“The whole world must see that Israel must exist and has the right to exist and is one of the great outposts of democracy in the world.” -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSUkjnuVxXQ

This year’s Martin Luther King Day may be one of the most timely and significant commemorations of the great Civil Rights Movement leader to this day. Race relations is tragically still a hot-button issue today in America, with the recent deaths of young African-Americans proving that there is still much injustice left to be solved. But Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. brought America to a level of democracy and equality that it could not have otherwise reached. Rabbi Shmuley Boteach has hailed Dr. King as the greatest American ever, stating he was “the man who brought America to conform to those founding principles which were being violated.”

Unfortunately, anti-Semitism has also seen a dramatic spike in both extremely violent and non-violent acts committed against Jews in the United States and elsewhere abroad. It’s at this moment in time that I invoke the lessons of Dr. King more than ever. At times of adversity, only faith and respect can allow society to go forward. These values were largely inspired by the story of the Jewish people’s redemption.

The struggles of the Black and Jewish communities in the 20th century cannot be underestimated, in the face of Jim Crow laws and McCarthyism, as well as the atrocities of the Holocaust in Europe. But Dr. King’s appreciation for the Jewish people went much further than their shared struggle–it went much deeper than his close relationship with Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel or with American Jews’ involvement in the foundation of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Color People). With Zionism, Dr. King admired the miraculous re-establishment of the State of Israel as a Democratic state. This was exactly the path he sought for his community through non-violent protest.

In anti-Semitism, Dr. King saw the same obstacles to the Jewish people’s redemption story as racism in America served to his people’s redemption. In a quotation from an Encounter magazine article, reporting on a dinner party King attended, Seymour Lipset writes:”One of the young men present happened to make some remark against the Zionists. Dr. King snapped at him and said, ‘Don’t talk like that! When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews. You’re talking anti-Semitism!'” (this quotation was originally attributed to a falsified letter).

Zionism presented to Dr. King a people who had suffered and would not allow their dissenters to perpetuate hatred on the Jewish people’s road to self-determination. He equally embodied these values of faith and respect, dedicating his life for his people to be able to live a better and more free life. Both peoples face challenges ahead with racism and anti-Semitisim, and to move forward, we must remember the incredible person that Dr. King was. In his final speech before he was assassinated, Dr. King referred to the Five Books of Moses “[G-d’s] allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the Promised Land.”

Further Reading/Viewing:

Abraham Joshua Heschel’s daughter writing about her father’s friendship with Dr. King: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~vox/0405/0404/heschel.html

Video from our friends at JerusalemU explaining bond between MLK and Jewish history: http://watch.jerusalemu.org/martin-luther-king-exodus-inspired?utm_campaign=MLK&utm_content=JU%20Blast&utm_source=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz–PblGHiAye-QXAny4NbSTmg3O0Fxc4KqkPnuQ3flY2_f9YQoLkovNMkXZzRcpWBVW8Y4i1QuRF4-Fl9wHar_ysWv2iCw&_hsmi=15637803

Video of Bakari Sellers, strong supporter of Israel and son of famed Civil Rights leader Cleveland Sellers, speaking about his father’s experiences and Israel: http://vimeo.com/37172855

Sources:

http://www.thejewishweek.com/arts/herschthal-arts/king-and-jews-beyond-heschel

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/douglas-anthony-cooper/martin-luther-king_b_1091950.html

http://asburypulp.com/2013/08/i-have-a-dream-today/

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/MLKandIsrael.html