A broad swath of American Jewish groups has declared Friday, June 26, to Saturday, June 27, to be a “Shabbat of Solidarity” with the African-American community, after the massacre of nine black churchgoers during a prayer meeting on June 17 at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church in Charleston, S.C.
During this sabbath period, Jews will be encouraged to speak out “on the issue of racism in society and to express rejection of hateful extremism,” the organizations said in a joint statement. Congregations are also urged to connect with local AME churches to express compassion and support.
“We stand together as a united American Jewish community in calling for a Shabbat of important introspection and examination of racism in the United States,” Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt of Potomac, Maryland, who is the president of the Rabbinic Cabinet of the Jewish Federations of North America, said in the statement. “We hope to convey our support to the African-American community nationwide and show all that we will not stand for violent acts driven by hatred.”
Weinblatt’s organization was joined by the American Jewish Committee; Hillel, a confederation of Jewish student groups; the Jewish Council for Public Affairs; and representative groups from the Orthodox, Reform, Reconstructionist and Conservative sects.
As part of the day of solidarity, Rabbis Adam Stock Spilker and Shoshanah Connover of the organization Rabbis Organizing Rabbis, released a special Mi sheiberach, a traditional prayer for healing, that may be used in congregations across the country. The prayer asks for “healing to a nation in tears, to families and friends crying out in grief over nine precious souls — victims of racism and gun violence — taken from this earth too soon.”
The Solidarity Shabbat comes on the heels of a week already full of such events, with interfaith services held across the country, from Des Moines to Detroit to Long Island.
Go Inside the Lives of Families Affected by Gun Violence
Family members gather around Albert Vaughn’s coffin to say goodbye. “Lil Al” was beaten to death with a baseball bat by Nathaniel Tucker. The conflict began when Vaughn, 18, confronted Tucker’s cousin, who had gotten into an argument with Vaughn’s younger brother. Englewood, Chicago, 2008.Carlos Javier OrtizIn Memory of Nugget. Seven years after the death of Siretha White, her family celebrates her birthday. She would have been 18 years old that March. Siretha’s family never got to cut the cake at her 11th birthday party, the day she was killed. Englewood, Chicago, 2013.
Side caption: Siretha White’s cake, on what would have been her 18th birthday.Carlos Javier OrtizThe Bud Billiken parade, the oldest African-American parade in the country, kicks off the new school year and celebrates black life in Chicago. Washington Park, Chicago, 2013.Carlos Javier OrtizAlex Arellano, 15, was shot and burned after being hit with bats and then struck by a car that was chasing him. Gage Park, Chicago, 2009.
Side caption: Burn marks in the gangway where 15-year-old Alex Arellano was murdered.Carlos Javier OrtizGirls in the Englewood neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side attend a block party to celebrate the lives of Starkeisha Reed, 14, and Siretha White, 10. Starkeisha and Siretha were killed days apart in March 2006. The girls’ mothers were friends, and both grew up on Honore Street, where the celebration took place. Englewood, Chicago, 2008.Carlos Javier OrtizA view of the historic Oak Woods Cemetery on Chicago’s South Side. Oak Woods Cemetery is the final resting place of many of the young people who are victims of violence in Chicago. Joseph Briggs was one of eight people killed in a weekend of shootings that left more than 40 people wounded. Briggs, who turned 16 in April 2012, was shot in the head during a drive-by shooting while he was sitting on his front porch. Greater Grand Crossing, Chicago, 2012.Carlos Javier OrtizThe mother of Fakhur Uddin, a 20-year old college student who was bound with duct tape and shot in the back of the head inside his family’s Philadelphia store, collapses to the ground and weeps as police investigate the scene. Germantown, Philadelphia, 2008.Carlos Javier OrtizAngry community members, business owners and church pastors marched through Chicago’s South Side to protest the overwhelming numbers of murders that took place in October of that year. Greater Grand Crossing, Chicago, 2009.Carlos Javier OrtizRapper Young DBoy Low and his friends shoot a video with the help of Project Spitfire, a nonprofit that uses music to help young people break free of the vicious cycle of gangs, drugs and violence. The group pairs young musicians with professional producers who help them record songs and videos. Bronzeville, Chicago, 2011.
Side caption: Rapper Young DBoy Low shoots a video with Project Spitfire, a non-profit that uses music to help young people break the cycle of violence. Gun imagery permeates the imagination on a video shoot.Carlos Javier OrtizBoys play in an empty lot where homes once stood. Today, all that remains are trees and broken glass surrounded by abandoned homes. Englewood, Chicago, 2007.Carlos Javier OrtizKids jump off a trampoline during a block party. Auburn Gresham, Chicago, 2013.Carlos Javier OrtizArthur Burgess, 19, of the 500 block of East 32nd Street, was shot on a cold winter night and died at the scene. His friend was shot twice but survived. Englewood, Chicago, 2009.Carlos Javier OrtizAlbert Vaughn was the neighborhood guardian, the older teenager who would play ball with the younger kids and try to keep them safe from trouble. About 50 of his friends and family members gathered to remember “Lil Al” on the block where he was killed. Englewood, Chicago, 2008.Carlos Javier OrtizMembers of St. Sabina Church in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood pray to end violence in Chicago. More than 40 young people have been murdered in the neighborhood since 2006. Auburn Gresham, Chicago, 2013.Carlos Javier OrtizChicago’s lakefront is a frequent hang-out for youth during the summer months, but many young people have never been outside of their neighborhoods,
let alone to the beaches along the lake. Near South Side, Chicago, 2006.Carlos Javier OrtizVictims of violence are often memorialized with T-shirts made by their friends and relatives. This is a photograph of a victim for use in his memorial T-shirt. Lawndale, Chicago, 2008.Carlos Javier Ortiz
