Around the congregation

Back in October, walking on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, Simona Seiderman felt the history under her feet and all around her. 

“The significance of it, walking across freely, here and now, and how much people were willing to get beaten on this bridge, just for the right to vote,” she said. “There’s so much power in that, you can feel and can’t help reflecting on how people fought for their rights, it’s emotional just thinking about it.”

The Edmund Pettus Bridge became a flashpoint in the Civil Rights movement. Peaceful protestors attempted to march from Selma to Montgomery to demand voting rights for African Americans, and they were met on the bridge with violence in an event that became known as Bloody Sunday on March 7, 1965. 

It was a turning point that helped turn the public tide and eventually helped in the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 

The bridge is now a symbol of the Civil Rights movement and is an important reminder of the courage taken to stand up for what was right. 

Visiting the bridge was an important part of the Civil Rights journey that Seiderman and fellow Temple Israel members, Marilyn Nathanson, Gail Katz, Wendy Kohlenberg, and Susan Singer took in October with more than a hundred others in a trip put together by the Women Of Reform Judaism. 

Between Oct. 19 and 23, the group visited Montgomery, Selma, Birmingham, and Atlanta to listen and learn about the history that is still important today. 

Seiderman and Nathanson also wanted to make sure they shared the history, and what they learned, with so many others. 

So on Tuesday, as part of Black History Month and in conjunction with Temple Israel’s Anti-Racism Task Force, the duo presented to a large audience at Sisterhood’s Chai Mitzvah luncheon. 

They spent hours building an informative and educational slide show, which not only looked at the history, but also led to engaging discussion about Civil Rights in 2023, which unfortunately remains an issue 57 years after Bloody Sunday. 

“It’s so painful, you don’t want to look back sometimes but it’s so important to look back because remembering is important,” Seiderman said. “Not only for Jews and the Holocaust, but for Blacks who have been through slavery and continue to experience discrimination, and have been killed for breathing while Black. It was very painful from that standpoint, but it really helped me better understand the history and continued experience of my Black brothers and sisters.”

Seiderman and Nathanson took the group through their trip in the presentation, but really they were taking the group on a deeper journey and history that sent a message about how important it is to learn from the past, even the most difficult, horrible moments. 

As Seiderman put it when she was planning for the presentation, it’s important to ask why and how things happened, even when it hurts, because it reminds us how important it is to keep working for equality today. 

It’s an effort that Temple Israel is working and hoping to be part of in the future in conjunction with The Temple Israel Anti-Racism task force, which is led by Rabbi Marla Hornsten. 

Earlier this month Temple hosted a book discussion with Dr. Tara Hayes, the Book Club Professor, about Geraldine Brooks’ novel Horse, which looked at and examined the legacy and history of slavery and freedom in the United States. 

The Anti-Racism Task force is also planning a trip to the Charles Wright Museum of African American History in early March.