“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Established 1858
Honor the Life and Legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Friday, January 18, 6:00 PM Please join us for our annual service commemorating Dr. King’s undying message of equality and civil rights. We welcome Rabbi Israel “Si” Dresner as the featured guest speaker at this year’s celebration, which also features performances by members of the NW Community Gospel Choir and Beth Israel’s conRabbi Israel Dresner gregational choirs. Past speakers have included prominent leaders in the Civil Rights Movement, including the Honorable Myron Herbert Thompson; Rev. Robert S. Graetz; and original CORE member David Dennis. Rabbi Dresner – who is sometimes referred to as “the most arrested Rabbi in America” for his protests during the Civil Rights era – participated in the 1961 Interfaith Freedom Ride from Washington, DC to Tallahassee, FL, along with nine other clergy members. Testing tolerance along the route, often in the face of hateful protests with little police protection, the Tallahassee Ten, as they became known, were ultimately arrested for sitting in a segregated restaurant at the airport before flying home. Originally from Brooklyn, NY, Rabbi Dresner graduated from the University of Chicago in 1950 and was ordained at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute
of Theology. Following his first Freedom Ride in 1961 – and after serving a brief jail term for the arrest – he continued to champion civil rights activism as a prominent spiritual leader and was arrested three more times. While serving as the first full-time rabbi for Temple Sha’arey Shalom in Springfield, NJ, he became good friends with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who spoke at the Reform synagogue twice. Dr. King later asked Rabbi Dresner and other members of the clergy to help desegregate a town in Georgia, leading to a group arrest of the 75 interfaith leaders. Rabbi Dresner was featured in the book Freedom Rides: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice by University of South Florida Professor Raymond Arsenault. This book is the basis for the riveting documentary Freedom Riders, directed by award-winning filmmaker Stanley Nelson, which originally aired on PBS in May 2011. He retired from the pulpit in 1996 and currently Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rabbi Dresner resides in Wayne, NJ. This event has been generously underwritten by the Carolyn G. and Millard S. Rosenblatt Lecture Fund, an endowment established in 1986 to support lectures focusing on Contemporary Jewish Problems or Topics. Past speakers have included noted author Anita Diamant and attorney Lawrence Kaye.
Bulletin January 2013 Tevet-Sh’vat 5773 Vol. 62, No. 4
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Celebration & Day of Community Service January 18th & 21st
Taste of Temple February 10th
Purim Schpiel February 23rd
Preschool Fundraiser: ‘80s Dance Party April 13th
Next Year in Jerusalem April 14th – 28th
Mitzvah Day May 5th
SEE PAGE 2 FOR DETAILS
www.bethisrael-pdx.org January 2013