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In This Issue:
A Message from President Rehfeld
What Juneteenth Means To Me
"Total Praise" Performed by Cantor David Fair '21
"We Shall Overcome" Performed by New York Staff Members
HUC Connect Recordings on Race and Identity
Marching for Civil Rights: Lessons from Rabbi Israel Dresner ‘61
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Dear HUC Community,
In commemoration of Juneteenth (June nineteenth), the date in 1865 when federal troops arrived in Galveston, TX, with word that slavery had ended two and a half years prior in the United States, we are highlighting the voices and experiences of HUC's Black community members in this special newsletter. Our commemoration of this important day reflects our institution’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). HUC is taking action to fulfill these ethical standards:
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The Presidential Task Force on Safe and Respectful Environments Report’s recommendations are being implemented.
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Students, faculty, and staff have engaged in focus groups with a DEI consultant, whose action plan will guide our next steps.
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The strengthening of the student experience is one of the four key goals of the strategic planning process. We have made important strides with the appointment of Rabbi Andrew Goodman as Director of Student Support in the Provost’s Office to offer students a broad range of assistance and learning accommodations that helps ensure overall student success.
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HUC’s handbooks and policies have been reviewed and updated to foster a code of civility and positive campus climate to promote equity and inclusiveness regarding gender identity, race, ability, power dynamics, political viewpoint, gender equity, and other important personal characteristics.
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Our Hineinu Kaleidoscope Collective empowers the staff of HUC to create and hold space for colleagues of color and their allies as we strengthen the values of DEI at the College.
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And we have presented over twenty HUC Connect online public programs to implement public education as social change by deepening our understanding of race and identity and our roles in civil society.
But we know that we still have more to learn, more to do, and room to grow.
Through these initiatives and more to come, our institution is immeasurably strengthened. Our diversity is a source of vitality and creativity that supports our mission and advances our vision for building a just world where human rights may thrive.
May this Juneteenth and Shabbat be blessed with understanding, hope, and peace for all.
Andrew Rehfeld, Ph.D.
President
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WHAT JUNETEENTH MEANS TO ME
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We asked our community members what Juneteenth means to them, and some of the responses are below. If you'd also like to share what this important day means to you, please click here.
"It’s hard for me to pinpoint exactly when Juneteenth became a more mainstream celebration, but the onset of its popularity seems to have happened rather suddenly. In 2016, the show 'Atlanta' on FX had an episode dedicated to the holiday. Two years later, I attended a themed networking event with soul food and performances by Black artists. Shortly thereafter, Juneteenth was recognized by large corporations, and discussions arose about making it a national holiday. However, I never celebrated Juneteenth growing up. In fact, I learned from other family and friends who also grew up in Philadelphia that they didn’t celebrate it either. I understand that the recognition of the holiday is more significant in different regions of this country. But why didn't I learn about Juneteenth in elementary or high school? Why is it that the world cares to pay attention to Juneteenth now? If I’m honest, I feel some resentment that this early-summer holiday, in honor of my ancestors, wasn’t a bigger part of my life until more recently. Resentful that the significance of this day — an acknowledgement that enslaved people were afterthoughts in being informed of their own freedom — is almost canonical vis-à-vis the erasure of Black history in this country, alongside the Tulsa Riots of 1921 and the original 'stocks' traded on Wall Street. That said, as diversity and inclusion efforts are being prioritized nationally, I am grateful for the visibility that Juneteenth offers to Black people, Black culture, and Black history. I am grateful to be learning more about this country’s past, even if it does feel like an afterthought."
Kristin Young, Manager of Special Projects and Events, HUC/New York
“In Judaism, the shofar blast wakes the people up to important events, because sometimes we are slow to fulfill our obligations. After the Civil War, some states still resisted Emancipation, so the announcement of General Order No. 3 by the Union Army in Texas, on June 19th, 1865, was America’s shofar blast for freedom.”
Joshua Holo, Ph.D., Dean, Jack H. Skirball Campus, HUC/Los Angeles
“Juneteenth is a holiday that holds a unique place in my Jewish consciousness. It is a celebration of freedom, and a reminder to continue the fight for justice. Our Jewish tradition commands us to pursue equality for all. In America, our brief history has discriminated against minorities and especially the Black community. Juneteenth celebrates freedom, but reminds me to pursue the higher goals of creating more peace in the world within the lives of people that have been systematically discriminated against. Juneteenth is about justice, not just as a goal, but as an active endeavor.”
Spencer Mandell, Incoming Year-In-Israel Rabbinical Student
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“TOTAL PRAISE”
PERFORMED BY CANTOR DAVID FAIR ‘21
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The song "Total Praise" was written by Richard Smallwood. He wrote it in a particularly dark time in his life, when both his mother and godbrother were terminally ill. He said that he felt called to write a song about his sorrow, but as he began to write, he felt himself not speaking of his sadness, but of his unfailing faith in God. He wrote, "Praying... when everything is going well and you have so much to praise God for, is easy. But the challenge is learning how to praise God when you are in a dark situation and you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel." This song fuses the Christian gospel tradition with Judaism, as it uses words from the Psalms, which are so core to both faith traditions. Smallwood goes on to use the phrase "This too shall pass" as another phrase of inspiration for the song, which is commonly known to be Solomon's words, and thus, another instance of sharing our faiths with each other. I created this video as the finale of my Cantorial Recital. It was important for me to show the HUC community an equal amount of Black faces and White faces for this project. I wanted to show that unity between the races is not only possible, but can create a sound that is holy. Our skin tones may differ, but the music of our souls harmonize between all colors of skins. This is truly a kehillah kedosha — a holy community.
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“WE SHALL OVERCOME”
PERFORMED BY NEW YORK STAFF MEMBERS
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On February 26, 1965, nearly one hundred years after the first Juneteenth, at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave a sermon at Temple Israel of Hollywood. He spoke of the Black community's continued struggle to be free and reach a promised land that existed not only on paper, but in practice. In his sermon that day, Dr. King called for the congregation at Temple Israel to join him in brotherhood, in the effort to guarantee "collective fulfillment" of a promised land for all.
In honor of Juneteenth and Dr. King's plea for partnership in this journey towards equality, please enjoy this beautiful rendition of “We Shall Overcome” by New York staff members Roseanne Ackerley, Ilana Goldberg, Amanda Kelly, Melanie Leinbach, and Kristin Young.
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Recent sessions from our HUC Connect series on
Judaism & Civil Society explore how race
intersects with identity, language, Judaism, and more.
Jews of Color
In Memory of Rabbi Aaron D. Panken, Ph.D., on His Third Yahrzeit
Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, Central Synagogue, New York City
Bruce Phillips, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology & Jewish Communal Service,
HUC/Los Angeles
Andrew Rehfeld, Ph.D., HUC President; Moderator
Intersectional Jewish Identities
Dr. Mijal Bitton, Scholar in Residence at the Shalom Hartman Institute
Andrew Rehfeld, Ph.D., HUC President; Moderator
Race, Civility, and American Democracy
Dr. Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., Department Chair, James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor, Department of African American Studies, Princeton University
Sasha Baken, Fourth-year Rabbinical Student, HUC/NY
Becky Jaye, Fourth-year Rabbinical Student, HUC/NY
Alexandra Stein, Fourth-year Rabbinical Student, HUC/NY
Andrew Rehfeld, Ph.D., HUC President; Moderator
"Let My People Go:"
Personal Reflections on Freedom and Injustice
Chester Holman III
Alan J. Tauber, First Assistant Defender at the Defender Association of Philadelphia
Rabbi Andrea Weiss, Ph.D., Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Provost, HUC
Andrew Rehfeld, Ph.D., HUC President; Moderator
Language and Racism in the United States Today
Sarah Bunin Benor, Ph.D., Professor of Contemporary Jewish Studies,
HUC/Los Angeles
Jared Jackson, Founder and Executive Director of Jews in ALL Hues
Andrew Rehfeld, Ph.D., HUC President; Moderator
Presented in partnership with Lilith magazine.
Race and Identity Today
Kerwin K. Charles, Ph.D., Indra K. Nooyi Dean, Frederic D. Wolfe Professor of Economics, Policy, and Management, Yale School of Management
Andrew Rehfeld, Ph.D., HUC President; Moderator
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"57 YEARS AGO, MY RABBI DAD WAS ARRESTED
MARCHING FOR CIVIL RIGHTS.
WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM HIS EXAMPLE?"
BY AVI DRESNER, SON OF RABBI ISRAEL DRESNER '61
Originally Published in The Forward (June 14, 2021)
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In a letter to my dad dictated from the St. Augustine City Jail on June 12, 1964, Dr. King described the city as “the most lawless community in which we have ever worked,” and made reference to “the shootings, the beatings, and the burning down of our house here.”
By then, my father had already been arrested and jailed in the first Interfaith Clergy Freedom Ride in 1961, and the largest mass arrest of clergy in U.S. history in Albany, GA, in 1962.
Dr. King likely had those earlier arrests in mind when he wrote to my dad, “I am writing to you, Sy, because you have been so close to our movement and Wyatt [Walker] mentioned that you would be attending your rabbinical assembly next week. I am very much interested in having a task force from the Reform Movement to come to St. Augustine and witness with us for self-respect and human dignity. It would do much to buttress our efforts here and across the nation.”
Four days later, my dad read a telegram from Dr. King at the 75th annual convention of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the Reform Movement’s rabbinical association. In it, Dr. King asked the rabbis to bear “prophetic witness against the social evils of our time.” Sixteen rabbis...answered Dr. King’s call, and left for St. Augustine the very next day.
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