Temple to hold annual MLK tribute

Temple Israel of Lawrence will be hosting the eighth annual Greater Long Island Jewish Community Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Commemoration on Thursday night Jan. 14 starting at 7 p.m.

The keynote address for the event honoring the late civil rights leader will be delivered by Rabbi Marc Schneier, president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding. Honored guest speakers will include Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, executive vice president for the New York Board of Rabbis, and Reverend Victor Hall, pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Jamaica, Queens. Remarks will also be delivered by Rabbi Sholom Stern, spiritual leader at Temple Beth-El of Cedarhurst.and Rabbi Steven Graber of Temple Hillel in North Woodmere. The event will include a musical tribute to Dr. King presented by the renowned Calvary Baptist Church Choir.

This commemoration, which began eight years ago, saw the realization of Dr. King's dream with the election of Barack Obama as president, where as King said, “people will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but the content of their character,” said Rabbi Jay Rosenbaum, spiritual leader at Temple Israel of Lawrence. “In this new decade where religion, ethnicity and national origin are still used as vehicles of hatred and divisiveness, the message of Dr. King is more important than ever that we can find unity and diversity.”

Numerous Jewish organizations are participating in the 2010 Dr. King commemoration including the American Jewish Committee; Anti-Defamation League; Hadassah, Hewlett and Woodmere Chapter;