Different races, different religions, all ages joined hands as the music started.“We shall overcome…”The singing swelled, the rows of people swayed gently.“We shall overcome…”The music reached the rafters.“We shall overcome someday…”Martin Luther King Jr. would have been proud.Members of the Bethel Family and Youth Resource Center of Newark and the congregation of Temple B’nai Jeshurun came together on Friday evening to celebrate the temple’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Shabbat. After an introduction by Rabbi Matthew Gerwitz, Rev. Reggie Osborne gave a sermon reflecting on King’s legacy.“I …
#NJPatchChat, Patch's statewide Twitter chat on big issues with local impacts, returns tonight, Thursday at 7 p.m. to ask: "Is the Dream Alive in New Jersey?" We'll be asking residents throughout the state how far they think race relations have come since the dawn of the civil rights movement. How has New Jersey's and the country's reception to the first black president been? What has your community done to stomp out racism, or to improve the dialog among races? What signs to you see of the struggles ahead? We'll ask all of that Thursday, and you can watch the chat live, as it happens. N-J-…
Livingston’s schools had the day off Monday, but dozens of students went anyway in honor of Martin Luther King. They joined a melting pot of Livingston’s faith and community groups to pay tribute to the teachings of Dr. King during a day of action at Livingston High School. For many, Martin Luther King Day is seen as an opportunity for communities and individuals to give back. In Livingston, the Committee for Diversity coordinates the efforts, providing an arena for such altruistic acts as knitting hats for cancer patients, accepting toys and winter clothing for an orphanage, and writing …
On a trip to Newark’s Covenant House, youth from Temple Beth Shalom shared their faith, ideas, and experiences to find common ground with residents of the shelter for homeless youth. The trip was taken Sunday to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and was sponsored by Temple Beth Shalom. Escorted by Rabbis Geoffrey Spector and Dan Dorsch, temple members from Livingston High School and Solomon Schecter Day School joined in fellowship with residents of the facility. In existence in New Jersey since 1983, Covenant House is a shelter for homeless and at-risk youth, a safe haven for 45 residents ages…
Just in advance of Martin Luther King Day, Rabbi Clifford M. Kulwin welcomed his congregation at Temple B'Nai Abraham to a different kind of service on Friday night. Standing in front of a seven-piece multi-ethnic jazz band, The Afro-Semitic Experience, he explained that the temple's former rabbi, Joachim Prinz, had been a friend and colleague of Dr. King. Rabbi Prinz had in fact spoken to the crowd in Washington in 1963, just prior to King's delivering his celebrated "I Have a Dream" speech and had been famously photographed with King and John F. Kennedy. It seemed quite appropriate then …
The Livingston Committee for Diversity is hosting a bus trip on Sunday to hear Rabbi Capers Funnye, who will be speaking at Congregation Ahavas Sholom in Newark. Capers is related to First Lady Michelle Obama. The event begins at 2 p.m. and the bus will leave from the municipal complex, 357 South Livingston Ave., at 12:30 p.m. For more information or to reserve a space, call Keith Hines at (973) 979-0016. Also on Sunday, Temple Beth Shalom in Livingston will commemorate the Martin Luther King holiday with homeless and runaway teens at Newark’s Covenant House. Residents of the shelter and …
