Finding our Redemption

SermonSlam Jerusalem (12/22/2013): Yisrael Campbell https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q481vlmVuSc

Excerpt from "Letter from a Birmingham Jail [King, Jr.]"

...Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial "outside agitator" idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.

...

I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.

I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and that when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that the present tension in the South is a necessary phase of the transition from an obnoxious negative peace, in which the Negro passively accepted his unjust plight, to a substantive and positive peace, in which all men will respect the dignity and worth of human personality. Actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with. Like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be opened with all its ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must be exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured.

In your statement you assert that our actions, even though peaceful, must be condemned because they precipitate violence. But is this a logical assertion? Isn't this like condemning a robbed man because his possession of money precipitated the evil act of robbery? Isn't this like condemning Socrates because his unswerving commitment to truth and his philosophical inquiries precipitated the act by the misguided populace in which they made him drink hemlock? ...We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right. Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity.

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, remarks at the "Conference on Religion and Race," Chicago, 1963

[Heschel reminded the assembly that the first Conference on Religion and Race took place in Egypt where the main participants were Pharaoh and Moses.] Moses' words were: "Thus says the Lord God of Israel, let My people go," and the Pharaoh retorted, "Who is the Lord that I should heed this voice and let Israel go?" That summit meeting in Egypt has not come to an end. Pharaoh is still not ready to capitulate. The Exodus began, but we are still stranded in the desert. It was easier for the Israelites to cross the Red Sea than for men and women of different color to enter our institutions, our colleges, our universities, our neighborhoods.

MLK Day: A Call for Jews to Fight for Racial Justice Today (excerpt)

The question we need to ask ourselves as a Jewish community today is: How do we move forward examining those threads as Jews, as Americans, and as part of a multiracial and multiethnic Jewish community? Repair the World’s Act Now for Racial Justice campaign explores the many answers to this critical question.

Right now in the U.S., people of color fall victim to police brutality and violence at an alarming rate. In 2017, Black men made up 40% of the unarmed people who were shot and killed by police, though they only represent 6% of the overall population.

Right now in the U.S., immigrant families are being torn apart. From January 22 through September 29, 2017, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested 41,318 people on civil immigration charges, almost 40% more than the previous year.

Right now in the U.S., a horrific and growing number of transgender people of color are being killed. At least 87 of the 102 recorded trans people killed in the last five years were transgender people of color.

Right now in the U.S., Black and Latinx people are dying because of racial disparities in access to healthcare. An estimated 700 to 1,200 women die of childbirth or pregnancy complications every year; Black women are three to four times more likely to die from these issues than white women.

In the past two years, we’ve seen a rampant increase in hate crimes against immigrants, Jews, Muslims, black people, LGBTQ+ people, Latinx people, and people who hold other marginalized identities. King’s “inescapable network of mutuality” offers a critical path forward to address this proliferation of hate and violence. To truly live as a Jewish people committed to justice and racial equality, the iconic and beautiful images of Dr. King and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel marching in Selma must inspire us as a Jewish community to actively work toward dismantling white supremacy and racism today.

This means using all the modes of social justice at our disposal, including volunteering, organizing, giving tzedakah (charity), advocating, and educating. It means using thousands of years of Jewish text, tradition, ritual, and values to guide the Jewish community in building relationships with communities across lines of difference that are rooted in accountability and trust. It means learning how to follow the leadership of people directly impacted by these issues, who know the intricacies of the injustices that they face, and therefore can identify the most thoughtful and powerful ways to address them. Lastly, it means making mistakes, getting back up, and doing it again.

This can be difficult. And complex. And it often feels like “too much” work for one person, or one synagogue, or one organization to tackle.

Repair the World’s Act Now for Racial Justice campaign offers a critical entry point through service and education. The discussion guides and service learning resources that Repair the World created for MLK Day give communities tangible first steps to engage in meaningful discussion about racial justice through a Jewish lens.

Rabbi Yisrael Salanter

When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world. I found it was difficult to change the world, so I tried to change my nation. When I found I couldn't change the nation, I began to focus on my town. I couldn't change the town and as an older man, I tried to change my family. Now, as an old man, I realize the only thing I can change is myself, and suddenly I realize that if long ago I had changed myself, I could have made an impact on my family. My family and I could have made an impact on our town. Their impact could have changed the nation and I could indeed have changed the world.