A Day of Jubilee

During the past few weeks, we have witnessed a powerful period of fasting. The holy Muslim month of Ramadan came to a close this weekend, and it embraced the Jewish period of Yom Kippur as well as last week's Interfaith Fast to End the War in Iraq. I was privileged to host a breaking of the fast gathering in my home last Monday as part of the Interfaith Fast, and that evening, I learned from a Roman Catholic nun named Sister Clare about another justice-centered fast that has been taking place.

Tomorrow, a United Church of Christ minister working to end world debt will observe the final day of a remarkable 40-day fast. This "Cancel Debt Fast" has been organized by the Jubilee USA Network to bring attention to the continuing crisis of hunger around the globe. Rev. David Duncombe from Washington state will conclude his observance of a fast that has included thousands of participants nationwide -- most for a day or two, but Duncombe has been fasting since September 6th in Washington DC.

Throughout the past several weeks, as he has lost weight in front of the eyes of the U.S. Congress, Duncombe has held dozens of meetings with the nation's political leaders, trying to focus attention on the devastating fact that more than one billion people live in poverty worldwide. On Tuesday morning, during a prayer breakfast, he will be joined by four members of the House of Representatives: Spencer Bachus (R-AL), Donald Payne (D-NJ), Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Emmanuel Cleaver (D-MO), each of whom will break their own one-day fasts.

October 16th is World Day to Eradicate Poverty and End Hunger, and therefore an appropriate day to hold this gathering. In DC, the "Cancel Debt Fast" has successfully secured a commitment to a fall hearing on the Jubilee Act of 2007 (H.R. 2634) in the House Financial Services Committee and in the process has gained 13 additional House bill sponsors.

According to its proponents, the Jubilee Act would cancel the debts of up to 25 countries that are not currently eligible for debt cancellation, end harmful economic policy conditionality, and establish an audit of past lending and set more responsible lending practices for the future. Currently, indebted nations spend an average of $100 million each day to service their debts -- money they cannot spend on food, education, health services, and other necessities. Cancellation of these debts is needed to help reach the U.N. Millennium Development Goal of cutting worldwide poverty in half by 2015.

Right now I am reading the excellent new book Peace, Justice, and Jews: Reclaiming Our Tradition, edited by Murray Polner and Stefan Merken. In her powerful essay "Impossible Pacifism: Jews, the Holocaust, and Nonviolence," Evelyn Wilcock refers to fasting as a form of resistance for some Jews during that tragic period: "Keeping religious law resisted Nazi law," she writes. It is inspiring to see how present-day fasts are also being used to target policies bringing death to millions, from the war in Iraq to the scourge of hunger in developing countries around the globe. [A book launch party for Peace, Justice, and Jews featuring four of the contributors will be held this Thursday evening, Oct. 18th, at 7 p.m. at Morningside Bookshop in Upper Manhattan, 2915 Broadway at 114th Street, 212-222-3350.]