Shared Dreams: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Jewish Community [Hardcover]

Marc Schneier (Author), Martin Luther King III (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1999

Shared Dreams brings to life the impressive, surprising, and long-neglected history of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s efforts in support of the Jewish community.

At critical moments in the life of the American Jewish community, of Israel and of the plight of Soviet Jews, Martin Luther King, Jr. stepped in as an advocate to speak out for the human and civil rights of Jews. His efforts to support world Jewry-within the constraints of his primary role in the civil rights movement-cannot be forgotten. Indeed, they must be remembered.

Rabbi Marc Schneier presents the full story of Dr. King's involvement with the Jewish community. With the use of previously unpublished material and interviews with those who marched at Dr. King's side, the long-neglected story of mutual support and cooperation between Dr. King and the Jewish community is brought to life.

It is a story that will shed new light on the commitment and the relationship between the Jewish and African American communities as they have struggled together to fight for justice and civil rights for our nation. Even more, it is a story that encourages all of us-people of all faiths, all backgrounds-to continue to fight for justice in our world.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Schneier, founding rabbi of the Hampton Synagogue on Long Island, wrote this book to foster friendly relations between African-Americans and Jews. Based on interviews and previously unpublished sources, this is a commendable account of the associations Martin Luther King Jr. had with Jews and Jewish organizations. Schneier frankly confronts such issues as African-American anti-Semitism, the left-wing connections of King's important Jewish advisor, Stanley Levison, and the early reluctance of many Southern Jews to endorse the civil rights movement. These kinds of problems were balanced by the vigorous support King received from such Jewish leaders as Morris Abram and Abraham Joshua Heschel, Jewish participation in the historic march from Selma to Montgomery and the assistance King gave to the struggle against Soviet repression of Jews. Perhaps the most troublesome episode in the groups' relationship occurred during the Six-Day War, when King's powerful pacifist convictions and the anti-Zionist harangues of several African-American leaders combined to make him reluctant to advocate favoring Israel. However, he never endorsed anti-Israel attitudes and, in the last speech he made before his 1968 assassination, spoke fondly of his trip to Israel in 1959. Schneier's candid, well-balanced presentation is a significant contribution to African-American/Jewish harmony. (Jan.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"A powerful and meaningful book about the prophetic leadership of Martin Luther King Jr. and his colleagues.... It must be read by all who seek to improve the condition of human rights." -- Israel Singer, Secretary General, World Jewish Congress

"An important addition to the history of the civil rights movement, and an honest portrayal of the complex relations between blacks and whites in the movement." -- Howard Zinn, author, A People's History of the United States

"Offers us a fascinating perspective on Dr. King's relationship with the Jewish community." -- Dr. Carolyn Goodman, President, the Andrew Goodman Foundation

"One of the most important books I've read this year. Rabbi Schneier thoughtfully illustrates the depth of the friendship between Dr. King and our Jewish brothers and sisters, thus providing us with a fresh and bold new perspective on both a beloved civil rights leader and a most revolutionary time in our history." -- Kweisi Mfume, President and CEO, NAACP

"Schneier's candid, well-balanced presentation is a significant contribution to African-American/Jewish harmony." -- Publishers Weekly, November 29, 1999

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Jewish Lights Publishing; 1st edition (November 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580230628
• ISBN-13: 978-1580230629
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,176,875 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A timely history, January 17, 2000

By 

Larry Mark, editor of MyJewishBooks.com (Scranton, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shared Dreams: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Jewish Community (Hardcover)

You mean blacks and Jews did not all walk hand-in-hand during the Fifties and Sixties, even though nearly 70% of white Freedom Riders were Jewish? You mean not everyone prayed with their feet like Rabbi Heschel in Selma? You're telling me that president of the UAHC, leaders in social action, was forced by his members to withdraw an invitation to King to speak at the group's 1959 convention in Miami? Did the Reverend James Bevel, a leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Selma, Ala., actually wear a kippah (freedom beanie) at his rallies and it protected him from the sheriffs? In this book, Rabbi Schneir tells us the story of Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King's support for human and civil rights for Jews, his use of the Jewish experience in his speeches, and his call for the Baptists to stop trying to convert Jews. He also tells us the story of Jewish avid support of and reluctance to support King's movement. Rabbi Schneir, the son of Rabbi Arthur Schneir of Manhattan's Park East Synagogue, is a rabbi, founding rabbi of the West Hampton Synagogue, planner of the Palm Beach Synagogue, force behind a new cross-denominational rabbinical assembly, leader of the New York Board of Rabbis, President of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, and member of the NAACP. Schneier is quite frank, and includes the wariness of some supporters of the far-left-wing Jews in King's entourage. He also discusses King's attitudes toward Israel, Zionism, militarism and the Six Day War. By the way, while King may have been dis-invited to a convention in 1959, by 1968, when King spoke at the Conservative Rabbinical Assembly's convention, he was greeted by over a thousand rabbis singing "We Shall Overcome" in Hebrew. King was planning to join Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel's family for a Pesach seder in 1968, but was assassinated before he could.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good examination into an overlooked history, December 9, 2002

By 

Andre M. "brnn64" (Mt. Pleasant, SC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shared Dreams: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Jewish Community (Hardcover)

The release of this book, which is a well-documented look at the interesting relationship between Martin Luther King and American Jews, is quite timely and appropriate. In these early days of the millennium, Black-Jewish relationships seem to currently be on the mend from the low points of the 1990s, and books like this may help in the recovery process. Also quite well written with some little known information and rarely-read speechs by MLK on Black-Jewish realtions.

5.0 out of 5 stars AN INSPIRING BOOK ABOUT MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.'s RELATIONS WITH JEWISH PEOPLE, December 28, 2010

By 

Steven H. Propp (Sacramento, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shared Dreams: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Jewish Community (Paperback)

Marc Schneier (born 1959) is an American rabbi, founder and president of The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, and the founding rabbi of The Hampton Synagogue in Westhampton Beach, New York and the New York Synagogue in Manhattan.

He writes in the Preface to this 1999 book, "Jews should be proud of their participation in the civil rights struggle. They should hold that up as an inspiration to all generations: it is emblematic of what the sages call tikkun olam, the mandate for Jews to repair the world, to make it whole and move it closer to a messianic age of truth and consequences. We hope that the story told here will encourage Jewish people and people of all faiths in such efforts in the future."

Here are some quotations from the book:

"(I)t would not be the most traditionally observant Jews who would be in the forefront of helping blacks get justice. Instead of Orthodox Jews leading the way, it was Reform and Conservative Jews, as well as those who were not affilited with any movement within Judaism." (Pg. 16)
"The conference provided the first meeting between Heschel and King, who spoke in Chicago. That encounter developed into a life-long friendship and intellectual bond. Moreover, the two men raised strikingly similar cries. Each quoted the prophet Amos..." (Pg. 137)
"King, said Heschel, was a modern-day prophet; his voice was equal to that of the prophets of Israel and his presence was 'a sign that God has not forsaken the United States of America. God has sent him to us." (Pg. 141)
"And despite the growing antipathy between blacks and Jews, especially as SNCC and other black organizations became more radical, (King) always maintained an allegiance to Jews and refused to indulge in another side of the same hatred that had targeted blacks for so long." (Pg. 171)
MLK: "You declare, my friend, that you do not hate the Jews, you are merely 'anti-Zionist.' And I say, let the truth ring forth from the high mountain tops, let it echo through the valleys of God's green earth: When people criticize Zionism, they mean Jews---this is God's own truth." (Pg. 178)