This weekend, along with the rest of America, we commemorate the bravery, leadership, faith and determination of the Rev. Martin Luther King. Tonight we welcome AfroSemitic Experience, a multi race band who will lead our Kabbalat Shabbat service with a mixture of Jewish and African American music. Three other congregations around the country are joining us for our service. Sunday, our congregation is participating in a Brookline Interfaith Anti Racism workshop. This weekend we rejuvenate our efforts to rid ourselves of our racist bias’.
This significant Shabbat sits at a crossroads between the attempt to destroy our democracy last Wednesday and the hope for rebuilding it next Wednesday on Inauguration Day. Our parasha this week also contributes to the power of this weekend. In it, God sends Moses to free the Israelites from slavery. So on this Shabbat we honour two men who led their people out of oppression--Moshe and Dr. King.
As we know, the Exodus story became part of the narrative of the civil rights movement. I once had a discussion with an African American minister about the differences between how Jews came out of the Holocaust, and African Americans emerged from slavery. Both were extreme traumas for our peoples, but many Jews came out of the Shoah with their faith destroyed, while African American’s faith was still intact and even stronger post slavery. What was the difference? Among other things, he said that during slavery, African American’s belief in the Exodus story grew year by year. They had faith that they would one day be set free. Even though they couldn’t see the Promised Land, they knew that the Israelites had reached it, and so would they. During their time of slavery, in a way, they became us, the enslaved Israelites.
Now, it is the turn of white Jews to stand in their shoes, to learn about and understand the story of their lives. We used to know what it was like to walk down the street in fear of being beaten, red-lined or black-balled. But we don’t know what it is like to be afraid to sit in our cars, go jogging, get milk at a convenience store, or answer the doorbell in our own home.
I pray that this Shabbat, we will recommit ourselves to helping clear the way toward a new Promised Land with people of colour. I hope the music will enable us to ‘lift every voice and sing’ so our spirits, our determination, and our faith in the future will rise.
I wish you a sweet Shabbat filled with the joy and soul of song,
Click here to listen to a clip of AfroSemitic Experience sing Adfon Olam.
