By Rabbi Jason Nevarez
(Photo: Beth Israel Quarterly)
SAN DIEGO — As we enter Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend – a sacred moment in our civic calendar dedicated to justice, courage, and moral imagination – we do so carrying deep sadness, disappointment, and anger.
We have recently learned that Rabbi Hanan Leberman of Tifereth Israel Synagogue was disinvited from offering a benediction at the All Peoples Celebration, a major MLK commemoration event hosted by Alliance San Diego.
The reason given was his “Zionist views.” When Rabbi Leberman asked whether another rabbi might step in to offer the benediction in his place, that request too was denied. With the exclusion of Rabbi Leberman, so too came the elimination of any Jewish clergy from the All People’s Celebration.
Over the years, there have been rabbis honored with the opportunity to connect the legacy of MLK to the Jewish commitment to and involvement in civil rights and racial and social justice, by offering a benediction. There was never a litmus test for Jewish clergy to speak at this event. To the contrary, inviting rabbis and cantors to be part of the sacred convening felt inclusive and important.
The decision this year to disinvite Rabbi Leberman not only isolates Jewish clergy, it sends a message to the entire San Diego Jewish community, including Jews of Color, that there are conditions placed on our participation in public life, that our identities must be edited or disavowed to be deemed acceptable. To do so at an event entitled All People’s Celebration, is to say “all” means everyone except Jews – which is a far cry from the moral courage and collective belonging that are at the core of King’s vision of the Beloved Community. It is shocking, and it is wrong.
In the aftermath of the devastating antisemitic firebombing last week of Congregation Beth Israel in Jackson, Mississippi, this decision is particularly painful. In 1967, that same congregation was firebombed by the KKK because its rabbi at the time, was outspoken against racism. The message then, as now, was meant to silence moral voices and push Jews out of the struggle for justice.
And yet history tells a different story.
Jews in San Diego and all over the country have stood side by side with the Black Community over the last 40 years against racism and xenophobia. Dr. King himself walked with Rabbis Heschel, Eisendrath, and Kelman, who were giants of social justice in the fight for civil rights.
There have been important alliances between the Black and Jewish communities for decades. The common enemy of white supremacy has sought to pit our communities against one another, but allyship has meant that we must understand our histories and shared values and experiences, while recognizing discrimination in both communities. The work is ongoing, and Dr. King’s legacy includes a warning against the dangers of division and moral litmus tests that fracture coalitions for justice. He understood that liberation movements falter when they begin deciding who is “pure” enough to belong.
To exclude rabbis from an MLK celebration because of their connection to Israel is not only a distortion of Jewish identity – it is a betrayal of Dr. King’s vision.
As President of the San Diego Board of Rabbis and Cantors, I speak on behalf of a diverse, pluralistic rabbinic community that spans denominations, politics, and perspectives. What unites us is not uniformity of thought, but a shared commitment to justice, dignity, and the sacred worth of every human life. Removing Jewish clergy from a public commemoration of Dr. King fractures that commitment and undermines the very values this weekend is meant to honor.
We cannot and must not allow our inherent connection to Israel – or any single aspect of Jewish identity – to become a litmus test for inclusion in civic and interfaith spaces. When Jews are told they must check part of themselves at the door to participate, the door is no longer truly open.
We remain committed to partnership, dialogue, and shared struggle for justice. But partnership requires mutual recognition and respect. Silence in moments like this would be a betrayal of our history and our moral responsibility.
This weekend, as speeches are given and songs are sung, we ask our broader community to remember who walked together before – and to ask who is being left outside today.
Justice demands better.
Dr. King’s legacy demands better.
And our shared future depends on it.
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Rabbi Jason Nevarez is President of the San Diego Board of Rabbis and Cantors. He serves as the Senior Rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel of San Diego.
As a Rabbi and son of a Rabbi, RABBI DR. EMMET A FRANK who marched in Washington DC hand-in-hand with DR KING and people of color, and the NAACP, whose President of the NAACP in the 1960’s was a white Jewish male Kivie Kapan, a dear friend of our family and Guest speaker at Rabbi Emmet Frank‘s Synagogue, Beth El, Temple Beth El..in Alexandria I am reminded of THE RELIGIOUS ACTION CENTER in Washington DC founded by Kivie Kaplan,and Rabbi Dick Hirsch a fellow college graduate of HUC, where the drafts for the Civil Rights Act was created.. with JEWS, CHRISTIANS BLACKS ALL PEOPLES WERE PART OF THE RELIGIOUS ACTION CENTER
My father reminded me many times “stand up for and with the Black people , people of color.. as a Jew you can hide in the crowd, people of color cannot hide,stand up with them and for them……!
A quick note story Thurgood, Marshall, the first Black Supreme Court justice came to our house for Shabbat dinner.. I was about seven years old… my mother reminded me that I looked up to this tall black man and I said Sir are you Jewish?
He looked at me and he said “son I have enough problems as it is”.
Please relay this to whoever that was that was disinvited the great Rabbi show this.
There areCountless other stories of support from Jews to people of color even to this day..
check out the religious action center in Washington DC God bless you all faithfully yours Rabbi Loring J. Frank spiritual leader All Peoples Synagogue, Florida.
Fight back. Write letters to the editors and email newspaper reporters. Email your local public officials asking them to comment. Call the news desks of your local television stations to ask them to report this story. I am not on social media, but I would ask all of those who are to post stories about this slap in the face to all Jewish people everywhere. Our country is becoming unrecognizable to me. Antisemitism is more open and hostile than I have ever seen in my entire 73 years. I ask all of you to please DO SOMETHING.
Sounds like the people who did not want the Rabbi there don’t believe there should be a Jewish State.
Thank you rabbis Navarro and Leberman. My community of Sacramento has never had a Jewish clergy invited to speak at their march AFAIK. With that being said every year I go I walk by 5-7 large Palestinian flags. Ofcourse they make the local news and not our Israeli flag. What a shonda these MLK marches have become.
As an Episcopal priest and Director of the Interfaith Center of of New York, it is clear that disinviting a local San Diego Rabbi whose congregation is part of the community oexclusively on the grounds described here, crosses a line into anti-Semitism by many definitions. We condemn this act of exclusion and commend Truah’s definition of antisemitism, https://truah.org/resources/criticism-of-israel-and-antisemitism-how-to-tell-where-one-ends-and-the-other-begins/
Well said, Rabbi Nevarez. What a troubling development.
I believe Martin Luther King would be ashamed of what has been done in his memory by this invitation cancellation.
He would remind us that this is a time to shout and not be silent
I believe Martin Luther King Jr would be ashamed of what is being done in his memory. He would remind us that is a time to shout and not be silent
Rabbi Joseph Potasnik
I pray that my Lutheran colleagues in San Diego stand with you and object to this egregious travesty. Perhaps even disinvite themselves. And if they do participate, wouldn’t it be a shame if one of them were to offer a Shechiyanu or another b’racha — b’Ivrit — with the explicit intent to draw yhe Jewish witness into the observance….
My heart and prayers are with you — would that I could be with you in person today. 🙏🏽❤️🙏🏽
Dr. King said publicly, “When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews. You’re talking anti-Semitism.” What a disgrace to his memory to exclude from a ceremony honoring Dr. King a rabbi–or anyone else–because of his Zionist beliefs. On that standard, Dr. King himself would have been excluded. The Alliance San Diego is a profound embarrassment to all who believe in Dr. King’s legacy and the ideals he stood for.
This is a disgrace to the what Rabbi Heschel and Dr King represented. Unity and peace, understanding and cooperation between others. To dissinvite Rabbi Leberman is a slap in his face and is another example of anti semitism.
The only way to get it together is together.