DR. KING'S LEGACY

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Clockwise from top left:

Gary Weisserman of Walled Lake and
Dana and Erin Rhodes of Farmington
Hills

Robert Cohen of Royal Oak, Jewish

Community Relations Council executive
director

West Bloomfield High School student
Shelby Bruseloff

Beth Borson of West Bloomfield and
Rep. Gary Peters

Rabbi Paul Yedwab of Temple Israel

March To Vigil

Don Cohen

Special to the Jewish News

I

t was the Sweet Sixteen year for West

Bloomfield's United We Walk cel-
ebrating the Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr. holiday and the slain civil rights leader's
legacy. The annual event, held on the
Sunday before the holiday for the past two
years, brought a diverse group together at
West Bloomfield High School to celebrate
and affirm King's message of racial and
social justice.
The day's events included a one-mile
walk along Orchard Lake Road, music and
speeches, food and drink, opportunities
for structured dialogue and a candlelight
vigil. More than 200 people walked with
signs and banners and even more took
part in the auditorium program.
Dave Henig, an active member of
Temple Kol Ami in West Bloomfield and
on the staff of the Oakland County-based

Michigan Board of Rabbis, has served as
an event co-chair the past three years.
He sees the event as an important
expression of community unity.
"Each year, we show that our commu-
nity can work together. It is our attempt to
build Dr. King's 'beloved community.' We
still working on it, but we will continue
to work on it until everyone is on board:'
Henig said.
Camp Kennedy of Oakland County-
based Tamarack Camps was the inspira-
tion for West Bloomfield High School
10th-grader Shelby Bruseloff, a winner of
the oratory contest. Together with the two
other winners, she recited her winning
entry on the theme "United We Cant' high-
lighting the importance of community
support for individual achievement.
"I love to write and I'm very passionate
about camp:' Bruseloff said, explaining
why she entered the contest. "We should
always remember Dr. King and work to

West Bloomfield unites in
marking King message.

keep the dream alive. As the years pass, it
is harder to keep things going, but it's nice
to see that it is still important in our com-
munity and hopefully it will continue for
many more years."
Rabbi Paul Yedwab of Temple Israel
in West Bloomfield shared his personal
experience as a student wrestler trying not
to get pinned as well as his parents' com-
mitment to the civil rights movement and
their friendship with Dr. King — stressing
the importance of perseverance.
When Dr. King was assassinated in
1968, Yedwab feared for his parents
because they were at a civil rights confer-
ence at the time, but as it turned out, not
with Dr. King. Only when he was older did
he feel Dr. King's loss as personal.
One of the strengths that the rabbi val-
ued most about Dr. King was a "passive
determination and sacred patience" that
allowed him to gracefully, but effectively
push for justice and civil rights. The rabbi

observed "these are very difficult to find
today."
"We must all stand together;' he told the
audience.
He challenged the students in particu-
lar, asking them, "What is your role?" He
urged them to "remember in your heart
and soul and being Dr. King's most impor-
tant message and dedicate yourself to it:
`You must never, ever give up."
United We Walk co-sponsors included
the Jewish Community Relations
Council of Metropolitan Detroit, B'nai
B'rith Great Lakes Region, Temple Kol
Ami, Congregation Beth Ahm in West
Bloomfield, Temple Shir Shalom in West
Bloomfield, Congregation Shaarey Zedek
of Oakland County and the Greater Detroit
Chapter of Hadassah.
U.S. Rep Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield
Township, and State Rep. Lisa Brown, D-
West Bloomfield, were among the elected
officials attending.

January 21 • 2010

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