LR rabbi joins NAACP Washington march

Rabbi Barry Block of Congregation B'nai Israel in Little Rock
Rabbi Barry Block of Congregation B'nai Israel in Little Rock

Rabbi Barry Block of Congregation B'nai Israel in Little Rock is joining rabbis from across the country this month in the NAACP's 860-mile march from Selma, Ala., to Washington.

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Rabbi Barry Block of Little Rock and other rabbis from across the country will carry a Torah scroll like this one as they walk in the NAACP’s march to symbolize Judaism’s teachings on righteousness and justice.

The march, billed as "America's Journey for Justice," started Aug. 1 and will end Sept. 16 in the nation's capital.

Block will walk for 20 miles on Aug. 16 in the Atlanta area and each day of the walk, two or three of his fellow rabbis from the Central Conference of American Rabbis will participate. The rabbis are joining in to show their support of the NAACP's goals for the march.

According to the NAACP website, the group is walking to call attention to several issues they want lawmakers to act on, including education reform, voting rights, use of force standards for law enforcement and job creation and training.

The march will go through Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. Rallies will be held along the way.

Block and the other rabbis will carry a Torah scroll as they walk to symbolize Judaism's teachings on righteousness and justice.

"The teachings of the Torah, God's commandments to us, require us to strive for equal rights," Block said. "There has been a tragic rollback of civil rights for African Americans in particular in recent years and it's devastating that we need a march like this in 2015, but we do."

Block said rabbis in the Reform tradition have had a long history of partnership with the NAACP in the quest for civil rights.

"In the famous civil rights marches in the 1960s there were rabbis who marched with Dr. King -- Maurice Eisendrath, who headed the Union for Reform Judaism at the time, marched next to Dr. King carrying a Torah scroll. The most famous rabbi who marched with him was Abraham Joshua Heschel and he said famously that he felt like he was 'praying with my feet' when marching with Dr. King."

Block said a few Southern rabbis actively supported the civil rights movement, but most participating in marches in the '60s were from the North.

"This time Southern rabbis are very well represented throughout the march," he said.

Block said he recently spoke to his congregation about inequality and continuing segregation in America and the need for Jews to work toward a world where all lives matter.

"We live in two different Americas," he said. "I think many of us live in an America in which black lives do matter so we have a hard time understanding why we need to say that, but the reality is, as recent events have shown us, for too many Americans, black lives don't matter and we need to proclaim that."

Block said he's looking forward to the march and to listening to the NAACP leaders he'll be marching alongside.

"I'm looking forward to learning from their struggles even as I am eager to share the Torah and Judaism's passion for justice with them," he said.

Religion on 08/08/2015

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