Rabbi's Message
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. — Remembering the Man and the Message
Ed Koch had a saying when he was Mayor of New York City. He was known for going around and asking “How’m I doing?” I imagine he wanted feedback, positive kudos, and negative critiques, so that he could do what he was supposed to do, which was to care for the needs of the City, its residents, its business community, and the millions who each year visit the Big Apple. “How’m I doing???”
Martin Luther King Day, Monday, January 17th, is the one holiday of the year when we look at ourselves as Americans, look around ourselves at our fellow Americans, and ask the question, “How’re we doing??” In this regard, Martin Luther King Day is unique among American holidays. We have holidays celebrating pivotal presidents and explorers, a holiday celebrating veterans, a holiday for sharing valentines, a holiday for watching fireworks, perhaps with an eye towards feeling a part of the initial battles begun on that day, the Fourth of July.
In some ways, MLK Day is America’s social Yom Kippur, a time to look deep into ourselves and at our communities, neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces with an eye on the standard it sets for us and how far we have “missed the mark.” It is America’s “How’re we doing Day?” “How are we doing with this nation of ours and with those who inhabit it?” “How are we doing with the one place in the universe that will sustain our own existence, provided that we don’t break it?”
So nu, how ARE we doing as a nation? Thinking about those things to which Dr. King dedicated his life and his mission, namely racial, social, and economic justice, we need to ask ourselves how we are doing in our race relations. How are we doing when it comes to economic justice, people being able to earn a decent living for a decent day’s work? How are we doing with the tremendous poverty and homelessness that plagues our big cities and small towns? How are we doing with adequate healthcare? How are we doing with the education of our children so that they can become informed, engaged citizens and be able to compete in the technological world we live in? How are we doing with our veterans, especially those who have been disabled – physically or mentally – through their service to our nation? How are we doing with our youth, and how are we doing with our elderly?
We all may have different approaches to these different problems and might even prioritize them differently. But the minute we stop being bothered by the hurt and injustice, the minute we turn away in resignation in the face of what seems to be insurmountable challenges, the minute we close ourselves off to the reality that is but inches away from our faces if we would but look, the minute we stop caring, is the minute we lose our souls.
The rabbis taught, “We should care about other’s bodies and our own souls, not the other way around.” To this, Emanuel Levinas added, “for when we care for the needs of another’s body, we are caring for our own souls as well.” Dr. King knew this instinctively. He cared for all people and peoples and spoke out regardless of the personal consequences. Dr. King was, in life, the conscience of America, and in many ways, remains so.
