MLK At The Synagogue

I went to a concert at a synagogue the other night in celebration of Martin Luther King Day. To say that I do not often attend synagogue is like saying that Donald Trump does not often tell the truth. No, strike that. I go less often.

I went this time because my sister-in-law is serving as the President of the Temple. It was a family thing. Well, I have to say that I had both a surprisingly good time and a depressingly frustrating one.

The concert combined singers from the Temple choir with singers from predominantly Black churches in the area. The set list included spirituals and Hebrew prayers interspersed with joint readings of parts of MLK speeches. The spirituals had the audience clapping and swaying. It was abundantly clear which of the clappers and swayers were the Jews. Anyway, the motif was unity. The message was togetherness. The theme was that we are all of one family.  

And that was the problem.

The concert expressed a glorius idea, but its glory, to me, in no way minimized its confusion. If we want to be united and together and of one big family, why, then, when these concerts are over and their sounds are just memories, will the participants go back to their separateness? Why was this building for one “family” and other buildings for other “families?

So, there we all were extolling the virtues of singularity while separately defining ourselves. There we were raising our voices in a joyous finale:

Draw the circle, draw the circle wide

No one stands alone, we’ll all stand side by side

Draw the circle, draw the circle wide

And then when those sounds melted away, we would move back outside the circle by retreating to our distinct denominations.

Yes, it is possible to argue that unity can also mean belief if the equality of our separate definitions; that a Lutheran is no different from a Jew and that each can follow their own beliefs while still seeing each other as equals; that the “circle” can have its component parts. Yet, I have real doubts about that. Certainly, history doesn’t bear it out. Nor does practicality.  If we want unity, why start out with separation? Won’t it be easier to achieve unity by dropping the different titles. I’m not arguing for atheism. Quite the contrary. I’m arguing that we all seek our answers to the transcendent mystery as best we can, and that our method need not define who we are.  In the end, none of us can really know.

I realize how idealistic all is sounds. But, so was the hope of the concert. If we are going to be idealistic, why not go all the way.  

I would have preferred that the concert include an additional gospel. It is, to me, the Gospel According to John – John Lennon, that is.

Imagine there’s no countries

It isn’t hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion to

You may say I’m a dreamer

But I’m not the only one

I hope someday you will join us

And the world will live as one

Amen.