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