Fifty years ago tomorrow...
Fifty years ago tomorrow, on the eighth night of Hanukah in 1970, twelve men and one woman, mostly members of Jewish for Urban Justice, were arrested at the former Soviet Union Embassy. We were protesting the trial of some 16 Jewish Refuseniks faced with capital punishment and/or many years of imprisonment for attempting to hijack a plane to escape from Russia. They had been refused exit visas.
The case drew international attention to human rights violations in the Soviet Union. The hundreds of protests that took place throughout Europe and a few in the U.S. resulted in more lenient sentences. This international outcry forced the Soviet Union to ease up on its emigration policies.
So 13 of us spent the night in DC Jail. Finding an attorney was especially difficult since half of us arrested were attorneys! About two hundred protested that night, the police were there in force as was the media. Because we committed a Federal offense at the time, congregating within 500 feet of a foreign embassy, we were facing some serious fines and jail-time. Fortunately, the judge was sympathetic, we were released on bail and, eventually, the charges were reduced to simply a fine. That Federal law is no longer an offense.
It is beshert and fitting that tomorrow evening’s program is with Arthur Waskow, one of the organizers of the above protest, a modern day Maccabee, a freedom fighter and a prophetic voice.
This week’s Parsha, MiKetz, also commemorates the liberation of Joseph from prison. It is also the story of speaking truth to power. How interesting that this lesson is being heard in our day with the official results of the electoral college and rulings of judges throughout the land.
May we all be elevated as Joseph was, to a higher calling, to be able to bring ourselves and others out of darkness. Today is the darkest day of the year. The moon is not visible, but the heavens are open wide. Precisely, at this time, we increase the light of the menorah in front of us and within us.
Come tomorrow night. Come for Shabbes.
Khag Sameyakh, Khodesh Tevet Tov! (The new month of Tevet) May it be a “Good” month for us all.
Reb David