EDITOR'S NOTILINE • THE Uniting, Overcoming or much of the 20th century, the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York were a favorite meeting and vacation spot for Jews. So it wasn't surprising that the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly held its 1968 convention there. Who would speak at the annual event, however, was not so predictable. When the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. entered the meeting hall, the rabbis greeted him with a Hebrew version of the grand anthem for civil rights, "We Shall Overcome." The date was March 25, 1968. Ten days later, Dr. King — the legendary champion of civil and human rights — was gunned down in Memphis, where he had gone to support striking sanitation workers. He was only 39. His murder came 13 years after he achieved prominence during the Montgomery bus boycott, a seminal event in civil rights history. The 75th anniversary of Dr. King's birth ROBERT A. was Jan. 15. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a SKLAR federal holiday, is Jan. 19 this year. Editor This is the right time to focus on anti- Semites who twist Israeli policies to stoke flames of anti-Jewish hatred around the world — from U.S. campuses to Turkish synagogues to French schools. It's inspir- ing that Dr. King was so willing to speak out for Jews while fighting for black equality. He resisted separatism and counted Jews among his freedom fighters. In Judaism, a good name is a high honor. Dr. King pledged to "do my utmost to uphold the fair name of the Jews because bigotry in any form is an affront to us all." Standing before 1,000 rabbis in the Catskills, Dr. King defended Israel's dream of peace amid Jewish-Arab tensions. He spoke nine months after the Six- Day War of 1967 in the Middle East. His words echo still today. "Peace for Israel means security, and we must stand with all our might to protect its right to exist, its territorial integrity," Dr. King said. "I see Israel, and never mind say- Dr. King ing it, as one of the great outposts of democracy in the world and a marvelous example of what can be done, how desert land almost can be transformed into an oasis of brotherhood and democracy. Peace for Israel means security — and that security must be a reality" He understood that the Arab world's "imposed poverty and backwardness" was a threat to Mideast stability. He under- stood that lasting peace required statesmanship by Israel, pro- gressive Arabs and the West. Special Voice One of 20th-century America's most profound thinkers and theologians was Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, a dear friend of Dr. King. The rabbi wanted Jews to confront racism in their hearts, not just in public. Introducing his colleague in the Catskills, the rabbi asked: "Where in America 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 States of America. God has sent him to us. His presence is the hope of America." Rabbi Heschel, a revered teacher at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, described America's best-known free- dom fighter as "a voice, a vision and a way." "I call upon every Jew to hearken to his voice, to share his vision, to follow in his way," the rabbi said. "The whole future of America will depend upon the impact and influence of Dr. King." Rabbi Heschel was prescient given the emphasis on cultural, ethnic and religious diversity that developed after Dr. King's assassination. The rabbi and the minister first met at a 1963 forum in Chicago on religion and race, appropriately enough. In 1965, the man whom Dr. King called "my rabbi" was so moved walking alongside the civil rights leader from Selma to Montgomery, he declared, "My feet were praying." That remark is embedded in the Jewish psyche, Jewish educator Nancy Kaplan of West Bloomfield reminded me this week, because it "appeals to many folks who believe that acting for social justice is equally as important as sitting in services uttering prayers when it comes to being partners with God in perfecting the world." Soul Mates One was black: the son of a southern Baptist minister, a descendent of slaves, a role model for nonviolent dissent against big- otry. The other was white: a scion of a long line of Chasidic rabbis, a refugee from Hitler's Europe, a role model for helping make the world better. Dr. King and Rabbi Heschel were joined in a spiritual kinship - Rabbi Heschel that spoke to the bereft as well as the power brokers. Is there a Divine message in their birthdays being just four days apart? Jan. 11 marked the 32nd yahrzeit of Rabbi Heschel's death in 1972 at age 65. With God as their guide, and steeped in the tradi- tion of both biblical testaments, these unlikely allies urged racial reconciliation, never buckling to fear. Dr. King had critics. Some felt he pandered to Jews to win their support. Others felt his protests were a veiled incitement to violence. Still others felt he was a communist sympathizer. Balderdash. He was a purebred humanitarian who saw similarities of slavery segregation and ridicule in the black and Jewish strug- gles. He saw the interdependence. Locally, Jews and blacks have many strong social, business and organizational ties. This Martin Luther King Jr. Day, blacks would do well to reinforce their disdain for anti- Semitism and stand in solidarity with Jews. For their part, Jews would do well to help the community at large overcome those racist undercurrents that have made greater Detroit the most segregated of any metropolitan region. Blacks and Jews were joined at the hip in the fight for civil rights. We'd be foolish to forsake that shared history and let the hovering gales of division and stereotype keep us from embracing one another as friends, neighbors and business partners — simply as equals. Dr. King put it perceptively: "Every Negro leader is keenly aware, from direct and personal experience, that the segrega- tionists and racists make no fine distinctions between the Negro and the Jew. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny" 71 SALE EVENT OF THE SEASON WOMEN'S EUROPEAN & AMERICAN DESIGNER CLOTHING COLLECTIONS ACCESSORIES & SHOES THE SALE AT TENDER 271 WEST MAPLE DOWNTOWN BIRMINGHAM 248.258.0212 STORE HOURS: SUNDAY 12-5 MONDAY—SATURDAY 10-6 THURSDAY EVENINGS 'TIL 9 1/16 2004 792360 5