Rabbi Howard Morrison

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel was born on January 11, 1907. Dr. Martin Luther King was born on January 15, 1929. We remember their birthdays and legacies this month.

In the 1960's, they were a clergy team in advancing the civil rights movement in the United States. While Dr. King spearheaded many rallies, protests, and demonstrations, one would find a white bearded figure among the group. That was Rabbi Heschel. In these challenging times, one can learn a lot from the way they conducted their marches over sixty years ago.

Rabbi Heschel authored many books and essays on diverse topics from commentaries on the Bible, the Sabbath, philosophy, theology, and much more. He was famous for many short sayings as well. One of the most quoted is that we pray not only with our lips, but we pray also with our feet. In other words, our verbal prayers must lead to constructive actions - Thus, his role in civil rights, interfaith dialogue with Christian clergy, and more.

Both Dr. King and Rabbi Heschel were fond of quoting the opening portions in the book of Exodus. Perhaps the most quoted verse was "Let my people go." While the Torah applies this statement to the oppressed Israelites, King and Heschel applied the Biblical statement to any group that was being persecuted.

Rabbi Heschel and Dr. King serve as role models for anyone trying to succeed in interfaith dialogue. A year ago, I developed a friendship with Pastor David Larmour. We at Beth Emeth developed a friendship with King Street Community Church in Oshawa. This Shabbat, Pastor Larmour will address our congregation during morning services. We hope to have a number of King Street members join us as well. 

I will always refer to the alliance of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel and Dr. Martin Luther King as benchmarks for assessing interfaith dialogue. We remember both of their birthdays and achievements during the first half of January.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Howard Morrison