Suburban Jews mark Sabbath with MLK remembrance

The immortal words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. resonated through Temple Chai in Long Grove Friday as worshippers honored his contributions to the Civil Rights movement with a special Sabbath service.

“It increases intercultural understanding and keeps us aware of all of the similarities and struggles that the Afro-American and Jewish communities share and have shared throughout the history of this country,” said Cantor Scott Simon.

It’s the 14th year the congregation has remembered King in this manner, each time with a unique presentation, often bringing in speakers, clergymen, and performers from the African American community.

This year, temple officials infused King’s famous quotations into the liturgy itself, emphasizing his preachings of peace and nonviolence.

“For our congregation, it really has galvanized us as a social action congregation,” Simon said. “Social action and social justice are reform Jewish issues. Jews were part of the Civil Rights movement. It’s an annual celebration of freedom and justice and keeps us aware of the issues of the African American community through our interaction with different artists, speakers, ministers and people of faith.”

This year, officials brought in the Writer’s Theatre to present its one-woman play titled “The MLK Project: The Fight for Civil Rights,” starring Melanie Brezill.

Brezill portrays a young girl’s search for truth and self-discovery through the American Civil Rights movement. The 45-minute play is based on interviews of seven people from the Civil Rights era conducted by the playwright Yolanda Androzzo. Since its target audience is middle and high school-age children, the play is set to hip-hop music, poetry and aggressive sound design to grab attention, said director Jimmy McDermott.

“It’s an attempt to create a modern oral history of the Civil Rights movement,” he said. “This is about how Midwesterners became involved in the movement.”

The outreach program has been on tour for six years and has been performed before more than 30,000 students at area schools, he added.