Names Project/AIDS Quilt in Atlanta

Written by Nicole Bellovin, Mariel Liebeskind, and Hannah Walcoe

Nikki, Mariel, and Hannah in front of a panel of the AIDS Quilt

The first panel was made for Marvin Feldman who died in 1986

We just visited the Names Project in Atlanta, Georgia. It commemerates the death of those who lost their lives from AIDS . The project is a giant quilt that consists of of pieces created by the loved ones of those who lost their lives in the fight against AIDS and HIV. There are no restrictions on how you can be a part of the project. You can create a peice of the quilt in any way that you would like to represent the person has passed on.

This project stands out in many ways. These quilts are a celebration, remembrance, and way to honor the life of a person before AIDS. This is important because AIDS is an issue that is still taking lives today. It can cause one to be impoverished because of the cost of the medicine used to maintain a healthy life with AIDS. We learned about how AIDS affects every aspect of your life, from where you live, to how you spend your daily life. We also discussed how to prevent AIDS. We learned about how lucky we are to be educated about not just AIDs, but means of protection against it.

This project related to Judiasm in many ways. We discussed how when the disease first came out, it was mainly found in the gay community. We spoke about how Reform Judiasm are allies to the gay and lesbian community. We also discussed how AIDS did not descriminate on who it affected, it made people of all different ways of life and religions sick, which included Judaism. The project also started by the commemeration of a Jewish man who passed away because of the disease.

Havdalah

J.tel has a Havdalah service on the steps of the 16th Street Church. This is the church that was bombed during the civil rights movement. Four young girls lost their lives. J.tel learned about them at the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.

Meeting Reverend Woods

Written by Amanda Liebeskind, David Krivoshey, and Adam Birnholtz

Reverend Woods teaching J.tel a civil rights song (see next post for the video!)

Reverend Woods led J.tel on a tour through Kelly Ingram Park

During our time with Reverend Calvin Woods, we felt as if we were in the time of the civil rights movement. His powerful and overwhelming voice told a story that took us all back in time. We each could hear the sound of screams and invision dogs and water attacking hundreds of people. We each felt our hearts break at the stories he told. His description of the different monuments made us really feel connected to what he was saying. But this meeting was not all sad. Although he spoke of hard times, he was jolly with song. He taught us all a few civil rights songs and we sang and danced in the middle of the park. His voice was bold and drew the attention of others standing in the park, and they began to join in.

All together the experience was unforgettable and gave us all the pleasure of meeting a person who experienced the Ciil Rights Movement first hand. It was later explained to us that these people were only getting older so it is important to take in what they are saying and pass it on to later generations before they pass. Reverand Woods passionate spirit and love for this movement made us believe that he could outlive us all and continue to spread his attitude to everyone. Overall it was a great experience to have and take in past history of a historic movement.

The Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma

Witten by Josh Gale and Tracy Wolf

Saturday morning services underneath the Edmund Pettus Bridge

J.tel crosses over the Edmund Pettus Bridge in honor of those who marched from Selma to Birmingham fighting for civil rights

This morning we drove to Selma, Alabama where we had a Shabbat morning serivce at the base of the Edmund Pettus Bridge. This service was led by J.telees. There were a plethora of meaningful prayers and everyone was able to find their own spritual connection. This bridge is famous for the multiple people that protested on it. Black protestors during the civil rights movement crossed the bridge during their 5 day march to Montgomery, Alabama.

Another highlight from today was meeting a lady from the Civil Rights Movement named Joanne Bland. She gave us her own personal story of how she fought white oppression. She shared her story of crossing the bridge at age 11. We were able to truly understand her compelling story because as Jews we have been opressed as well. After getting a tour of her hometown and seeing all of the iconic sights, we all learned that if we put out minds to it, we all have the power to take a stand against injustice.

Reverend Woods with J.tel

Reverend Woods teaches J.tel some Civil Rights music at Freedom Park in Birmingham.

Pictures in Selma and Birmingham

J.tel arrives in Selma, AL!

J.tel hears Joanne Bland's story. She marched across the bridge at age 11.

At the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute recording a video from the experience.

Jakob and Evan at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute

J.tel hears from Reverend Calvin Woods, a civil rights activist who worked closely with Martin Luther King Jr.

Friday Night Services in Alabama

Written by Zack Reiter and David Klein

J.tel takes a quick picture before Shabbat at Temple Beth Or

On Friday night we went to Temple Beth Or in Montgomery, Alabama for Friday night services. We were at a Reform synagogue that used mostly classical melodies. We were surprised to hear an adult choir perform the songs because we could not see them. They were in a choir loft hidden behind the bimah.

This Temple has the tradition of replacing the Rabbis sermon with Torah reading once a month. This happened while we were there. They Rabbi read each sentence of the weekly Torah portion in hebrew and directly followed it in english. When it was time to take the Torah out, there was a manican like structure set up for the Torah to hold it's parts. We thought it was pretty neat.



Everyone was very friendly and inviting and would always come up to you and say Shabbat Shalom. We noticed a few slight differences in the prayer book compared with the one we know at North Shore Synagogue. In our temple the text is italicized when the congregation should say the text outlide while their prayer book just has an indented line. The prayers that they used in their services are the same even though the melodies might be slightly different.



We felt like we were part of the community and we were welcomed. All of the people acted like we've been with them for all of our lives. This reminded us that id doesn't matter whether we are in New York or in Alambama since we are still part of the Jewish community of the world.

Visiting Montgomery

Written by Adam Braunschweig & Stuart Klein

Pictures from the memorial outside the Southern Poverty Law Center

Yesterday we went to the Southern Poverty Law Center. We learned about how different people who have lost their lives in the struggle for civil rights. During the time we spent at the museum we learned about all the different hate groups and the reasons why these people got murdered by them. Some hate groups that we've learned about were the KKK and the Neo-Nazis.

It is important to learn about the civil rights movement because the teachings of hate is still going on today. The reason why it is good to learn about this is to teach people about the rights of others, and no one should be hurt or killed for what they believe in, or what race they are. As Jews we are very close to civil rights since it has affected us for so long. Jews have been victim to discrimination and have been hurt simply for what we believe in. The Southern Poverty Law Center taught us about all the people who have died fighting for civil rights. Their fight has really touched our lives.

Standing up by sitting down: The Rosa Parks Museum

Written by Michael Kotowski and Jeremy Levine

The second day of our journey brought us to the capital of the state of Alabama, Montgomery. This is the city where a woman named Rosa Parks stood up for what she believed in by sitting down. The Rosa Parks museum we went to was built right next to the site where Mrs. Parks rocked the world and brought me to an eerie place I had been to once before. In Montreal I went to a holocaust museum and the cold hard truth in a simple and effective manner was simlar to what this museum was like for me. The inside was adorned with documents and images. Some shocking, some just of the faces of people who got sick and tired of doing what people said they had to do for so long. This place left me with the same eerie effect the museum in Montreal had. One that left me wondering what drives humans to refuse to see each other as equals on our respective journeys through existance.

Civil Rights is still an issue today. Although we have legal stipulations against segregation and other such practices, prejudice, intolerance, and racism are still prevalent in 2010. In the past three years, the number of hate groups in the United States has increased by 35%. It is hard to believe that people in the world still judge people based on the colors of their skin, how they worship, and whom they choose to love. As humans, we have an obligation to defend those who are oppressed. Rosa Parks was able to do it. We need to find ways in our lives to take a stand, through education and advocacy. We can change the world in hundreds of small ways, and we don't even have to stand up.

The Leo Frank Lynching

Written by Jakob Surber

Background: J.tel teens gathered on a sidewalk to hear our tourguide, Billy Planer, explain the story of Leo Frank. We stood in the very spot where Mary Phagan was found murdered. Phagan's murder led to an accusation of a business owner named Leo Frank. Frank was innocent. He was found guilty and eventualy lynched by a group of prominent people from Marietta. Frank's death turned the spotlight on to anti-semitism in the United States.

I found it kind of creepy that we were standing on the burial ground/death site of Mary Phagan. It was very interesting that Leo Frank was completely innocent, but no one bothered listening to the facts. The police took the word of a black janitor over Mr. Frank, a white business owner. This was very rare for the time period. This also makes this case unique.

Eventually, Mr. Frank was taken by the KKK who planned to lynch him. We learned that lynchings become public gatherings. This makes me sad. People even made postcards from lynchings to send to other people! It's very inhumane if you ask me. It was almost as if people celebrated and enjoyed a hanging/lynching. Leo Frank's death became a social gathering. And again I restate, very inhumane.

Dialogue in the Dark

Written by Hayley Wolf and Jamie Rosen

Signing our names at the bottom of the release form for 'Dialog in the Dark' felt as if we were signing our lives away. From our New York homes, we signed the form that would eventually take us on the memorable experience of walking in the shoes of a visually impared induvidual.

Earlier today we were extremely anxious about the "Dialog In The Dark" section of our itinerary. When we arrived to the site in Atlanta, someone explained that it would be pitch black during this experience so we could truly feel what it would be like to be blind. Shaking, we walked into the dark room where we met with our tour guide who has been blind for almost a year. With our walking sticks in hand, we were led through a variety of real life situations in darkness. We experienced what it would be like to go grocery shopping, take a walk in the park, and even order a soda in a jazz lounge.

We thought our eyes would adjust, but to our suprise, we were not even capable of seeing our hands waving in front of our own faces. Not being able to detect where we were, and where we were going was very frustrating. In the end it was worth the trouble in order to understand and face the everyday challenges that visually impared individuals must deal with.

After walking out and adjusting our eyes to the bright light, the value of the hour long tour hit us. We now realize how much we depend on our sight, and that some people have to carry out activities in darkness all the time.

Welcome

We are thrilled to be staffing J.tel's Jewish Civil Rights tour of the South. Over the next few days, students will travel to Atlanta Georgia, and Montgomery and Selma, Alabama to learn about Civil Rights in the United States and Jews involvement in the Movement. The theme of the program is: “Ki Garim Anachnu- For We Were Once Strangers in a Strange Land.” Visits include the site were Leo Frank was lynched, the Rosa Parks Museum, the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the Southern Poverty Law Center, Freedom Park, and The Civil Rights Institute. We know the teens that participate in this trip will find the experience to be extremely rewarding. Follow this blog to hear their reflections each night!

B'Shalom
Sheila Katz and Alyson Bazeley