Introduction from Rabbi Amy Eilberg
Eight members of the RA, along with several spouses and friends, traveled to Alabama in early March, 2025, to attend the “Selma Jubilee,” the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Bloody Sunday March. We first spent a beautiful Shabbat hosted by Temple Beth El in Birmingham on March 7th-8th, before joining some 200 Jews led by the National Council for Jewish Women on March 9th to travel to Selma and join the thousands of marchers crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The mood was more celebratory than mournful, as people of all ages and races sang and chanted, honored the memories and reconnected with the spirit of hope that moved the protestors of the Civil Rights Era. Later in the day, Jewish social justice leader Ruth Messinger recalled John Lewis’s prophetic words, “Do not get lost in a sea of despair.” She encouraged us to draw from the memory of our forebears and the inspiration that arises from their work to energize us for the work so needed in our own time. Speaking just before Purim, she exhorted us to remember, “Perhaps we are here for just such a moment as this.”
Rabbi Harold Kravitz: It was a privilege being with the RA’s contingent as part of the larger NCJW delegation to the 60th anniversary of the Selma March. We honored original marchers, such as John Lewis, who were brutally attacked by Alabama police. That violence led to the enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. We were touched that some marchers asked to photograph us holding our signs of support as Jews.
The Shabbat before the march, we visited Temple Beth El, ably led by our colleague, Rabbi Steve Henkin, the site of an attempted bombing in 1958. They have created a superb “Civil Rights Experience” to wrestle with dilemmas faced by their community during the Civil Rights struggle. It challenged us to consider how we would have responded along a continuum of inaction, gradualism, and aggressive advocacy. See this fine article by our docent, Margaret Norman, exploring the controversial visit of 19 RA rabbis to Birmingham in 1965, p.178 in this link.
Selma’s US Rep. Terri Sewell, and others, implored is to get into “good trouble” and to advocate for the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
May we be inspired to action by those who risked their lives to demand civil rights, and take whatever steps we can to sustain and advance those efforts.
Rabbi Howard Siegel: In 1965, I was an impressionable high school student. The 60’s were a tumultuous decade in the history of America. In many ways, a government not much different than today! As young people, both Black and White, we saw our futures circumscribed by an unpopular war (Vietnam), an unfair draft system, and institutional racism. Our response was to protest. Martin Luther King taught us, by his example, the importance and ultimate power in non-violent protest. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel taught us how to “pray with our feet!”
This past March 9th, in Selma, we honored the memories of Martin Luther King, John Lewis, Abraham Joshua Heschel, and so many more, by calling upon this great nation to remember the lessons taught by these soldiers of peace; lessons that may very well be necessary again in our time. We Shall Overcome!
Rabbi Morris Allen: While crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 9th, my wife Phyllis had the opportunity to meet the great-grandson of WEB DuBois. I think that DuBois, a co-founder of the NAACP, would have loved the picture of his great-grandson and the “spiritual descendants” of his Jewish co-workers joining together in a moment of solidarity. In that moment, all of us experienced the joyful reverence for the successes that emanated from the courageous movement of years past. And there was the presence of the palpable pain and fear with which we are living in the face of our current reality.
At the Jewish pre-march gathering, all of us were moved by the eloquence of Ruth Messinger and Heather Booth calling us to action. For me, however, the simple honesty of Ronnie Leet (the president of Temple Mikvah Israel in Selma) continues to resonate. He shared the complicated narrative of the Jewish community in Selma during the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s. His honesty is a model for us all as we confront the tensions of our own time and yet continue to work to find a path toward healthy multiracial alliances and partnerships. Together, the image of joining hands with the great-grandson of WEB Dubois, while understanding the complexity of our long relationship, propels me forward in the fight for human dignity and equal rights. We must not disengage from the sacred work which we are called upon to do.
Rabbi Randall J. Konigsburg: Our journey was part of a pilgrimage for people of many races from all over the country. The streets leading to the bridge were packed with thousands of marchers. There were those who were part of the first crossings of the bridge, the original “foot soldiers,” many in wheelchairs. Others joined the march to show their support to end hatred, promote justice, and defend democracy in our own time. Some brought their small children, to impress upon the children the importance of what happened here and to remind them that they will be called upon to cross other bridges so that all humans can live in dignity and in freedom.
At Temple Mishkan Israel, Ruth Messenger and others told the Jewish delegation about why it is important to carry the lessons of that day into our own reality. The issue of voting rights and civil rights may have begun 60 years ago but the work is surely not finished, and we were exhorted to do our part to bring to life the dreams of those who first crossed this bridge.
We left Selma tired but inspired. Our bones were tired but our hearts were aflame with the promise to keep the spirit of Selma alive.