Chief rabbi calls on community to battle poverty

The Chief Rabbi has urged Jews to ask MPs to sign the UK up to a set of commitments to end global poverty by 2030.

Writing in Jewish News this week, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis backed Pope Francis by endorsing 17 goals that together will form the blueprint of the world’s battle-plan against poverty, climate change and inequality.

It comes after world leaders agreed the Sustainable Development Goals [SDG] at the UN last week, signing up to a set of principles that will dictate global policymaking for the next 15 years.

This week, Mirvis asked if our ancestors would be impressed by our technological advances, or ashamed of our inability to protect the most vulnerable in society, in what amounts to a call-to-arms.

“Every one of us has a responsibility to convey to our political representatives the urgency of this opportunity and the moral imperative to ensure that we do not squander it,” he said.

“Poverty, inequality and injustice plague us all, no matter where we live or how sheltered we might feel. Indeed, those people who are fortunate enough to feel entirely unaffected by these problems have the greatest responsibility.”

Last week he urged the Jewish community to “work together on delivering a vision for the present rather than allowing our aspirations to escape us”.

Tzedek chief executive Jude Williams said: “The Chief Rabbi highlights, as we do, that the globalisation of our world brings with it a globalisation of our responsibilities. With 1.1 billion people living on less than $1.25 a day, the SDGs are a global plan of action. The Jewish community should play its part.”