FAME Church and Temple Isaiah Come Together

On October 20, members of THE First African Methodist Episcopal Church (FAME) in Los Angeles joined Temple Isaiah on Pico for a special Shabbat service. Then on October 22, Temple Isaiah’s Rabbi Zoë Klein Miles and other members of the congregation were invited to the Sunday service at FAME.

“First AME Church and Temple Isaiah have had a unique and special partnership for many decades, beginning with Rev. Chip Murray and our Rabbi Emeritus, Rabbi Robert Gan, and then Pastor J. Edgar Boyd and me,” Miles told the Journal. “We have shared many prayer services and pulpit exchanges.”

After the horrendous attacks on October 7, Pastor Boyd, senior minister of FAME Church, sent an email to Miles with the subject “We are Here for You!” along with a request to join them in prayer.

After the horrendous attacks on October 7, Pastor Boyd, senior minister of FAME Church, sent an email to Miles with the subject “We are Here for You!” along with a request to join them in prayer.

“We have exchanged spiritual support, moral encouragement, and social exchange throughout your and my 11-year clerical relationship,” Boyd wrote. “At no time, since we have known each other, have I felt such a deep urge to speak out about human justice and our individual right to live, than I do now, in the face of Hamas’ outright intent to kill and do harm to Jews, simply because they exist in the cross-hairs of their hatred.”

He continued, “While we pray for your community’s well-being in Israel, and throughout the world, we are reminded of the struggles both our communities endure daily, here at home. Indeed, ‘Injustice anywhere, is a threat to justice everywhere.’”

While Temple Isaiah expected a handful of people from FAME to join their Friday night service, they were stunned by the turnout. Between both congregations, the sanctuary was filled to capacity. “They were radiating love, warmth, and smiles,” David Chiu, a member of the temple’s board of trustees, told the Journal. “As it is whenever they visit our community, FAME brought with them an enthusiasm and energy that lifted all of our spirits.” 

Although this was Boyd’s final weekend before his retirement, he felt it was important to stand in solidarity with these congregants, his longtime friends. “He gave the D’var Torah and spoke with the wisdom and passion we at Isaiah have always been in awe of,” Chiu said. “I felt so comforted that this good man was proudly standing with the Jewish people.”

FAME’s choir led the congregations in singing “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” which Isaiah Rabbi Dara Frimmer said is nicknamed “The Black National Anthem.” This was followed by everyone singing “Hatikvah” together.

“[FAME] reached out to us, they showed up for us and they came to pray with us,” Madeleine Wolf told the Journal. Wolf is a member of Temple Isaiah’s board of trustees and activist in Am Tzedek, Isaiah’s social justice group. “I felt love and compassion; I felt their warmth and caring for me in this time of struggle and shock.” 

Chiu says he kept hearing that people of color weren’t supporting Jews after the horrific events of October 7. As a Jew of color, “that was devastating to hear and I wondered if it could possibly be true,” he said. “When Rabbi Zoë read Pastor Boyd’s letter at our October board meeting, I was overcome with emotion. I felt so seen and embraced.” He added, “There’s a Jewish value I love called HaKarat HaTov: recognizing the good. While it’s important to call out antisemitism across the world, I feel like this is equally important. You cannot get more good than the people of FAME.”

This act of good is merely a continuation of a long-standing relationship of support between the two congregations. Isaiah annually hosts FAME church the Friday night of Martin Luther King Weekend. Plus, they built the FAME Legal clinic together, and have shared Passover seders, toy drives and more. 

The congregation is “stronger with their allies,” James Finney-Conlon, a congregant at Temple Isaiah and chair of their Interfaith Solidarity Group, said. “We are so grateful for our deep communal and sacred bond with the FAME community.”

When Miles spoke at FAME’s Sunday service, she said, “When Pastor Boyd reached out to me two weeks ago, and to Temple Isaiah, on behalf of FAME church … It was a ray of light, of hope, of healing. Light, just when the darkness was closing in. Hope, just when despair was becoming too heavy to bear.”