Teetering on the edge between the promise of a new administration in Washington, D.C. and the sacking of the Capitol that threatened our fragile democracy, we used this past Shabbat to find grounding and hope in Dr. King and his legacy. Our Torah portion from the Book of Exodus offered some comfort and uplift as it reminded us that, as the Israelites crossed the Red Sea to escape Pharaoh and Egypt, others have been through dark waters and reached the other side safely.
Over the years we have expanded our approach to MLK Shabbat as we have learned new ways of seeing racism in our midst and we have unlearned old habits of racist thinking and acting. This year we chose to lift up both Dr. King and his allies and at the same time, honor all those members and families in our congregation who share Jewish and black identities. Our Torah that day came from performer and composer Anthony Mordechai Tzvi Russell, an esteemed artist, opera singer, and composer who weaves together his black and Jewish cultures through song.
Anthony has devoted his lifework to a musical exploration of his own roots through the sounds of one hundred years of African American and Ashkenazi (Eastern European) Jewish music. (You can sample this on his album Convergence .)
For our service, Anthony shared how audiences have discovered similarities between black culture and Jewish culture and learned how they have influenced each other. For example, he sang a melding of a Yiddish lullaby and the song “Hush-a-bye,” bringing to mind a Black mother and a Jewish mother calming their child’s fears. He also described the way Jewish composer George Gershwin’s opera “Porgy and Bess” blends music from the two cultures in ways that surprised us all.
Anthony’s performances often lead to open-hearted conversations about the history of Jewish and Black communities in diaspora (living as minorities in other cultures away from our homelands.) Out of these conversations, we have increased our commitment to work together to dismantle racism in our world and in ourselves.
Anthony encouraged us to draw inspiration from the actions of brave Jewish individuals who joined Dr. King and the Civil Rights movements, including the students of Freedom Summer and Dr. King’s Jewish colleague, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel. He also pointed to the example of recent victories of Rev. Raphael Warnock and John Ossoff, a Black man and a Jew who worked together to change the face of Georgia in the U.S. Senate.
While these iconic leaders set a high bar for activism, Anthony urged us to be brave leaders in our own time and our own communities. His message to us is if we are inspired by these people, it is up to each of us to determine what we have to offer, and to create the dream and make it real. Like the many heroes of the Exodus story, from the brave midwives who refused to obey Pharaoh’s order to kill the Hebrew babies to Pharaoh’s daughter who found baby Moses and raised him in the palace, to Nachshon, who our tradition tells us took the first to step into the Red Sea before it had even parted, each of us has a unique role to play. As Anthony reminded us, none of us knows what our role is going to be, but if we pay attention and aspire to find a way, every one of us can make a difference.
Finally, Anthony concluded by drawing a connection between “We Shall Overcome” and Aleinu, the prayer that closes every service with a message of bringing all humanity together in one holy purpose, to heal the world. Whether our songs are in English or Hebrew, from one religious tradition or another, we all agree, “we shall overcome” and in that day, “our God will be one.” (from Aleinu, quoting Zechariah 14:9)
And perhaps this week, we are a step closer to that aspiration.
Rabbi Barbara Penzner