On the yahrzeit/anniversary of passing of AbrahamAbraham is the first patriarch and the father of the Jewish people. He is the husband of Sarah and the father of Isaac and Ishmael. God's covenant - that we will be a great people and inherit the land of Israel - begins with Abraham and is marked by his circumcision, the first in Jewish history. His Hebrew name is Avraham. Joshua Heschel and birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.
I
The picture of Abraham Joshua Heschel
rabbi, human being, interpreter of inner Judaism and the prophets
on the march from Selma to Montgomery March 21, 1965,
and Martin Luther King, Jr.
preacher, prophet, activist, redeemer.
King and Heschel and Ralph Bunche walking arm in arm
Ralph Bunche who received Nobel Peace Prize in 1950
for mediating between IsraelLit. ''the one who struggles with God.'' Israel means many things. It is first used with reference to Jacob, whose name is changed to Israel (Genesis 32:29), the one who struggles with God. Jacob's children, the Jewish people, become B'nai Israel, the children of Israel. The name also refers to the land of Israel and the State of Israel. and the Arab states.
Look at the picture of Heschel, King, and all of them
this emblem of deep connection
bound at the arms they are
bound by the legs they are
pictorial story of history in coalition
good intention
hope.
Our freedom stories have been told
in the same narratives.
We are characters in each other’s freedom story.
II
“The day we marched together out of Selma
was a day of sanctification. That day
I hope will never be past to me—
that day will continue to be to this day”
—Heschel in a letter to King.
In that letter Heschel wrote
“my legs were praying.”
Both men read their story into
the freedom narrative of Exodus.
The freedom arc of Exodus
and the prophets
two stories that transformed and guided their lives.
For Heschel and King
the Exile story was not theoretical.
We will not be satisfied preached King
quoting prophet Amos
until justice rolls down like waters
and righteousness like a mighty stream.
This verse engraved into the King Memorial
Atlanta, Georgia.
Exodus every day.
Freedom the daily struggle.
Justice justice justice.
Eulogia
Listen, O earth, to these wounds
we have been pounded on the peaks
elevated and alone.
Who ascends these holy mountains
and why?
We have bled all over our backpacks
descended at the penultimate moment.
Snatched away from the precipice
we descended into the valley
where we sat quietly with our eyes closed
waiting for a bus, nothing loftier,
and we would have remained there
if not sitting next to us was Amos
watching for the light to change.
His skepticism as always
was an inspiration
justice rolling down like water
and righteousness like a mighty stream.
Holy entered through our wounds
the last place we expected.
Listen to the wounds O earth
pay attention to the bleeding sky
brother elements sister flesh
pay a little attention will you
at least give ear to these words.
These wounds.
Photo courtesy of Susannah Heschel.
