I Felt As If My Feet Were Praying’
“At the first conference on religion and race, the main participants were Pharaoh and Moses…. The outcome of that summit meeting has not come to an end. Pharaoh is not ready to capitulate. The exodus began, but is far from having been completed. In fact, it was easier for the children of Israel to cross the Red Sea than for a Negro to cross certain university campuses”.
(Two Friends, Two Prophets: Abraham Joshua Heschel and Martin Luther King Jr. by Susannah Heschel)
The past four weeks have been a wake-up call for the world, for communities and for individuals to the ongoing urgent issues around everyday racism, micro aggression and structural racism in our societies.
As part of our pledge to think carefully about conscious and unconscious racism, within our workplaces, families, community and homes we are ‘hurrying slowly’, making sure that we don’t make hasty decisions. And so this Friday night (tonight) we will begin to learn about and reflect on modern Jewish history and the anti-racism movement, and our roles today.
The image above of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel is used as the proof that we, as Jews, are on the right side of the anti-racism movement and history. But as Heschel’s daughter Susannah writes, ' we do not have the right to use this photo or the occasion without it also being a challenge to us. This is not just a celebration (as the US Congress was on the verge of passing a Voting Rights Act), it’s a challenge to us to reflect on who we are in the image'.
Becoming aware of the structural racism around us, which is different than the history of racism in the US, can feel overwhelming. Where should we begin? There are plenty of anti-racist toolkits, organisational checklists, unconscious bias tests and so forth, but the first step, that unifies all these different suggestions and lists is the need to listen and to learn. To stop, to listen deeply, to reflect, and to be careful with whatever our actions and reactions might be.
Rabbi Heschel said of that march, that it felt ‘as if his feet were praying’. Jewish prayer at its core is about listening, speaking and acting, with care and together.
Below you can find suggested websites from our counterparts in the US who have been actively thinking, learning and acting on the issues of racism:
Reform Jewish Leadership Statement: Black Lives Matter is a Jewish Value
https://nfty.org/take-action/racial-justice/
A Tool For White People Navigating Conversations About Race
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=135&v=jm5DWa2bpbs&feature=emb_title