Jewish texts speak a great deal about nature. That’s why it’s unfortunate that today’s Judaism has shifted away from this ideal, writes Rabbi Dr. Eli Yoggev.

At some juncture in their lives, most people experience that ‘aha! moment’ when it comes to the subject of race. It’s that bolt of lightning when they realize judging others by the color of their skin is a rather ludicrous way to think and live.

Mine came when I was 17 and with friends on a cross-country trip (a journey my family is so tired of hearing me still blather about). I was alone in a weathered pop-up camper, somewhere in the middle of rural Nebraska and desperate to kill time on this bumpy schlep of a pilgrimage. I noticed a stack of paperbacks and grabbed one, a dog-eared biography on Martin Luther King Jr. It wasn’t a particularly well-written account of the civil rights leader’s life, but for some reason it spoke to me.

Coming from not the most progressive background, I began thinking about how all of the – for lack of a better word – junk in my head was weighing me down. King’s life’s mission, I realized, wasn’t just to help African-Americans but liberate the minds of all Americans. I felt that message resonate within me, and I no longer wanted to be plagued by my own prejudices, stereotypes and preconceived notions. I wanted to transcend my inherited and self-induced narrowmindedness, and simply look at people as human beings and not colors, creeds or ethnicities.

I’ve often thought of my father’s story of coming to Baltimore for the first time in the ‘50s, as a Merchant Marine on leave. My dad was using a public restroom when he heard a commotion. He discovered a police officer roughing up an African-American man who had the audacity of using a whites-only bathroom.

A native New Yorker, my dad was unfamiliar with the ways of Baltimore of that era. He complained to the cop, who merely brushed him off.

We’ve come a long way since those troubling times, but still have a long way to go. That was made abundantly clear two years ago this month when the world watched closely as our city reeled after the death of Freddie Gray. What that tragedy demonstrated is that there’s a great deal of deep frustration and seething anger beneath the surface of what some folks like to call “Charm City.”

The Freddie Gray protests were a wake-up call, much like the riots of ‘68 in the aftermath of King’s assassination. But have we made any progress in race relations over the past two years? In a society just coming off the final term of the first African-American president, have we moved any closer to equality and colorblindness? In the 21st century, can we, in King’s words, “make real the promises of democracy” and reach the “sunlit path of racial justice”?

For our cover story this month – just in time for Passover, the Festival of Freedom, and with so much concern about the spread of hate crimes since the presidential election – we’ve recruited five leaders and members of the African-American and Jewish communities to articulate their thoughts about race today. We hope you find their words illuminating as our city and society, God willing, move toward a time when one is indeed judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin.

Warmly,

Alan Feiler, Editor-in-Chief

 

 

 

 

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