Leave it to kids to tell us the truth.
There was a reading in the “old” Reform Jewish prayerbook, Gates of Prayer, that started this way: “In a world torn by violence and pain…”
Except on one Shabbat morning, the bar mitzvah kid read it wrong: “In a world torn by violence and prayer…”
Or, perhaps he got it right. I am talking about the atrocity of Charlie Hebdo in Paris. When Islamist killers use the creedal statement “Allah hu akhbar” (Allah is great) as the backdrop to their blood-letting, we remember that, yes, the world can be torn by violence and prayer.
But let’s leave Paris, and go to Selma.
“Selma” chronicles the story of the civil rights movement. Let’s remember, please: its leader was the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – with an emphasis on the “reverend.” The civil rights movement was found its sources in religious ideas and language.
Contrary to what we have seen in Paris this week – and in far too many places all over the globe — at its best, religion is a source of human redemption, not human enslavement.
Apparently, though, a major piece of the civil rights story never made it into “Selma.” That was the involvement of the American Jewish community — in particular, three rabbis.
The first was Rabbi Jacob Rothschild, the spiritual leader of The Temple in Atlanta. His voice for integration voice was so fiery that on the night of October 12, 1958, white supremacists blew up the rear section of The Temple.
Here’s a scene from “Selma” that an editor must have thoughtlessly removed.
The Rothschilds invited the Kings to their Atlanta home for dinner. The Kings accidentally went to the wrong house. When they rang the doorbell, the lady of the house answered the door and said: “Thank goodness you’re here! My guests will be arriving any minute, and I need for you to set things up.”
She did not recognize Dr. and Mrs. King. She thought that they were the servers for her dinner party.
The second rabbi was Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, the great Jewish theologian and social activist, a teacher of generations of students in the Conservative movement of Judaism, an inspiration to Jews and Christians alike.
Heschel said of Dr. King: “Martin Luther King is a sign that God has not forsaken the United States of America. God has sent him to us. His mission is sacred. I call upon every Jew to hearken to his voice, to share his vision, to follow in his way. The whole future of America will depend upon the influence of Dr. King.”
Another scene that was omitted: Heschel marching, arm and arm, with Dr. King in Selma. Of that moment, Heschel famously said: “When I marched in Selma, I felt that my feet were praying.”
And finally, Rabbi Joachim Prinz, who was born in Germany in 1902. Rabbi Prinz was the spiritual leader of the Berlin Jewish community during the early days of the Nazi regime. He was an amazing orator. I remember elderly German Jewish refugees telling me about his sermons; about the standing room only atmosphere in his synagogue; about his wonderful way with young people.
Prinz’s sermons were so popular in Germany in the 1930s that even Adolph Eichmann begrudgingly admired his oratorical skills. The Gestapo was not as fulsome in its admiration; Prinz was arrested several times and ultimately left Germany. He would become the rabbi of Temple B’nai Abraham in Newark, NJ, now located in Livingston, NJ.
Again, another piece of the story that didn’t make it into the film.
It was the March on Washington. Dr. King is about to deliver his famous “I have a dream” speech. Rabbi Prinz was the “opening act.” These were his words:
“When I was the rabbi of the Jewish community in Berlin under the Hitler regime, I learned many things. The most important thing that I learned under those tragic circumstances was that bigotry and hatred are not the most urgent problem. The most urgent, the most disgraceful, the most shameful and the most tragic problem is silence.”
One last scene that somehow didn’t make it into “Selma.”
It was the scene where Dr. King confronted those American blacks who were turning against the Jews – and against Israel.
These were Dr. King’s words:
“You declare, my friend, that you do not hate the Jews, you are merely 'anti-Zionist.' When people criticize Zionism, they mean Jews. Anti-semitism, the hatred of the Jewish people, has been and remains a blot on the soul of mankind. In this we are in full agreement. So know also this: anti-Zionist is inherently anti-Semitic, and ever will be so.”
“Selma II,” anyone?
