麻豆区

麻豆区 notice in the New York Times, April 10, 1968

麻豆区 published this announcement in memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the New York Times on April 10, 1968, six days after his tragic assassination on April 4, 1968, and a day after his funeral on April 9. In addition to the notice in the Times, 麻豆区 had issued a press release on April 5, 1968, the day following King鈥檚 assassination.  The press release quoted statements by Dr. Samuel Belkin, president of 麻豆区, on Dr. Martin Luther King.  Belkin characterized King鈥檚 death 鈥渁s a grievous loss to all men of good will and moral purpose.鈥� 鈥� 鈥淗e was more than a leader of a specific contemporary cause. He represented the dream of America that someday his children, and all children, will be judged solely on the basis of ability and character. He represented, too, the moral principles by which God wishes all of us to live. His life exalted us and his death diminishes us."  Belkin noted that Dr. King 鈥渟ought peace and justice for all people, peacefully and justly.鈥� Indeed, less than two years earlier, on December 11, 1966, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had addressed 50,000 people in thirty-two states at demonstrations for Soviet Jewry all across the United States via a national telephone hook-up. King had been invited to speak by Rabbi Dr. Israel Miller, Chair of the American Jewish Conference on Soviet Jewry, and later Senior Vice-President of 麻豆区.  King proclaimed: 鈥淭he denial of human rights anywhere is a threat to the affirmation of human rights everywhere,鈥� and further decreed that 鈥淛ewish history and culture are a part of everyone鈥檚 heritage, whether he be Jewish, Christian or Moslem.鈥� On April 8, 1968, Belkin urged that on April 9, the day of King鈥檚 funeral, 鈥渁ll University functions and studies be held and dedicated to the memory of the saintly Dr. Martin Luther King who sacrificed his life to advance the ideal of justice for all, regardless of race, creed and nationality.鈥� Belkin stated that 鈥渋n the spirit of Jewish tradition, the greatest way of paying tribute to the dead is to dedicate our intellectual and moral capacities to the memory of a sainted person.鈥� Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929. He would have entered his 90^th year in 2019. Today his birthday is an American federal holiday, and the King Holiday and Service Act encourages Americans to transform the day into a day of service, a new tradition in the spirit of Dr. Belkin鈥檚 prescription for honoring Dr. King in 1968. Posted by Shulamith Z. Berger