld, a gabbai

of Hillel's Orthodox minyan. He elaborates:

"I believe that the equal moral worth of all human beings is an

important teaching of Judaism. While economic equality is not

mandated as a result of this doctrine, it seems to me that we're

certainly obligated to treat all our fellow human beings like the

people of equal merit which they are."

Wolkenfeld, a New York City native who attended Yeshivat HaMivtar in

Israel before coming to Harvard to study intellectual history, is

proud to call himself both Orthodox and politically progressive. "In

this day and age," he laments, "it seems quite revolutionary to

insist on treating all human beings as created in the image of G-d."

Hillel, for the record, has endorsed this effort. Executive Director

Bernie Steinberg spoke at two rallies, citing Judaism's views on

charity, helping the impoverished and advancing social justice. So

impressed was Wolkenfeld, he likened the addresses to "m'kadesh shem

shamayim b'rabbim" (sanctifying the name of G-d in public).

According to junior Benjamin Galper, a history major, Brookline

native and Maimonides graduate, the issue was decided in March when

the Coordinating Council, which he chairs, passed a resolution in

support of the campaign. Though there was some debate among the

800-strong Hillel community e-mail list regarding the sit-in tactics,

it was decided at an April 20 Town Meeting to back the current

protest.

Rabbi Shai Held, Hillel's Director of Education, brought Talmudic and

more contemporary sources on Judaism's social justice commitment into

his class on the campaign, and he held a dinner discussion on "Living Wage in Jewish Law."

"Judaism has always stressed the importance of helping those who are

impoverished in your community," asserts Galper.

Biochemical Science Senior Shira Fischer, Chair of Hillel’s Committee for Jewish Learning, helped to design signs for the protest which incorporate Biblical passages. "In addition to the ‘standard’ Deuteronomy 16:20 ‘Justice, justice shall you pursue,’" she explains, "we used Leviticus 19:13: "The wages of a laborer shall not remain with you until morning" and Deuteronomy 24:14: "You shall not wrong a needy and destitute laborer, whether a fellow countryman or a stranger in one of the communities in your land."

"I think a lot of people in the community realize that the Living

Wage Campaign is an action that is really consistent with and

essential to Judaism," adds freshman Jason Rubenstein, a Social

Studies and Religion major from Chevy Chase, Maryland. "There's really

been tremendous support from all across the spectrum of religious

affiliation."

Sophomore Miranda Richmond, an Asheville, NC native who majors in Medieval History and Literature, took the leap and was one of the 48 original Mass. Hall occupiers. "I felt an obligation, a religious one if you will, to take direct action," she explains. "Judaism teaches you to be actively ethical."

Richmond, who co-chairs Hillel’s Progressive Jewish Alliance with junior Ari Weisbard and also co-gabbai’s its Chavarah, remained in the Hall for 10 days until she was overcome with a lung infection. The Jewish edict against fulfilling religious duties while ill led her to leave the sit-in. Although she ended up in the hospital for 5 days, she remained in close contact with occupiers and participants throughout.

"The living wage is important to me as a Jew," says senior Ben

Dreyfus, a physics major from Homewood IL, "because we have a mandate

to create a just society. When a powerful corporation such as Harvard

withholds from its workers the resources they need to survive, they

are promulgating injustice."

And the effort goes on at press time. Buoyed by endorsements from the

City of Cambridge, the Boston Globe and many notables including Matt

Damon, Ben Affleck, Sen. Paul Wellstone, Julian Bond, Jim Hightower,

Michael Moore, Robert Reich and rock group Rage Against the Machine, a May 2 march through Cambridge led by Mayor Anthony Gallucio and a concurrent strike threat by dining hall workers, it shows no signs of waning enthusiasm.