April 20

Today in 1657, Peter Stuyvesant, Governor of New Amsterdam, finally gave in to pressure from Jewish immigrants organized by Asser Levy, and granted recently-arrived Jews freedom of religion. New York would go on to have one of the largest Jewish populations in the world. 

Today marks the death, in 2010, of Dorothy Height, who was one of the main organizers of the Civil Rights movement. She was president of the National Council of Negro Women and was heavily involved in the YWCA. 

Today is also the birthday of Georg Michael Telemann, composer of sacred music, in 1748. A contemporary of Johann Sebastian Bach, he also expressed his faith in music. Here is a good example of some of his music. 

Reflection:

Dorothy Height wrote: 

I resonate with this quote from Dorothy Height. Too often in history, our educational institutions take a cookie-cutter approach to education without considering individual needs and learning differences. I am gratified that educational philosophies have changed to explore different ways of teaching the learner - not just the subject.

It’s important for people in the United States to know the history of American Judaism, in part because of the humbug claims of the current regime and its attacks on universities and student critics of Israel. Our history is riddled with antisemitism, but the current regime only pretends to care about antisemitism in order to promote authoritarianism. Jewish history, like black history, is American history.

Prayer: Holy Spirit, inspire us to continue to seek freedom, and freedom of religion, for all your people, because you are more glorified by human diversity than by forced assent to anyone else’s beliefs. Amen.