A Note from Rabbi Jim Rosen

Martin Luther King Jr./Exodus

Rabbi Jim Rosen

It happens every year at this time. Just as our Torah readings turn to the book of Exodus, the saga of Israel in Egyptian slavery and the celebration of the Exodus, we also pause to observe the birthday of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.

And if that is not enough of a reminder of the link between the Jewish and Black struggles for freedom, I find myself drawn frequently to one of the most iconic pictures in the Beth El archives. It is a photograph of Dr. King and Rabbi Stanley Kessler, of blessed memories, standing together with serious intent on their faces. They are at a Hartford area protest gathering, both attired in suit and tie and fedora hats. The formal dress takes nothing away from the passion of the mission.

The recently concluded festival of Chanukah and our annual immersion in the story of the Exodus are meant to sensitize us to the evils of slavery and the power of oppression to degrade and destroy countless lives. And we have always read our past situation from slavery to freedom as a lesson for all of humanity.

The great Jewish philosopher and leader, Abraham Joshua Heschel, called King one of the greatest hopes of America. I believe that King’s legacy very much remains true to that description to this very day.

In my mind, the success of King’s message and its enduring power for us is that he called upon America, the nation, and Americans as individuals to transcend the pettiness of hatred, to go beyond platitudes of “someday.”

King thundered with the passion of the prophet Amos, in saying that indeed, the world cannot surrender to despair. “The arc of the moral universe is long but bends towards justice,” stated the civil rights leader. He believed that ending racism in America was America simply being true to its highest values as annunciated in our Declaration of Independence and Constitution.

To live the legacy of Martin Luther King is not simply to strive for a better, more moral nation. It is to be true to the Jewish calling within our midst as well. Justice is not a nicety to quote. It is an imperative to pursue. Seeing each other as bearing God’s divine image is not a piece of poetry, but a moral demand.

With the incredible rise in bigotry, racism, antisemitism, and hatred of all kinds, King’s message has never been more powerful or necessary. The book of Exodus says: We are here to let all go forth from the yoke of slavery. The journey continues and the holiday marked by King’s birth is vivid as a reminder that we still have a long way to go.