Editor’s note: In observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Forward is resurfacing some of our recent coverage related to the Black-Jewish experience and racial justice. This article originally appeared in July, 2020.
The death of Rep. John Lewis comes at a particularly fraught time for blacks and Jews in America.
A series of nasty Twitter-fueled feuds have consumed both communities. Black celebrities from the worlds of sports and music have echoed the anti-Semitic ideas of Louis Farrakhan and the Black Hebrew movement. Jews have reacted with outrage and hurt. Blacks have either dug in or, in the cases of TV host Nick Cannon and former NBA star Stephen Jackson, listened to their more thoughtful critics and apologized.
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The stunning victories of the Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff in the Georgia Senate runoff elections on Jan. 5 provide some hope amidst the gloom of the attempted coup that occurred the next day at the U.S. Capitol. The unlikely triumph of these two men an African-American pastor who preaches from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. s former pulpit and a youthful, liberal Reform Jew evokes fond memories of the storied Black-Jewish civil rights coalition. That now-defunct Grand Alliance battled the same forces of white supremacy whose ideological descendants stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6. While Warnock and Ossoff s twinned political activism does display some surface similarities with the mid-century alliance, in many ways it is different. These differences suggest ways to bridge the divide that led the coalition s collapse in the late 1960s.
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Illustrative: Arlington National Cemetery, February 6, 1968, including Rabbi Abraham Heschel, and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (AP Photo/Harvey Georges)
In a letter to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. following the march from Selma to Montgomery in March 1965, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel z”l wrote: “ Even without words our march was worship. I felt like my legs were praying.” Three years later, in March 1968, Rabbi Heschel introduced Dr. King at the annual convention of the Rabbinical Assembly with these words: “Where in America today, do we hear a voice like the voice of the prophets of Israel? Martin Luther King is a sign that God has not forsaken the United St
If Not Now When: an MLK Day Event
“If not now, when?” These are the words of the great sage Hillel.
First, Hillel asks us to define ourselves: If I’m not for myself, who is for me? And yet, if we are only for ourselves, who are we?
In this complicated world filled with division and differences, Martin Luther King Jr. Day offers a time of unity, togetherness and love. The life of Dr. King is a stark reminder that the only way forward is through dialogue and friendship.
In the model of the historic friendship between Dr. King and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, Sinai Temple is proud to bring together the Black and Jewish community each year. Sinai Temple Max Webb Senior Rabbi David Wolpe explains, “We celebrate the legacy of MLK with amazing talent in song, in story, in poetry and in prayer.”
The hour calls for high moral grandeur and spiritual audacity.” Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
These words are the heart of a message that Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel sent by telegram to President John F. Kennedy Jr. on June 16, 1963, in advance of their meeting scheduled for the next day. In his telegram, Rabbi Heschel was lamenting the state of affairs at the time within the United States as they related to the pressing moral issues of justice and equity. Heschel urged President Kennedy to “demand of religious leaders personal involvement and not just solemn declaration … church[es] and synagogues have failed. They must repent.”