SHABBAT TZEDEK & MLK WEEKEND OF JUSTICE By Andy Tarsy Over five days, more than a thousand people joined in six events honoring the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and reflecting on the challenges of our own times. Each event was a point of entry to engage our members and friends in important ongoing projects. We affirmed that we are a congregation with a tremendous sense of social responsibility and a sense of urgency about learning and about doing multi-generational, relational work for social justice.
FRIDAY NIGHT. 700 people filled the Sanctuary for our annual “Shabbat Tzedek” service. Temple Israel (RYFTI) teens, Beacon Academy students, the TI Youth Choir, and the Boston Children’s Chorus provided much needed inspiration. A powerful address by Michael Curry, local and national leader of the NAACP, painted a vivid portrait of the roots of the NAACP in the early twentieth century, when lynching was commonplace and racism narrowly framed the American experience for Blacks. He spoke candidly about the simple inference of racial bias we must draw from the dramatically different experiences Whites and Blacks still have in terms of education, income, criminal justice, and more. Poignantly, he declared that “if these lives don’t matter, then it cannot be true that all lives matter.” Ralph Friedin said that “Rabbis Zecher and Soffer set the service in the context of not only remembrance of MLK but also TI’s long history advocating and acting for social justice” and “[t]he diversity of those attending took the words of the service beyond the doors, strengthening bridges to other communities. I left inspired knowing that TI joined the moral values of my Jewish heritage with my personal commitment to social activism. I walked out wanting to participate more in both the religious experience and the social activism of TI.” TI member and member of the Riverway Project leadership team, Ben Poor reflected that he “loved seeing
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INSIGHT Vol. 16, No. 4, Spring 2017/5777
the packed congregation Friday night.” He said, “I feel ready to be asked to do more in this moment.”
SATURDAY MORNING. Shabbat morning Torah Study at Temple Israel is always a lively, rigorous exercise. On this occasion, the clergy guided the study session which hosted more than 50 people through topical and challenging pieces of text. TI member Serena Fujita, herself a Rabbi, commented that “[t]he rabbis led us in study of pieces of Torah that generate discussion of the how we as Jews see ‘the other’ and how the Reform movement has struggled with and updated our understanding of our text in alignment with our values.” Serena appreciated ending Torah study with words from
