Tonight we welcome our friends from the People’s
Community Baptist Church of Silver Spring.
In August my wife and I were welcomed by Pastor Robinson and the members
of his church and it is now our pleasure to have the privilege of reciprocating
your gracious hospitality.
I went there after the shootings in Charleston, SC
to deliver a simple message. That message, as I said then was: You are not alone. We feel your pain. We are
your brothers and sisters.
When Joseph was wandering in Dothan, he encountered
a man who asked who and what he was seeking.
Joseph said, “Et ahai anochi
mevakesh: It is my brothers that I seek.”
When he was reunited with them many years later, Joseph said to them, “I
am Joseph, your brother.”
It is in that spirit that we extend our hand to our
friends here tonight and say, “Welcome. You are here with your brothers, and
your sisters.”
In this week’s Torah reading, we read of the ninth
plague, the plague of darkness. The darkness was so palpable that, “no one
could see his fellow man, nor could anyone rise from his place. It was so dark
no one could move, for three whole days.” Our sages ask, how could it be so
dark that no one could move? That’s
because as the Bible tells us, if one sees only oneself, and does not see his
brother, does not see his brother’s plight, and does not empathize with him,
then one cannot rise. The Bible is teaching us that when you do not see your
fellow human being, when you see only yourself, you are incapacitated, and
cannot find the light and you do not have the power to get up.
Ah – but then we read – “There was light in the
dwellings of the Israelites.” There was light among the Children of Israel precisely
because, they saw their fellow man.
All the Egyptians had to do was ask – surely we
would have shared the light, because that is what we have always done. Throughout our history, despite all the
attempts to annihilate the Jewish people, to oppress us, to convert us, to wipe
us out, to humiliate us, to extinguish us and our light, we still insist on
keeping the light alive, on sharing the light, on being a light unto the
nations.
Knowing our history, knowing that Jews were killed
because we were different, because we taught and practiced the word of God, we
have understood that we stand with those who are not free, that we have an
obligation to work for civil rights and equal rights for all.
Our history is so much like the history of African
Americans. Our experiences are not just similar, our stories are
intertwined. That is why we need each
other, and we pledge to stand together with you. We need you to stand with us when Jewish
people are attacked or harmed, when hateful negative stereotypes about Jews are
repeated, or when Israel is isolated, ostracized, and attacked
Tonight we honor our shared vision and history, and
the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, with whom we marched and worked to
shatter the shackles of injustice, to break down the walls of separation. The
anonymous man in a white shirt right behind Dr. King in the famous photo of the
1963 March on Washington was Sam Weinblatt, my father.
He did that, and he passed the message on to me
that this is our obligation. We heed the words of the Bible commanding us – “Tzedek, tzedek tirdof: Justice, justice shall you pursue.” Let us
continue to walk the path together to pursue justice and to walk in the way of
the Lord.
Acts of hatred, bigotry and intolerance must be met
with love and forgiveness, with mercy and compassion, for as Dr. King taught,
love is stronger and more powerful than hate.
We pray that this country shall live under the
Providence of the Almighty God, to be an influence for good throughout the
world. We pray and will work for that day when citizens of all races and creeds
shall forge a common bond to banish all hatred and bigotry so that all who live
on earth shall realize we have not come into being to hate or destroy, but to
love.
