Juneteenth 2020

June 19, 2020

Today is Juneteenth, a holiday many of us may not have known were it not for the tragic events of the past weeks. Black slaves in the south were technically freed by the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. But it was not until June 19, 1865 that the Union army general Gordon Granger landed in Galveston Texas, the most remote of slave states, and read federal orders proclaiming the freedom of all slaves. Later today, I will be participating in a Service of Lament with Black and Jewish clergy, and there are marches and celebrations throughout the area this weekend.

It took two and a half years for slaves to learn they had been freed, and now more than 150 years later Blacks in America still do not know true freedom from oppression. The events of these past weeks remind us that long after the 13th Amendment, long after the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act, long after the establishment of a federal holiday and national monument to honor Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the problem remains unaddressed.

In a few days, we will be raising a banner in front of the synagogue to proclaim that Black Lives Matter. It’s just three words, but they carry a lot of meaning. Not long ago, I was uncomfortable proclaiming these words. In 2016, the Movement for Black Lives included in its statement of principles the accusation that Israel was an Apartheid state. Fighting for one set of values should never mean abandoning other deeply held principles. In recent years, the Palestinian issue has been more muted in the Black Lives Matter movement. And in any event, I’m not sure it is right to demand that others agree with me on all issues before I can proclaim that their lives matter.

The truth is that Judaism teaches that all human beings are created in the image of God and there are moments to celebrate all types of individuality and diversity. In a perfect world, it would be enough to say that All Lives Matter. But ours is not a perfect world. Racism is real, and it is not only perpetuated by racists and espousers of hate. We have to fight the inequities and disparities that are built into a system that (often unwittingly) benefits some of us at the expense of others.

Of course, a banner is not enough. Last week, I described my intention to foster dialogue between Black and Jewish clergy; and I am happy that that endeavor is moving forward. As chair of our Faith Community Outreach committee, Marla Schulman is working with synagogues and other organizations to facilitate community discussions about racial equity. We are working to educate ourselves because you can’t solve a problem you don’t fully understand. I am proud of our congregational leadership for taking on this issue, and we are all eager to get more people involved.
We don’t want to simply jump on the bandwagon of the moment. We want to take the time to learn, build partnerships, and make lasting change. It’s something we can only do together.
This Shabbat, let us imagine what the world would be like if we really lived up to our ideals.

Shabbat Shalom.
Rabbi Michael Safra