What Gives? The Jewish Philanthropy Podcast · Jewish Funders Network

Rachel Sumekh - Dispelling Myths and Addressing Jewish Poverty

·49 min·3 clips

Rachel Sumekh says Jewish poverty is closer to 20%, not 5% or 6%.

1. What Gives? The Jewish Philanthropy Podcast focuses on Rachel Sumekh and Jewish poverty through TEN, or Together Ending Need. 2. Rachel Sumekh is Project Executive for TEN, and host Andres Pokojdi frames her work around Jewish philanthropy and basic needs. 3. The episode asks why Jewish poverty is still treated as a side issue when data show it is widespread across the community. 4. Sumekh says funders often guess Jewish poverty is 5% or 6%, then corrects them to closer to 20%. 5. She compares that figure with the broader American context, where about 35% of people are struggling to make ends meet. 6. Sumekh says the misconception is not just about Haredi Jews or immigrants, because poverty reaches every sector of Jewish life. 7. She traces her own path to this work through her Iranian Jewish immigrant parents, who had advanced degrees but still needed SNAP, Medi-Cal, and school meals. 8. She also describes starting Swipe Out Hunger at UCLA and spending 10 years scaling it to 800 campuses. 9. Sumekh says many of the students served by Swipe Out Hunger were parents, first-generation students, or low-income students whose meals changed their trajectory. 10. The discussion turns to why Jewish philanthropy has not consistently centered poverty relief, and Sumekh points to awareness gaps and shifting donor priorities. 11. She says the organized Jewish community originally built federation systems around resettlement, housing, food, healthcare, and community support. 12. She argues that leaders often do not hear from the single mother with two jobs who cannot afford day school tuition. 13. Sumekh cites a San Francisco State Hillel director who said students cannot be met in their Jewish journey if they are hungry, in turmoil, or anxious about debt. 14. She says national and CUNY data show the problem is acute, including a study that found 49% of Jewish CUNY students are food insecure. 15. Sumekh says students are still going to college and working, but hunger makes it hard to study and participate fully. 16. She describes TEN as a collaborative initiative that grew from a 2019 San Francisco convening with the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation and Jewish Funders Network. 17. The conversation highlights more than 140 Jewish human service agencies, including Jewish Family Service LA, Jewish Family Services San Diego, and the Network of Jewish Human Service Agencies. 18. Sumekh says many agencies are under pressure from high inflation and the end of American Rescue Plan support, even as people still need the programs. 19. The episode has a practical, data-driven interview style with repeated examples from federations, Hillels, and agencies across the U.S. 20. It will suit listeners interested in Jewish communal funding and social services, and it may be less useful for people wanting a general Jewish history discussion.

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