- Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr
is a defining figure of US history.
Arguably, the most impactful activist for civil rights.
He was a leader who dreamed of letting freedom ring
for all Americans, regardless of race.
His legacy of change through non-violence
and civil disobedience is well known.
But what many don't know about is King's close relationship
with the Jewish community of his day.
Through his tumultuous battles for civil rights
in the 1950s and '60s,
King was allied with many leading Jewish figures.
How are King's teachings relevant to Jews today?
On April 12th, 1963 King was imprisoned
for protesting racism and racial segregation in Alabama.
While awaiting bail, he penned his famous
"Letter from a Birmingham Jail."
It was conceived in response to a letter
from local white ministers
who criticized King's decision to protest
in Birmingham in the first place.
In the letter, the jailed minister conveyed
his reasons for showing up in Birmingham.
He claimed he was there because injustice was there.
He also responded to his critics with criticism of his own,
saying that white moderates prefer a "negative piece"
which is the absence of tension, to a "positive peace"
which is the presence of justice.
The idea parallels a discussion in the Mishnah
by Hillel the Elder about the idea of a "Rodef Shalom"
or "one who pursues peace above all else."
One Jew who embodied Rodef Shalom is Rabbi Joachim Prinz
a contemporary and friend of Dr. King.
Having witnessed the horrors of Nazi Germany
prior to his emigration to the US,
Prinz was intimately familiar with prejudice and hate
which galvanized him to fight for civil rights.
Even before his immigration, Prinz spoke publicly
about inequality in the US and was critical
of American Jews who were apathetic to the cause.
At the March on Washington in August, 1963,
Prinz spoke immediately before King delivered
his game-changing, "I Have A Dream" speech.
He touched on the Jewish people's origins as slaves
and claimed that when God created man,
He made him as everyone's neighbor
with a collective responsibility for the preservation
of man's dignity and integrity.
King echoed this a few minutes later
when he preached that one of the main goals
of his movement was to:
- Transform the jangling discourse of our nation
into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.
- King and Prinz both understood
their respective communities journeys
from persecution to civil rights
was part of a larger ongoing battle
in which everyone brothers, sisters, neighbors
and strangers were obligated to show up.
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, a field login
and professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary
was another rabbi friend of Dr. King.
Heschel participated with King
in numerous speeches and protests.
At one point, he called King "the voice of God in our time."
After walking with King and other religious leaders
in the 1965 Selma to Montgomery March for voting rights.
Heschel described the trek as spiritually moving
like he was "praying with his legs."
King also used his growing global influence
to help the Jewish community.
He frequently chastised the Soviet government
for the treatment of it's Jewish citizens,
co-sponsoring conferences on the plight of Soviet Jewry.
In 1965, he was awarded the American Liberties Medallion
by the American-Jewish Committee
for his exceptional advancement
of the principles of human liberty.
Throughout his public life, King fought antisemitism
even within the African American community.
He was also a friend to Israel.
In a 1968 speech, King called Israel,
one of the great outposts of democracy in the world.
It's no shock then that following King's
tragic assassination in Memphis in 1968,
many in the Jewish community mourned
deeply with the rest of the country.
Thousands of American Jews participated in memorials
and interfaith services for the martyred minister.
On the day King's body was laid to rest,
over 700 Jewish schools and organizations
around the country closed out of respect.
Jewish leaders around the world
acknowledges King stunning legacy.
King support of Jews parallels his own guiding principles
of helping out one's brothers and sisters
and immortal Jewish value.
King's emphasis on community, education,
justice and reaching out
to one's enemies continued to resonate.
In his ongoing fight for justice,
King transcended divisions to work
with different communities, religions and races.
The pursuit of a union that benefits all is resonant
in American Jews today who live in a society
that still strains under racial division
and political partisanship.