Another item in today’s column:
*Balloting begins tomorrow for World Zionist Congress delegates
*Recommended reading
*In Memoriam
SAN DIEGO –During evening and morning Shabbat services preceding Martin Luther King Day, Rabbi Josh Dorsch and David Ogul, respectively the rabbi and president of Tifereth Israel Synagogue, read from the pulpit a reflection that congregant Dan Tomsky had extrapolated from the writings of The Rev. Kathleen C. Rolenz, a Unitarian Universalist minister.
It read:
Let’s be grateful this Shabbat as we remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
for how he put his life on the line so that all may be free.
He had a dream. Freedom and the belief that all are created equal in the eyes of G-d are noble principles.
May the ideals and work of Dr. King be ours too
in our quest to eradicate injustice wherever and whenever we encounter it.
May we continue to speak out against injustice;
to speak even if we are afraid our words will not be heard or welcomed.
May the spirit of Dr. King continue to flow through our daily living.
May we have his courage to stand up for justice, equality,
reconciliation and truth, despite challenge and controversy.
Dr. King went to the mountaintop; he saw the Promised Land,
and he reassured us we will get there one day.
Through our actions, may it be so. Amen.
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Balloting begins tomorrow for World Zionist Congress delegates
Tomorrow (Jan. 21) through March 11 is the period for voting in the American Zionist Movement’s election for 152 U.S. delegates to the World Zionist Congress in October. Fifteen slates representing a wide variety of movements and causes within the Jewish community are competing, with each to be awarded delegate seats in proportion to the vote their slate receives in the voting.
To participate in the election, one should go to azm.org/elections, and register, which requires a $7.50 payment for persons 25 and over, and $5 for those younger. Upon registering, you will receive a personal voting code, whereupon you should return to azm.org/elections and choose whichever one of the slates best represents your views.
Fifteen slates have qualified under AZM rules, the most recent being Shas Olami, the world Sephardic Zionist organization.
Of these 15, at least five slates have nominated one resident or more of San Diego County to serve on their delegation. These include: Vote Reform (Reconstructionist and Reform Movements), with Rabbi Jeremy Gimbel of Congregation Beth Israel; Mercaz USA (Conservative Jewish Movement) with Rabbi Ralph Dalin, the community chaplain with the Jewish Federation of San Diego County; Herut Zionists (after Ze’ev Jabotinsky’s Revisionists Movement) with attorney Micha “Mitch” Danzig, who was a former Lone Soldier in Israel; Kol Yisrael, formed recently by StandWithUs and the Israel-American Council, with Jonathan Bell and Yael Steinberg, and Vision: Empowering the Next Generation, with Aaron Raimi.
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Recommended reading
Sam Litvin has a column in Times of Israel in which he suggests that Martin Luther King Jr. not only won freedom for African-Americans but for Jews too.
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In Memoriam
Robert C. Beck, 83, died January 19, it was announced by Am Israel Mortuary. He will be buried Thursday, Jan. 23, at El Camino Memorial Park following services in the large chapel officiated by Rabbi Michael Berk, rabbi emeritus of Congregation Beth Israel. The cemetery is located at 5600 Carroll Canyon Road in San Diego.
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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com