Jewish day schools tackle hunger with compassion and care
About 1 in 5 Pittsburgh residents 'struggle to have healthy, adequate and culturally appropriate food.' As students return to class, three schools renew commitment to keeping students fed
As students return to freshly painted classrooms, smiling teachers and a year of learning opportunities, a grim reality remains: Many young people are hungry.
Nationwide, 18% of households with children experienced food insecurity in 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Within Allegheny County, 1 in 6 children “may not have enough food,” the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank reported.
The heads of Pittsburgh’s three Jewish day schools each said they are aware of the numbers and challenges presented when students lack sustenance.
“Kids need to have sleep, they need to have shelter and they need to be really well fed in order to learn for the day,” Casey Weiss, CDS’ head of school, said, while referencing Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.
The 82-year-old theory, introduced by psychologist Abraham Maslow, suggests that individuals take a bottom-up approach to meeting human needs: One requires food and clothing before achieving friendship or self-esteem.
For educators, the concept is of “fundamental” importance, Weiss said. “We really work hard at the school to ensure that kids’ needs are met.”
The relationship between hunger and student achievement is well documented.
Indiana University researchers noted hungry students “suppress all other higher-order needs, including active engagement in the learning process.” Even when those learners “motivate themselves to engage in the learning process, they face fundamental physiological barriers preventing them from active participation in the learning process.”
When students come to school hungry they experience difficulty paying attention and regulating behavior; the result, researchers said, is a “disorderly and less effective learning environment for all students, even those not experiencing hunger.”
Schools respond
CDS has adopted several approaches to combatting student hunger, including free lunches, meal trains and the availability of snacks.
“One thing we recognized early on was the importance of providing hot kosher lunch for free to everyone in our early childhood programs through transitional kindergarten,” Weiss said.
Additionally, when cases of hardship are brought to educators’ attention, meal trains are quietly organized and food is often left on families’ doorsteps, she continued.
Within the building, snacks are readily available.
“It’s not about who has food at home or who does not,” Weiss said. “Kids know that at all times they can come to our main office, get a granola bar or get a bag of pretzels. There’s always an opportunity for kids to come get an extra snack no matter what.”
Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh provides a daily lunch program to support students in need, according to interim head of school Yikara Levari. Money is raised through private donations and “it’s taken care of.”
Keeping students fed throughout the day is one challenge. Providing food at home is another.
About 1 in 5 Pittsburgh residents “struggle to have healthy, adequate and culturally appropriate food,” according to city estimates.
Levari, whose tenure at the Jewish day school stretches nearly two decades, said a program dedicated in memory of a former student helps offset the challenges of food insecurity.
“Fayth Aronson Berkowitz was well known for giving of her time and giving of her food whenever there was a happy or sad occasion,” Levari said.
After the Hillel graduate died, her recipes were compiled into a cookbook. Students, parents and former teachers wished to perpetuate the legacy and built a program around the cookbook’s theory.
“People always need food and Fayth never stopped cooking,” Levari said.
Tomchei Shabbos, which translates to “supporters of the Sabbath,” was created to ensure families would have adequate meals on Shabbat and Jewish holidays.
The program, which functions anonymously, provides participants with baskets of food, including challah, chicken, meat and vegetables.
“On holidays, there might be something extra,” Levari said.
Those additional items, whether brownies or cookies, are prepared using the cookbook’s recipes and are often baked by high school students.
The beauty of the program, Levari explained, is its discretion and commitment to respect.
There are times when students work on the project, and they know they’re the recipients of Tomchei Shabbos; but whether they are the ones preparing food for themselves or others, “there are no questions asked,” Levari said. “I’ve been very impressed.”
Rabbi Yossi Rosenblum, CEO and Head Of School at Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh, said the biggest challenges he sees stem from out-of-school hunger.
“We serve breakfast and lunch at Yeshiva for free,” he said. As for high school students, “they get dinner as well. It’s more of an issue on Shabbos, holidays and weekends.”
The Squirrel Hill-based school, which operates a Greenfield branch, partners with organizations, including The Aleph Institute and Our Giving Kitchen to ensure families have access to food.
Additionally, school-led committees regularly organize meal trains for families, Rosenblum said.
Empty plates, shared responsibility
Throughout the year, leaders of the city’s three day schools meet regularly; issues affecting one school often affect the others.
More than 1,700 local residents are “facing food insecurity and struggling to put enough food on their tables,” according to the JFCS Squirrel Hill Food Pantry.
When it comes to addressing hungry students there’s a shared approach, Weiss explained.
“We really do everything in our power to act with confidentiality and kavod, just respect for each family,” she said. “I think that all three Jewish day schools do an exemplary job of ensuring that all of those needs are met, for all of our children, daily.” PJC
Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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