DEUT803 Perhaps because hunger is an ongoing problem, the Bible warns us not to become accustomed and indifferent to the hunger pangs of others. We should realize, as noted, that "There will never cease to be needy ones in your land…" [this verse] and feel obligated to help provide them with food. That a large number of people still starve to death is a terrible indictment of those of us who have the means to help feed the poor, but don't. In the first paragraph of the Birkat HaMazon (Grace after Meals), Jews praise God as One "who feeds the entire world (hazan et ha-olam koolo), with goodness, grace, lovingkindness, and compassion." Thus, this prayer assumes that despite periodic famines throughout the world, God has arranged human society so that nobody need starve. Although this strikes some people as naïve religious thinking, it is true. If human beings starve to death (an estimated seven to eleven million people do so each year) [see George McGovern, Bob Dole, and Donald Messer, Ending Hunger Now, pages 2 and 10. The figure of eleven million would translate into 30,000 deaths daily from starvation, or 1,250 people an hour. Brazilian president Luis Inacio Lula da Silva has said: "Hunger is actually the worst weapon of mass destruction. It claims millions of victims each year."] that is because we do not equitably distribute what God has given us. In the words of Mahatma Gandhi: "There is enough for everybody's need, but not for everybody's greed."