26 | MARCH 2 • 2023 

B

ack in October, 
walking on the 
Edmund Pettus 
Bridge, Temple Israel mem-
ber Simona Seiderman felt 
the history under her feet 
and all around her. 
“The significance of it, 
walking across freely, here 
and now, and how much 
people were willing to get 
beaten on this bridge, just for 
the right to vote,” she said. 
“There’s so much power in 
that, you can feel and can’t 
help reflecting on how peo-
ple fought for their rights. 
It’s emotional just thinking 
about it.”
The Edmund Pettus Bridge 
became a flashpoint in the 
Civil Rights Movement. 
Peaceful protesters attempt-
ed to march from Selma to 
Montgomery to demand 
voting rights for African 
Americans, and they were 
met on the bridge with vio-
lence in an event that became 
known as Bloody Sunday on 
March 7, 1965. 
It was a turning point that 
helped turn the public tide 
and eventually helped in the 
passing of the Voting Rights 
Act of 1965. 
The bridge is now a 

symbol of the Civil Rights 
Movement and is an import-
ant reminder of the courage 
taken to stand up for what 
was right. 
Visiting the bridge was 
an important part of the 
civil rights journey that 
Seiderman and fellow Temple 
Israel members, Marilyn 
Nathanson, Gail Katz, Wendy 
Kohlenberg and Susan Singer 
took in October with more 
than a hundred others in 
a trip put together by the 
Women of Reform Judaism. 
Between Oct. 19 and 
23, the group visit-
ed Montgomery, Selma, 
Birmingham and Atlanta to 
listen and learn about the 
history that is still important 
today. 
Seiderman and Nathanson 
also wanted to make sure 
they shared the history, and 
what they learned, with so 
many others. 
So, on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 
as part of Black History 
Month and in conjunction 
with Temple Israel’s Anti-
Racism Task Force, the duo 
presented to a large audience 
at Sisterhood’s Chai Mitzvah 
luncheon. 
They spent hours building 

an informative and educa-
tional slide show, which not 
only looked at the history, 
but also led to engaging dis-
cussion about civil rights in 
2023, which, unfortunately, 
remains an issue 57 years 
after Bloody Sunday. 
“It’s so painful, you don’t 
want to look back some-
times; but it’s so import-
ant to look back because 
remembering is important,” 
Seiderman said. “Not only 
for Jews and the Holocaust, 
but also for Black people 
who have been through 
slavery and continue to expe-
rience discrimination and 
have been killed for breath-
ing while Black. It was very 
painful from that standpoint, 
but it really helped me better 
understand the history and 
continued experience of my 
Black brothers and sisters.”
Seiderman and Nathanson 
took the group through their 
trip in the presentation, but 
really they were taking the 
group on a deeper journey 
and history that sent a mes-
sage about how important 

it is to learn from the past, 
even the most difficult, hor-
rible moments. 
As Seiderman put it when 
she was planning for the pre-
sentation, it’s important to 
ask why and how things hap-
pened, even when it hurts, 
because it reminds us how 
important it is to keep work-
ing for equality today. 
It’s an effort that Temple 
Israel is working and hoping 
to be part of in the future in 
conjunction with the Temple 
Israel Anti-Racism Task 
Force, which is led by Rabbi 
Marla Hornsten. 
Earlier this month Temple 
hosted a book discussion 
with Dr. Tara Hayes, the 
Book Club Professor, about 
Geraldine Brooks’ novel 
Horse, which looked at and 
examined the legacy and his-
tory of slavery and freedom 
in the United States. 
The Anti-Racism Task 
Force is also planning a 
trip to the Charles Wright 
Museum of African 
American History this 
month. 

Temple Israel’s 
Anti-Racism 
Task Force

OUR COMMUNITY

SEAN SHAPIRO SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

Temple members share their 
experience in the South 
learning about the history 
of the Civil Rights Movement.

Simona Seiderman, Marilyn Nathanson, Wendy Kohlenberg and Gail 
Katz

