By Stephen Heath

From its very first pages, the Bible reports stories of violence and persecution based in greed and prejudice. Perhaps none is more central than the Egyptians enslavment of the Israelites in Exodus. This is even predicted in Genesis 15:13, “Then the Lord said to Abram, ‘Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that not theirs and they will be servants there and they will be afflicted for four hundred years” (ESV). Countless other stories in the Bible alone can be pointed to as prejudice against a people group based on their nationality, their lineage, and other measures which they cannot control. Unfortunatlely this biblical story has continued into modern times. While the Holocaust is one of the most well-known and widely talked about events of prejudice in history, most of the time, when Americans think of prejudice, we think of racism against the African American community. While this has been a major topic in the last two hundred years, I want to challenge us to broaden our perspective on which people groups experience prejudice. Even after the Holocaust, the Jewish community still experiences horrific acts of violence and hatred. Europe was not the only place where Jews experienced injustice.

The national anthem celebrates America as “the land of the free and the home of the brave,” but this has not always been our story. Some of our Southern history includes racial injustice, pride, pain, injustice, and broken systems, including police departments, school systems, and recreational systems. Birmingham, Alabama, has experienced some severe racial and ethnic injustice in the last one hundred years. Countless movies have been made about the injustice, specifically in Birmingham. Many movies have depicted this injustice. The most popular include Four Little Girls, Woodlawn, and The Watsons Go to Birmingham. Not only African Americans, but the Jewish community were targets of discriminatory violence in Birmingham.

One of the significant acts of attempted violence within the last seventy years was the attempted bombing of a synagogue, Temple Beth-el . This event occurred on April 28, 1958. On the morning of one of the services in the synagogue, fifty-four sticks of dynamite were placed outside and were supposed to detonate during the service. Fortunately, the dynamite failed, and it never exploded. The Ku Klux Klan was dangerous to anyone who did not look like them or believe the same as them. In Atlanta, six months later on October 12, 1958, another group of white supremicists were sucessful in bombing one of that city’s synagogues.

On the side of Temple Beth-El, where the bomb was placed, a historical marker was installed in 2022. Rabbi William Greenburg dedicated the memorial. Greenburg was a very active member of the Jewish community. He truly loved the Jewish religion and culture. After he retired, he spent an extra 15 years working in the synagogue for free. This memorial is necessary for the remembrance of Jewish hatred and violence. The simple gesture of erecting a memorial for an ethnic or religious group being persecuted does two things. First, whichever group is being persecuted will have a newfound strength and encouragement by knowing that others outside of their ethnic group or religion stand behind them. Second, because it was not simply erected by the Jewish community itself, but by the Alabama Historical Association it sends a message to other groups who mean harm that the entire community will oppose them.

As the years have passed since the civil rights era in Birmingham, much progress has been made. But various minority groups, including African Americans, Arabs, Asians, and Jews still suffer persectuion. Seeing this memorial should motivate others to be aware of the violence being waged against certain ethnic groups. Deep inside, every human being should be a stirring of righteous anger for justice when these acts of terror are written about. The Bible tells us to stand up for the poor and afflicted and to defend those who cannot defend themselves. Isaiah 1:17 says, “Learn to do good, seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s case.”  Also, Jeremiah 22:3 states “Thus says the Lord: do justice and righteousness and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. Moreover, do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow. Nor shed innocent blood in this place.”  If America, or the rest of the world, wants change, it starts with repentence. The ultimate problem is not a broken system. The ultimate problem is a broken heart. Change starts at the heart. Sin makes us racist. Sin makes us prejudiced. Sin makes us turn our face from the truth. The Bible makes it very clear how we are to treat everyone around us. It may seem that there is very little that an indivdiual person can do about an issue of this magnitude worldwide. However, if we raise enough awareness as the people of a country, our leaders can see it and follow suit. The leaders of a country are the people who have the authority to move things around to influence change and boundaries. As the example of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the civil rights movements shows, nonviolent protest can be a great source of peaceful strength. 

References

Anthony Grooms, Jan 1, 2001 Bombingham

Katz, Elijah Harold, 1972 “The Jewish youth of Birmingham; a survey of attitudes and            values conducted under the sponsorship of the Jewish Community Council, Birmingham       Jewish Federation and Jewish Community Center.” Birmingham, AL: Birmingham Jewish            Community Council

Garrison, Greg. 2022. “Temple Beth-EL Erects Plaque Marking Attempted Bombing.” AL.com July 22, 2022. https://www.al.com/life/2022/07/temple-beth-el-erects-plaque-marking-attempting-bombing.html

Norman, Margaret and Melissa Young. 2023 “The Jewish Legacy of ‘Bombingham’: Exploring the Causes and Consequences of the Attempted Bombing of Temple Beth-EL in            Birmingham, Alabama in 1958” Southern Jewish History 26.

Stephen Heath ‘27 was a student in UCS 102: Memorials & the Future in Samford University’s Howard College of Arts & Sciences in spring 2024.