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Dr. King, The Rabbi, and Me
From the “Author’s Note”
I have shared this story with students of all ages in schools, churches, and Boys & Girls Clubs. It is a story about civil rights unrest, President Kennedy’s assassination, and teenage traumas. Those events triggered my conversation with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
As a teenager in 1963, I thought about freedom and equality and began to understand that my life was easier—much easier—than lives lived by kids who were not white. Some white, middle class kids at that time, paid attention to the Civil Rights Movement and saw the different realities, some did not. Although removed from the heat and heart of the Civil Rights Movement, I was curious about it because I understood about “what’s fair” and I wanted to learn more. Like all Americans, I witnessed an important time in our country’s history.
• • •
That evening’s experience had a huge impact on me and has, in fact, encouraged me over time. I hope that Rabbi Rubenstein’s generosity towards me and Dr. King’s message will also inspire you.
King Speaks at Temple Israel
From The Bridgeport Post
May 23, 1964
Synopsis
In 1963, 13-year-old Carol-Anne Hossler was hypnotized by the Civil Rights Movement because it involved children her age. She read Time magazine every week and watched as TV newscasts flashed Birmingham police attack children, the March on Washington, Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, and a church bombing. Four girls—her age—were murdered.
During pre-wedding festivities at a swanky country club in Knoxville, Tennessee, she observed young white girls—just a couple of years older—at their Debutante Ball. Black, tuxedoed wait staff lined the ballroom walls and waited to serve guests. She wondered: Are those the jobs people marched for at the March on Washington?
When she learned that King was to speak at Temple Israel in nearby Westport, Connecticut, she called and asked if she could attend. Quite unexpectedly, Rabbi Rubenstein invited her to attend and arranged for her to meet and talk with Dr. King. That conversation changed her life.
Carol-Anne had typical junior high concerns about school and activities outside of school, including church, Girl Scouts, and dance class. She worried about clothes and friendships—new friends, fickle friends, and “best friends.”
Time magazine, newspapers, and nightly newscasts further developed her awareness of the nation and world. When President Kennedy was assassinated, she positioned herself in front of the TV to watch history. Like other Americans, her family watched and mourned.
Sermons and church activities broadened Carol-Anne’s understanding of the Civil Rights Movement. When a group of young black girls from a church in New York City came for a weekend visit at her church, she realized that people share similarities despite their differences.
Family doings also filled Carol-Anne’s life: her sisters, Nana, crazy aunts from New York, and cousins. Her California grandparents visited after their return from a round-the-world cruise. When her uncle got married in Knoxville, Tennessee, she experienced her first journey to the South, which initially caused some anguish because of the strife there.
Snowy weather curtailed the trip home—but not before driving through Washington, D.C., and witnessing the White House in mourning for the President. Winter posed other issues, including a fall on the ice and a terrifying car accident that later resulted in the family’s move west.
When Carol-Anne read that King would speak at the rededication of Temple Israel in neighboring Westport, she wanted to go. Against her mother’s wishes, she called the synagogue and spoke with Rabbi Byron Rubenstein. He found her interest to attend compelling and arranged for her to meet Dr. King.
On May 22, 1964, she met and spoke with Dr. King. He had a memorable message.
Carol-Anne’s family then turned their attention to moving. She said “goodbye” to her best friend and steeled herself to be the new girl in a new place once again.
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Look Inside ↓
(Click thumbnails to enlarge sample pages from the book.)
Postscripts Spur Conversations About Civil Rights, Social Justice
The book is a personal account of a white, middle-class, adolescent girl’s life from April 1963 to May 1964. It details her trials and tribulations in Weston, Connecticut. Although removed from the trauma and violence of the Civil Rights Movement, Carol-Anne observes it all from a protected distance. She begins to recognize the inequities of life for non-white citizens.
As the storyline develops, the author reconsiders her teenage experience from an older, wiser point-of-view.
One book, two viewpoints
“Postscripts from Carol-Anne, 2020” are reflections about the Civil Rights Movement, democratic ideals and the lessons that she learned. The include discussion of important issues—and ones that remain relevant today:
- Personal perspectives and context;
- Empathy and social justice;
- Racial awareness and the opportunities and possibilities afforded to those who are white and middle-class;
- Democratic ideals such as “liberty and justice for all,” and
- The need to encourage, participate in, and support positive and civil efforts to make a difference in the fabric of our country by showing up and taking action.
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A Civil Rights Hero Attends A Celebration of Renewal
A Rededication Marking the Fifth Anniversary of the Sanctuary of Temple Israel, Westport, Connecticut
May 22, 1964
Justice and Compassion
The values to which we are rededicated on this anniversary Sabbath have been crucial for us since first we became conscious of ourselves as a people. They go back as far as Abraham, who heard God say, “In thee shall all the families of the Earth be blessed.” Perhaps justice and compassion were born even earlier when Cain, knowing all too poignantly the answer to his question, asked, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
Justice and compassion speak to the two major needs of our society, equality of opportunity and personal fulfillment. The minorities in our country and the peoples of the new nations seek their share of the spiritual and material bounty of God’s universe; they can succeed if we help them establish justice in the world. In the personal realm, we have become increasingly conscious of the anxiety, the loneliness, and the hostility which ebb and surge in the human spirit. What can unite and restore us is our compassion for each other.
Our faith and our congregation will help if they renew in us the drive for justice and the quest for compassion so that we may, as God promised, be a blessing in the the lives we touch.
— Rabbi Rubenstein
