At LHS, A Day On For Service

Monday's a day off from school, but many students will go anyway in honor of Martin Luther King.

Livingston’s schools are off Monday, but dozens of students will go anyway in honor of Martin Luther King. They will join 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 altruistic acts and donations of sports equipment and art supplies, and gently-used clothing. “Martin Luther King Day shouldn’t be a day off,” says Keith Hines, co-chairman of the event, his words echoing the national theme in honoring the slain civil rights leader with community service. “It …

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Martin Luther King Jr.

For Students, A Day On, Not a Day Off

“Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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 cards to American soldiers. “Martin Luther King Day shouldn’t be a day off,” said Keith Hines, co-chairman of the event, his words echoing the national …

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Martin Luther King Jr.

Shabbos With Soul: Afro-Semitic Experience Goes to Temple

Temple B'Nai Abraham has an unusual service in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King.

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 that the temple would soon be full of  a mix of spirituals, klezmer, middle eastern melodies, funk and jazz. Cantor Jessica Epstein then took over, …

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A Guide to MLK Day Events

A day of service and special events at synagogues will honor Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

1. Temple B’nai Abraham will celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day with free music on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Afro-Semitic experience will perform an eclectic blend of soulful music inspired by jazz, gospel, funk, salsa, swing, and much more. This group of African-Americans and Jewish-Americans will not only be performing their music, but they also tell stories about what the pieces mean. The Afro-Semitic experience has been performing since 1997, promoting unity between cultures and blending distinct styles into their own unique sound. Cantor Jessica Epstein of Temple B’nai Abraham has worked with them before at a synagogue in Bloomfield. “It’s really a combination of Jewish melodies … they’ll take a cantoral melody and they’ll bring jazz …

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