Why Do We Act? Lessons from the Freedom Riders [Judith Rosenbaum, Jewish Women's Archive]
More than half of the white Freedom Riders were Jewish, and Judith Frieze, a recent graduate of Smith College, was among those white northerners and many Jews who joined the Freedom Rides in the summer of 1961. Arrested in Jackson, she spent six weeks in a maximum security prison. In a series of articles she published in the Boston Globe after her release, she recalled what motivated her to join the Freedom Rides: "All of a sudden I was tired of talking. I had reached the point when I wanted to do something about this. I felt like the only way that I could make my principles meaningful was by involving myself... It seemed necessary to close that gap between what I was saying and what I was doing."
The Rabbi was a 'Freedom Rider' [Eric Herschthal, The NY Jewish Week]
“Remember, I’m a guy who grew up in the 1930s when Hitler was on the rise,” Rabbi Dresner, now 82, said in a recent interview from his home in Wayne, N.J. “How can I not be against racism?”
Of course many Jews were against racism, but few were willing to put their lives on the line to end segregation. Rabbi Dresner was, joining what became a total of 436 riders on more than 60 rides throughout the South. The rides took place from May to November in 1961 — a few of them ending in bloody riots, most the others in arrests. But in the end, they made progress.
Of the significance of clergymen like Rabbi Dresner, Nelson said: “The role of the religious community was incredibly important in the Freedom Rides. It can’t be overemphasized enough.”
Rabbi Dresner told The Jewish Week that activism was ingrained in him from an early age. He grew up in Brooklyn, where his father ran a delicatessen, and he spent much of his teenage years involved in Habonim, the Zionist organization youth group.
The first time he was arrested was in the 1947, as a teenager protesting outside a British-owned business in Midtown. He and other Habonim members were trying to draw attention to the British government’s refusal to allow Jewish refugees to immigrate to British Mandate Palestine.
He was let off because he was a minor. But his mother was less forgiving, admonishing him for sticking his neck out. “That was the mentality of my parents’ generation,” he said, noting that his parents had worked hard to become respectable Americans and shunned public attention.
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מַלְכָּהּ שֶׁל תּוֹרָה, בְּמִשְׁפָּט שֶׁהוּא עוֹשֵׂה, מַעֲמִיד אֶת הָאָרֶץ... אִם מֵשִׂים אָדָם עַצְמוֹ נַפְשִׁי! הֲרֵי זֶה מַחֲרִיב אֶת הָעוֹלָם.כִּתְרוּמָה הַזּוּ שְׁמוּשְׁלֶכֵת בְּזָוִיוֹת הַבָּיִת וְאוֹמֵר: מָה לִי בְּטוֹרַח הַצִּבּוּר ?מָה לִי בְּדִינֵיהֶם? מָה לִי לִשְׁמוֹעַ קוֹלָם? שָׁלוֹם עָלֶיךָ |
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MIDRASH TANHUMA, MISHPATIM 2 If a person of learning participates in public affairs and serves as judge or arbiter, he gives stability to the land... But if he sits in his home and says to himself, “What have the affairs of society to do with me?... Why should I trouble myself with the people’s voices of protest? Let my soul dwell in peace!”—if he does this, he overthrows the world. [translation by Hazon] |
(א) אֵלּוּ דְבָרִים שֶׁאֵין לָהֶם שִׁעוּר. הַפֵּאָה, וְהַבִּכּוּרִים, וְהָרֵאָיוֹן, וּגְמִילוּת חֲסָדִים, וְתַלְמוּד תּוֹרָה. אֵלּוּ דְבָרִים שֶׁאָדָם אוֹכֵל פֵּרוֹתֵיהֶן בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה וְהַקֶּרֶן קַיֶּמֶת לוֹ לָעוֹלָם הַבָּא. כִּבּוּד אָב וָאֵם, וּגְמִילוּת חֲסָדִים, וַהֲבָאַת שָׁלוֹם בֵּין אָדָם לַחֲבֵרוֹ, וְתַלְמוּד תּוֹרָה כְּנֶגֶד כֻּלָּם:
(1) These are the things that have no measure: Peah [corner of the field which, while harvesting, must be left for the poor], Bikurim [First-fruits that must be brought to the Temple and given to the priest], the appearance-sacrifice [brought to the Temple on Pilgrimage Festivals], acts of kindness, and the study of the Torah. These are things the fruits of which a man enjoys in this world, while the principal remains for him in the World to Come: Honoring one's father and mother, acts of kindness, and bringing peace between a man and his fellow. But the study of Torah is equal to them all.
(טז) הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, לֹא עָלֶיךָ הַמְּלָאכָה לִגְמֹר, וְלֹא אַתָּה בֶן חוֹרִין לִבָּטֵל מִמֶּנָּה. אִם לָמַדְתָּ תוֹרָה הַרְבֵּה, נוֹתְנִים לְךָ שָׂכָר הַרְבֵּה. וְנֶאֱמָן הוּא בַעַל מְלַאכְתְּךָ שֶׁיְּשַׁלֵּם לְךָ שְׂכַר פְּעֻלָּתֶךָ. וְדַע מַתַּן שְׂכָרָן שֶׁל צַדִּיקִים לֶעָתִיד לָבֹא:
(16) He used to say: It is not your responsibility to finish the work, but neither are you free to desist from it. If you have learned much Torah, your reward will be much; and the Master of your work is trustworthy to pay you the wage for your activity. And know, the giving of reward to the righteous is in the future to come.
שפת אמת דברים, פרשת שופתים, תרל"ט
לעולם יש לרדוף אחר הצדק, לידע כי עדיין אינו מוצדק כראוי.
Rabbi Yehuda Leib Alter of Ger, the Sefat Emet, on Deuteronomy, Parashat Shofetim, 639
We have to keep pursuing justice, knowing that we have not yet attained it.
Lilla Watson, Aboriginal elder, activist and educator from Queensland, Australia
“If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. If you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”
(א) בֶּן זוֹמָא אוֹמֵר...אֵיזֶהוּ גִבּוֹר, הַכּוֹבֵשׁ אֶת יִצְרוֹ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (משלי טז) טוֹב אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם מִגִּבּוֹר וּמשֵׁל בְּרוּחוֹ מִלֹּכֵד עִיר.
(1) Ben Zoma says:...Who is the mighty one? One who overpowers one's inclination, as it says, "slowness to anger is better than a mighty person and the ruler of one's own spirit than the conqueror of a city." (Proverbs 16:32).