(Re)Building the Bridge: a conversation about the Black–Jewish relationship

The program will center on a conversation between Center of Life’s Rev. Tim Smith, and Avi Dresner, son of Civil Rights Activist Rabbi Israel “Sy” Dresner, and will trace the history of the African American-Jewish relationship during the Civil Rights Movement and explore ways to collaboratively address racism and antisemitism today. It will be moderated by Emily Loeb of the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh, whose uncle Rabbi Everett Gendler was also a Civil Rights activist.

The conversation will explore the topics such as conditioning, stories, and grace. What have we been conditioned to think, believe, and act about people with different beliefs and experiences? How can we learn to see our common humanity in others’ stories? How can we connect with, and offer grace to, others as we collectively build new bridges toward understanding and justice?

This program is part of Avi Dresner’s national project, Black–Jewish Reconciliation: (Re)Building the Bridge, which explores the historic African American–Jewish alliance during the Civil Rights Movement—particularly the relationship between Rabbi Dresner and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.—and engages communities in dialogue about the value of that alliance today. The project is supported by the Ford Foundation.

Starting at 5:30, community partners engaged in Jewish and African American community organizing will be present to share information about local programs and opportunities for involvement.

About our co-hosts:

Center of Life works to provide families and youth with the skills, education, training, and resources needed to strengthen themselves and their communities, with a focus on long-term economic revitalization.

The Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh connects the horrors of the Holocaust and antisemitism with injustices of today and through education empowers individuals to build a more civil and humane society. The Holocaust Center is a program of The Tree of Life.