May 22, 2008 | 10:27 pm

Ziman and Lee: the reconciliation continues

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Follow JewishJournal.com on

In a saga going on seven weeks, the Rev. Eric Lee has been accused by Daphna Ziman of parroting “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion;” apologized for “any misunderstandings;” acted like a contrite man; celebrated Pesach at Wilshire Boulevard Temple; been blasted by MLK’s former attorney; broken bread and held hands to heal the wounds; and as of today, co-written an op-ed with Ziman about how their ordeal was a microcosm of “a national racial storm.”

Is it possible that we were chosen to remind our country that America is the land of diverse cultures and that within our diversity lies our strength? Divine intervention?

We believe that it is. We had to rise above our own limitations to allow the wisdom of God to be heard.

“The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain.”

Now, any fool knows that a wolf and a lamb cannot graze together. But what the Bible is asking us to do is to find a common ground.

We must leave our children a legacy of respect and acceptance—live and let live. We must demand all religious leaders to stop spouting racism in any place of worship or public gathering.

We realize that our journey together must be walked together—shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand—so that we arrive together at our destinations of justice, peace, dignity, respect. We understand that we are all God’s children, and that as Dr. King stated, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

In the seder ceremony, the collective statement of all participants is that “until everyone is free; we are not yet free.”