MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) – On the campus of Rhodes College, a gathering over a century in the making took place as Black and Jewish students came together for a Unity Dinner at the end of February.

The event focused on the Black-Jewish Alliance, dating back to the early 1900s.

“We are resurrecting, we are rekindling this great, great alliance,” said John Eaves, a Unity Dinner organizer who teaches at Spelman College.

Eaves said most of the young people selected to attend had no idea about the alliance’s history.

Building relationships through conversation

Unity Dinners are happening across the country, organized by UNCF, Hillel International and Blue Square Alliance against Hate.

These dinners have been happening multiple different cities including Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Washington, DC.

The Memphis event brought together Black and Jewish students from Rust, LeMoyne-Owen and Rhodes colleges and the University of Memphis.

The plan for the evening was simple: break bread and talk.

Eaves said the dinner provided an opportunity for young people to come together amid societal divisiveness.

“We are certainly in a society today with a lot of divisiveness, polarization politically, but this an opportunity for young people to come together and be unified,” Eaves said. “Have conversations, learn about each other’s perspectives, learn about what’s happening on college campuses but to have a mind of one and work hard to address issues of hate.”

Hate incidents on the rise

Hate is on the rise, mostly at college campuses, as protests reached a fever pitch following the start of the Israel-Hamas War.

The Anti-Defamation League cites a nearly 900% increase in antisemitic incidents over the last decade, with a large jump in the past two years. Black people are still the highest target of hate crimes reported to the FBI.

“So this has been a constant in history in America where it’s always there, but there are these moments where there are peaks,” said Dr. J. Lawrence Turner, senior pastor of Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church, one of the largest Black churches in Memphis.

A shared history of struggle

Turner and Rabbi Micah Greenstein of Temple Israel, the largest synagogue in Memphis, are both students of the history that birthed the Black-Jewish Alliance. Greenstein co-authored a book on the subject called “The Quiet Voices: Southern Rabbis and Black Civil Rights, 1880’s to 1990’s.”

“When we talk about this common road to freedom and the civil rights era post-Holocaust is, in many ways Jews who survived the murder of 6 million came home to America and saw this systemic oppression against people of color and healed by joining together,” Greenstein said.

Turner said the alliance was built on shared faith and willingness to stand together in struggles that could have ended in death.

“And that’s what made the alliance so beautiful, genuine and real,” Greenstein said.

The Grand Alliance

Black and Jewish leaders joined forces to create the NAACP in 1909, followed by the National Urban League a year later. In the early 1930s, HBCUs began employing Jewish scholars fleeing from Germany.

By the 1960s, Jews in Memphis had joined the front lines of the civil rights movement.

Just two days after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, Memphis Rabbi James Wax of Temple Israel confronted then-Mayor Henry Loeb over his refusal to end the Sanitation Workers Strike.

“There are laws higher than the laws of Memphis and the laws of Tennessee, the laws of God,” Wax said.

Greenstein said Wax’s stand was not celebrated at the time.

“Everyone is quoting Rabbi Wax now as if everyone loved Rabbi Wax back then. In this congregation, he was written out of town almost,” Greenstein said.

Both Turner and Greenstein said the Grand Alliance was not always celebrated, but what sustained it was relationships.

“I think one of the ways that we misunderstand movements is that they’re represented in some big grand events that take place and large marches, but movements happen in very small and intimate ways when relationships are being built,” Turner said.

Alliance tested

On October 7, 2023, there was a surprise attack by Hamas on the Jewish homeland – Israel.

Hundreds of people were killed, thousands injured. Then-President Joe Biden immediately pledging support for Israel, ordering multiple vessels to the war zone.

Expressing their moral opposition to the war, a coalition of Black clergy called for an immediate cease fire to, “protect the lives of all precious Palestinians.”

“You can believe, since there are dozens of Muslim states and Christian states you can believe that there ought to be one Jewish state, and you can love that Jewish state even if you disagree vehemently with the administration and power there too,” said Greenstein.

“And I don’t think that we’ll find resolution in this conflict until the hearts of those who are at the head of it, whether its this U.S. administration, those who lead those terrorist groups, those who are in leadership in Israel can move beyond hatred and see our common brotherhood,” said Turner.

You can watch an extended portion of the interview here: