8 | JANUARY 14 • 2021 

essay

This Year, for Martin 
Luther King Jr. Day 
 — Be a Heschel
W

e’ve all seen 
those grainy 
black and white 
photographs from the 1960s. 
We see Dr. Martin Luther King 
Jr. marching 
in civil rights 
demonstrations, 
oftentimes 
locked arm and 
arm with Rabbi 
Abraham Joshua 
Heschel, his 
fellow activist 
and close friend. As Jews, 
we see these pictures and we 
rightly take pride that a rabbi 
was integral to Dr. King and 
the Civil Rights Movement. 
We’ve been citing that fact for 
60 years.
Dr. King and Rabbi Heschel 
were indeed genuine friends. 
Dr. King and his family were 
due to attend a Passover seder 
at the Heschel’s house in April 
1968, just a few weeks after the 
assassination. Instead, during 
that same week, Rabbi Heschel 
delivered the eulogy at his 
friend’s funeral. Over the years, 
Rabbi Heschel has become an 
iconic symbol of commitment 
and solidarity between Black 
and Jews. 
But that was then, and this 
is now.
The Black and Jewish expe-
rience together has ebbed and 
flowed in the past 60 years. 
Both communities have, 
at times, felt betrayed and 
aggrieved by the other. Jewish 
racism and Black antisemitism 

have never been eradicated, 
and far too many Black and 
Jewish leaders have contribut-
ed to the anger and divisions 
between both communities. 
But in recent years there 
have been new and robust 
efforts among Blacks and Jews 
to jointly promote unity and 
fight racism and antisemitism. 
In 2019, a bipartisan group 
of Congressional lawmakers 
formed the Congressional 
Caucus for Black and Jewish 
Relations and, this year, mem-
bers of the Michigan legis-
lature followed suit with its 
own Black and Jewish Unity 
Caucus. Both groups cited the 
urgent need for the communi-
ties to come together in light 
of the dramatic spike in white 
supremacy groups and hate 
crimes targeting Blacks and 
Jews. 
Last September, the 
American Jewish Committee 
(AJC) and the National Urban 
League kicked off Black-
Jewish Unity Week, a national 
initiative of programming 
events, seminars, advocacy 
and prayers designed to foster 
unity and strengthen the fight 
against racism and antisemi-
tism.
Locally, the Jewish 
Community Relations Council/
AJC, in partnership with the 
Council of Baptist Pastors of 
Detroit and Vicinity, operate 
the Coalition for Black and 
Jewish Unity. The group has a 
three-fold mission: 1) promote 

solidarity between both com-
munities; 2) speak out against 
racism, antisemitism and other 
forms of hate; and 3) identify 
and cultivate future leaders 
among the younger generation. 
The Anti-Defamation 
League (ADL), initially orga-
nized to combat antisemitism, 
has become increasingly active 
in fighting racism in recent 
years, particularly this past 
year because of the George 
Floyd killing and other inci-
dents. Its local branch, led 
by Carolyn Normandin, is 
combating hate crimes and 
exposing hate groups, as well 
as partnering with local orga-
nizations to expand the ADL’s 
commitment to promoting 
Black and Jewish unity.
The joint efforts among 
Blacks and Jews to form solid, 
meaningful and effective alli-
ances are alive and well today. 
There are still critics and 
detractors, but for many peo-
ple in both communities, the 
spirit of Dr. King’s and Rabbi’s 
Heschel’s friendship and com-
mitment for justice is thriving 
in full vibrancy today.
Fifty-three years after Dr. 
King’s death, Blacks and Jews 
are facing a surge in hatred and 
violence. Dr. King once wrote 
that “we may have all come 

on different ships, but we’re all 
in the same boat now.” That 
is indeed true today. How we 
navigate that boat will depend 
on our commitment, our rela-
tionships with one another and 
our solidarity. Many people 
from both communities are 
already deeply committed to 
this task. 
This year, as we honor the 
life and legacy of Dr. King, 
Jews can educate themselves 
on what’s being done to pre-
serve Black-Jewish unity and 
we can work to strengthen and 
renew it. Rabbi Heschel left 
us a shining example. But we 
cannot rest on that memory; 
we must build on it. We must, 
as Rabbi Jennifer Kaluzny of 
Temple Israel noted in a recent 
sermon, “be a Heschel today.”
That’s a noble challenge for 
the Jewish community as we 
observe the King holiday this 
year, as well as a fitting and 
beautiful way to honor his 
dream. 

Mark Jacobs is the AIPAC Michigan 

chair for African American Outreach, 

a co-director of the Coalition for Black 

and Jewish Unity, a board member 

of the Jewish Community Relations 

Council-AJC and the director of 

Jewish Family Service’s Legal Referral 

Committee. 

Mark Jacobs

VIEWS

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel presenting the Judaism and World Peace 

Award to Martin Luther King Jr., Dec. 7, 1965

WIKIPEDIA

