Nearly 20 Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist and Humanist rabbis in the Twin Cities are among the more than 1,200 rabbinic signatories from around the world to a letter calling for more aid to be let into Gaza.
The letter is part of a growing call from across denominations of Judaism to push back against the conditions in Gaza.
“The Jewish People face a grave moral crisis, threatening the very basis of Judaism as the ethical voice that it has been since the age of Israel’s prophets. We cannot remain silent in confronting it,” states the letter, which was organized by Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg in London, Rabbi Art Green in Boston and Rabbi Ariel Pollak in Tel Aviv. The letter went into wide circulation for rabbis and rabbinic students to start signing on July 24.
Additionally, another 50-plus Minnesotans – clergy and not – signed a separate letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling for an end to the war.
Harold Kravitz, the rabbi emeritus at Adath Jeshurun Congregation in Minnetonka, who was the president of the Rabbincial Association – the Conservative movement’s rabbinic collective – on Oct. 7, 2023, and was part of a trip to Israel with the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations less than two weeks after the attacks, brought the issue of food in Gaza to the table.
“At a meeting with President Herzog, the issue of how food was a core issue in during this response to the attack, and we knew that there were already concerns about whether food would reach civilians in Gaza,” Kravitz said. “The question was, ‘The issue of food not reaching those populations is doing serious damage to the reputation of Judaism, the Jewish people in the state of Israel. How is Israel dealing with it?’”
The issue resonates with Kravitz because of his time as chair of MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger. Kravitz pointed to a MAZON statement last week from President & CEO Abby Liebman that said, in part: “Our Jewish faith and tradition are abundantly clear that we have a moral obligation to prevent hunger. Even during war, humanitarian aid — especially food — must be a priority, and delivering this aid must be guided by principles of compassion, moral responsibility, and human dignity.”
The other local signers of the letter (as of Aug. 7), are Rabbis: David Thomas, Aaron Weininger, Sammy Seid, Jason Rodich, Eva Cohen, Debra Rappaport, Arielle Lekach-Rosenberg, Rebecca Kamil, Ricky Kamil, Tamar Magill-Grimm, Sharon Stiefel, Amy Ariel, Cathy Nemiroff, Adam Spilker, Esther Adler, Joey Glick, and Shosh Dworsky.
Magill-Grimm wrote in an email to the Beth Jacob Congregation community that “While no letter written by someone else can perfectly capture my own views, I signed the letter because it was close enough and it came from others who like me, love Israel and her people, support Israel’s right to exist and defend herself, and also see that the humanitarian crisis is too urgent to remain silent.”
Kravitz said that are no perfect letters, particularly when it comes to trying to get a broad cross-section of rabbis with a variety of beliefs and feelings on an issue.
“One can always find a word, or a phrase in such a statement that one sees as problematic” Kravitz said. “In retrospect, I imagine that the authors might have changed a word or phrase while standing behind the thrust of the letter. I signed that letter because I believe in its importance.”
In the past couple of weeks, the Union of Reform Judaism, the Rabbinical Assembly and the Orthodox Union have put out statements calling for more aid to get into Gaza.
“I know how hard it is to get a letter that figures out the centrist position of our very diverse Rabbinical Assembly,” he said. “I think they did a pretty good job, both calling out Hamas for the way in which they have used this issue to their advantage and to put us in the worst possible light, and at the same time to say we have responsibilities here, and we can’t reject them.”
Local clergy are also part of another advocacy effort, Jews For Food Aid For People in Gaza. Rabbis Jessica Rosenberg, Emma Kippley-Ogman and Kohenet Sharon Jaffee, along with Glick, Stiefel, Dworsky, Cohen and Lekach-Rosenberg have all signed on to that awareness campaign. Shir Tikvah and Mayim Rabim have signed on as congregations as well.
“This is a campaign where individuals and organizations have come together across differences to say this is urgent and Jews are supporting food aid for people in Gaza,” said Rosenberg. “It’s noticeably broad in who has come together, and that is part of what’s so powerful right now. Jewish tradition teaches us to feed the hungry, and it’s a way to bring people together around a simple message, loudly and clearly.”
The campaign’s frequently asked questions page says that the campaign is “unbranded and unaffiliated, which means that by signing on, individuals and organizations are not stating alignment with nor endorsing any organization, co-signatories, nor anything else beyond the statement of this campaign.”
Protestors near Hostage Square in Tel Aviv gather in opposition to the war in Gaza on Aug. 7, 2025. (Genevieve Parker/TC Jewfolk)
Other rabbis are taking to social media to call for increasing aid. Rabbi Alexander Davis of Beth El Synagogue wrote: “There is blame enough to go around, but here is the bottom line: Even as our focus remains squarely on the return of the hostage, dismantling of Hamas’ terror organization, and ending the war for the sake of Israelis and Palestinians, bringing relief to Gaza is a collective responsibility and moral imperative.”
The Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas wrote in a post on July 30 that the welfare of the citizens in Gaza, while working to release the hostages, should be prioritized at the same time as a way to defeat Hamas.
“Hamas’ most powerful weapons are the global outrage generated by images of Palestinian suffering – which it engineered – and the ongoing physical and psychological torture of Israelis,” the organization wrote.
As more aid has started towards Gaza, the United Nations data is showing that much of it is being intercepted. According to the UN data since May 19, more than 31,000 tons of food aid have been intercepted in transit, “Either peacefully by hungry people or forcefully armed actors.”
“We welcome the continued expansion and coordination of humanitarian operations—including the large-scale delivery of food, medicine, and supplies to Gazan civilians,” the JCRC wrote in its statement. “But Israel cannot and should not bear this responsibility alone. The United Nations, relief agencies, and every other actor involved must do their part to undercut Hamas’ strategy of maximizing human suffering.”
Haviv Rettig Gur, a veteran Israeli journalist and analyst, said on a Jewish Federations of North America-organized Zoom briefing on Aug. 4 that the lack of aid flowing into Gaza was “catastrophic incompetence.”
“That created a major military setback and delayed the ending of the war,” he said.
Rettig Gur added that Israeli leadership should learn a lesson from this: “You don’t play with Gazan civilians because Hamas will defeat you. [Hamas] is willing to watch [Gazans] suffer in ways that Israelis cannot and will not.”
The biblical saying, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth is meant to limit retaliation not justify it. Israelis have abandoned this. Tikkun Olam? What happened to our moral compass? Have we become rudderless and amoral like those we have despised in the passed? I a used to be proud to call myself Jewish. Not now.
As an Israeli, I understand that the writers of this article don’t have a clue. Articles like this coming from the Jewish community are embarrassing. The only people starving in Gaza are our hostages. Have you actually seen Gazans? Not the “pictures” provided by Hamas, but real Gazans. They aren’t even thin!! let alone starving. When every Gazan mother is birthing/raising children to kill as many Jews as possible, and every boy’s dream is to become a shahid, it’s ludicrous and suicidal to ask us to feed these “poor” people . How totally backwards. Ha-fook (upside down).
I believe Neil’s conclusions are just wrong. Being Jewish and having Jewish values in what brings us to question and criticize the Israeli policies that have led to the level of civilian humanitarian suffering in Gaza at present even though feeling angry and even vengeful about what Hamas/Gazans did on October 7,2023.
Perhaps Neil Libson could volunteer for the IDF and run a food relief program in-country. Or is it only the sons of daughters of Israelis who should put their lives at additional risk to prosecute the war on Hamas, search for the hostages, and then attempt to deliver a food relief program while Hamas is shooting at them? Hundreds of IDF soldiers have been killed in this war, already. And Mr. Libson wants to put more IDF at increased risk.
That said, I appreciate the calls for an international effort for relief – let others deal with Hamas shooting at them, and they’ll understand the difficulty of managing an aid program in a war zone. But if they can do it, that’s all to the good.