MLK: Leadership, Legacy, Social Justice, and Us

 Dear Friends,


Colbert King wrote an article about Dr. Martin Luthur King Jr.  in the Washington Post today (Jan. 18, 2025) and I want to share an excerpt from his article. 

King was sitting at a table in his house in January 1956, after receiving a phone call telling him that if he persisted in his civil rights campaign, “in three days, we’re going to blow your brains out and blow up your house,” and he thought about all that could be taken away.
His baby daughter and his wife, Coretta, asleep in the next room, his father miles away and a cup of coffee growing cold before him, King later recalled that he prayed: “Lord, I’m down here trying to do what’s right. I think I am right. I think the cause that we represent is right. But Lord, I must confess that I’m weak now. I’m faltering. I’m losing my courage. And I can’t let people see me like this because if they see me weak and losing my courage, they will begin to get weak. 

As we commemorate MLK Day and experience the inauguration of the 47th President of the United States, I hope you will find the following connection to the weekly Scriptural reading, which is taken from the beginning of the Biblical book of Exodus, to be meaningful. 

"The King of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, saying, When you deliver the Hebrew women, look at the birthstool: if it is a boy kill him, if it is a girl, let her live.  The midwives, fearing G-d, did not do as the King of Egypt told them:  they let the boys live."  (Exodus 1:15-17)

Later in the portion, Moses sees a Hebrew slave being beaten by an Egyptian taskmaster beating a Hebrew slave and looks this way and that and when he sees no one helping the slave, he kills the taskmaster.(Exodus 2:11-12)

These two stories are a reminder that sometimes it is up to us to make decisions to act on what we believe to be the right thing to do.  Although Moses commits a terrible act, he saw that no one would help the slave and so did something about it. Obviously this is an extreme example, but many of us are confronted by opportunities when it is up to us to do something about a particular situation.

I hope that in the days ahead, each of us will think about what we believe is right in our hearts and act on our convictions to advocate for these causes.  Let us all have the courage to make our lives a blessing and realize the power of a few good people to make a difference.  I hope that at the end of the day, we will count ourselves as good people..  

Finally, as I write this, we are all hoping that the ceasefire in the MIddle East will hold and that all who value peace will be able to live the words of the Prophet Micah, that state that each of us should be able to live under our vine and fig tree and no one should make us afraid. (Micah 4:4)

Shabbat Shalom, Sabbath Peace, Salaam,

Rabbi Bruce Aft


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