tasteoflife

My wife and daughter recently went on the trip with other Temple members and staff to Atlanta, Montgomery, Selma and Birmingham to learn about the Civil Rights Movement. I was amazed by their stories: what they saw, whom they met and what they learned in just three short days. (It also made it painfully obvious how little I knew about that period in our nation’s history.) Then, we watched the movie Selma, and again I was amazed by the people and places they were able to identify while watching the movie. They were there, in Selma, meeting some who participated in the famous march from Selma to Montgomery.

I love that my daughter was able to learn about that part of our history, to see the places that were involved in the struggle of African Americans in the south and to meet some of the people who could recount their own stories first-hand. However, these are not easy lessons to learn. At age 13, my daughter still has some of her childhood innocence – hate and prejudice are not really concepts you wish your kids had to be exposed to. But as they grow, the exposure – we hope – brings awareness, and awareness of our different experiences brings tolerance for our differences. And then all of that may breed action – to fight against current injustices. Tolerance and action both contribute to making our world better.

So much progress has been made since the Civil Rights Movement, but there’s so much more to do. I’m proud Temple Shalom offered my wife and daughter the ability to gain exposure and awareness. And when my daughter asks, “what can I do to help fight injustice?” I’m proud to mention she need not look further than our Tzedek Task Force. Temple Shalom continues to provide opportunities both to learn about and act against the social injustices that are still facts of life in our world, in our time.