While government offices and public schools close for the day, and municipalities often host events to mark the occasion, Jewish organizations usually aren’t at the forefront of observances of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday.
One Teaneck synagogue, however, has established a tradition of marking the day in a very prominent and meaningful way. The Jewish Center of Teaneck’s Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Community Lecture attracts a large number of area residents to reflect on the values that Dr. King embodied.
For the second annual event, held on Sunday, January 13, the Jewish Center enlisted New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal to present the keynote address. Before the first guest arrived the event was already notable in that it featured 11 cosponsoring organizations, including many area synagogues of different denominations and the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey.
Attorney General Grewal started his talk by quoting Dr. King, who said, “A genuine leader is not a searcher of consensus but a molder of consensus.” Using this statement as his vision, the Attorney General asserted that the best way his office can advance its agenda and proactively respond to threats is by taking the time to build a broad coalition around an issue, listen to the views of the varied members, and forge a consensus that reflects many perspectives.
The Attorney General shared two illustrations of his office’s work to build consensus on complex issues.
The first matter concerned New Jersey’s immigrant communities and the danger that the harsh rhetoric on the national scene could affect public safety and discourage witnesses and victims from testifying in court (out of fear that ICE agents would wait for them outside the courtroom). The Attorney General’s office assembled a broad group of stakeholders including civil rights advocates, immigration experts, county prosecutors, police chiefs and jail wardens. Under the umbrella of the Division on Civil Rights, “we found ways to bridge divides between communities that don’t always see the world in the same way.” The result was a series of reforms titled the Immigrant Trust Directive, issued in November.
The second matter focused on the danger that victims of sexual violence, especially those from disadvantaged racial, ethnic and economic groups, do not receive support or respect from police, thus discouraging them from reporting these crimes. Working with a group of law enforcement groups, victims’ services specialists and community leaders, the Attorney General’s office developed a package of new state rules which were issued in the fall. The broad new policy ensures that each victim is assigned a victim advocate, receives immediate access to a forensic nurse examiner, that local police departments report incidents of sexual assault to county prosecutors within 24 hours, that every investigation be reviewed by an experienced sex crimes prosecutor and other measures.
The Attorney General asked those in attendance to recommit to collective action. “Let’s work together on the great challenges ahead of us. Let’s work together to reform our criminal justice system, to end the unjustified use of force by police, to ensure that all investigations of officer-involved shootings are independent of bias, and to build trust between our law enforcement officers and the broader public. This work can only be accomplished by dialogue and consensus. This will require talking to each other, listening to each other, and learning from each other. But I’m confident we can do it.”
Rabbi Daniel Fridman, spiritual leader of the Jewish Center of Teaneck, noted, “Our celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day reflects two pivotal Jewish values. First, the recognition that concern for human dignity is not some foreign transplant to Judaism, but reflective of one of the Torah’s most basic principle: Chaviv Adam She’nivra B’tzelem Elokim, that all human beings carry within them the Divine image. In truth, it is this principle that undergirds all aspects of interpersonal behavior prescribed by the Torah.”
“Second, it reflects the notion that our long and painful history of suffering of vicious forms of anti-Semitism must sensitize us to the suffering of other groups that are marginalized and persecuted, whether the group in question is African-American, or in the case of Attorney General Grewal, the Sikh community. This, of course, is captured in the Torah’s repeated emphasis on caring for the stranger as we were strangers in the land of Egypt.”
“The participation of such a vast range of kehillot, in addition to the Federation, as co-sponsors of this event, for which we are deeply grateful, reflects that these core values are both understood and deeply cherished within our community.”
By Harry Glazer
