FEBRUARY 9 • 2023 | 25
any other church in the country.” She
returned to the Second Baptist Church
of Detroit 17 years ago.
She shares that interfaith collabo-
ration is critical toward developing
solutions and consistent with King’s
organizing, activism and leadership.
“Solutions cannot be developed in
isolation. We need to come together
as equals and come up with solutions
to what is going on in the world,” she
said.
Smith’s goal is for interfaith events
and conversations, like this panel, to
take place throughout the year, not just
in commemoration of King’s birthday.
THE UNITY COALITION’S
MUSICAL CELEBRATION
A Musical Celebration of the Dream at
the First Baptist Institutional Church,
presented by the Coalition of Black
and Jewish Unity, featured a true
collaboration between the Black and
Jewish communities in commemorat-
ing and committing to MLK’s example.
The Coalition for Black and
Jewish Unity, the event sponsor, is a
collaboration of the Jewish Community
Relations Council/AJC, the Council of
Baptist Pastors of Detroit and Vicinity,
the ADL and the Urban League.
Coalition Co-Chair Rev. Dr. Deedee
Coleman and Coalition Co-Director
Mark Jacobs welcomed the hundreds
who gathered. Jacobs repeated King’s
often-spoken commitment and
solidarity to the integrity and plight of
the Jewish people, “I solemnly swear to
do my utmost to uphold the fair name
of the Jews because bigotry in any form
is an affront to all of us.”
Coleman enumerated the countless
obstacles and pains endured by King.
She stressed that despite them, “He
kept going, and everywhere he went he
left his mark.”
Jacobs plainly stated that the
Coalition of Black and Jewish Unity
exists to serve and deliver on King’s
dream.
The celebration continued with
Rev. Michael Kennedy leading “Lift
Every Voice and Sing,” followed by
Hazzan David Propis of Congregation
Shaarey Zadek in Southfield leading
“Hatikvah,” the Israeli national anthem.
“If God gives you a dream, will
you give your life for it?” asked Rev.
Dr. Robyn D. Moore. She persisted,
“When God gives you a dream, it is
not the end, it is the beginning.” Moore
called on all, regardless of ability and
challenges, to keep moving forward in
faith.
Hazzan Daniel Gross of Adat Shalom
Synagogue wove together and chanted
King’s words with the soulfulness and
reverence of chanting the holy words
of the Torah.
He closed with King’s proclama-
tion, “We’ve got some difficult days
ahead. But it really doesn’t matter
with me now because I’ve been to
the mountaintop. And I don’t mind.
Like anybody, I would like to live a
long life. Longevity has its place. But
I’m not concerned about that now. I
just want to do God’s will. And He’s
allowed me to go up to the mountain.
And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the
Promised Land …”
The Adat Shalom choir, joined by
the audience, sang “Tzedek, Tzedek,
Tirdof,” which translates to Justice,
Justice, You Shall Pursue, in Hebrew
and English.
Addressing the gathered community,
Rabbi Marla Hornsten of Temple Israel
and co-chair of the Coalition of Black
and Jewish Unity, implored, “
As we
stand here today, we need to do more
than simply remember. To best serve
the memory of Dr. King, we must con-
vert our remembrance into action, into
activism.”
Hornsten repeated King’s call to
action: “Our lives begin to end the day
we become silent about things that
matter.”
Hornsten shared a parable of two
people individually lost in a forest.
Upon encountering one another, one
asks the other for the way out, who
responds that he does not know the
way out but does know the paths not
to take. The two take hands and forge
forward in unity toward the shared
goal of freedom. Hornsten connected
the story to the community gathered:
“Let us join hands and look for the way
together.”
Rev. Lawrence Rodgers
was on the panel at
the JCRC/AJC MLK
commemoration event.
Hazzan David Propis
of Congregation
Shaarey Zedek sings
“Hatikvah” at the
Coalition for Black and
Jewish Unity event.
Rabbi Ariana Silverman of the Downtown
Synagogue and Dr. Saed Kahn share a laugh
during the panel discussion.