Palm Beach Daily News
By Betty Nelander
A national prayer honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., written by Rabbi Marc Schneier, will be inaugurated at a special service Saturday at New Synagogue, 235 Sunrise Ave.
The prayer has been distributed to thousands of Jewish organizations and in advertising.
Schneier, author of Shared Dreams: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Jewish Community, will recite the prayer with the congregation at a commemoration starting at 10:30 a.m., during a Shabbat service that begins at 8:30 a.m. A kiddush and reception will follow.
“It will be very moving, inspiring, uplifting and somewhat historic as this prayer will be officially introduced, formally introduced in Palm Beach,” Schneier said.
Also speaking about the late civil rights champion will be the Rev. Gerald D. Kisner, spiritual leader of the Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church of West Palm Beach. The Tabernacle choir will sing, including Go Down Moses, composed by Louis Armstrong. We Shall Overcome will be sung in English and Hebrew.
The clergymen “will focus on the black-Jewish alliance of the civil rights struggle, and the state of black-Jewish relations today; and, specifically, Dr. King who understood the importance of fighting not only the causes and concerns of his own community but who really championed civil rights for all,” Schneier said.
“Martin Luther King’s contribution: He set a political and social standard, of behavior, of etiquette, of civil rights for our country,” he said. “It doesn’t mean everyone is living up to that standard, but 50 years ago we didn’t even have that standard.
“Ceilings that were unattainable to African-Americans, Latinos and even Asians have been shattered. We have to continue the struggle and to appreciate all that has been accomplished,” he said, noting President Barack Obama’s Public Inauguration Day for his second term will coincide with the Martin Luther King holiday.
The rabbi noted King’s bond with the Jewish community, his support of the plight of Soviet Jewry and his zero tolerance for anti-Semitism. Sixty percent of Freedom Riders were Jewish, he said.
The prayer is presented by the United Jewish Appeal Federation of New York, Jewish Community Relations Council of New York and The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, of which Schneier is a co-founder.
Schneier said he hopes to see the prayer become part of the service every year.
The program is co-sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County and its leadership, the federation’s Jewish Community Relations Council and the African-American Jewish Community Relations Committee of Palm Beach County.
Keeping the Dream Alive
Heavenly God, who desires us to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with You, we thank You for inspiring us with the life and example of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Grant us the wisdom to truly understand that all of humanity is created equally in Your image, so that “an injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Open our hearts to stand with the oppressed and persecuted around the world, just as Dr. King fought for Jews chained by the shackles of the Soviet Union, and spoke out for the legitimacy and security of the State of Israel.
We honor the legacy of a Jewish community that “prayed with its feet” as it walked with Dr. King, an African American, in pursuit of civil rights. Help us to feel the reassurance of Your presence as we continue forward in pursuit of civil rights and justice for all humankind. Remind us, that as we struggle against continued manifestations of anti-Semitism, Dr. King, in his struggle against racism and bigotry of all kinds, clearly declared his opposition to anti-Semitism “because it is immoral and self-destructive.” Indeed, in the words of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, a partner with Dr. King in the civil rights movement, “while some are guilty, all are responsible.”
O Lord, help us to realize Dr. King’s dream, expressed by Your prophet Isaiah, that “many peoples shall go and say: Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of God, and he will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths.” And, as it is then written, “The glory of God shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.” So may Your glory be revealed to us as we come together in harmony, celebrating our common humanity. Amen
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