A rabbi was barred from speaking at a public Martin Luther King Jr. Day program in San Diego, California, this week after organizers raised concerns about his connection to Israel.
The decision drew swift condemnation from local Jewish institutions.
Rabbi Hanan Leberman, of Tifereth Israel Synagogue, had been invited to deliver the closing prayer at San Diego’s annual All Peoples Celebration held at Balboa Park on Monday.
Organizers later informed him that he would no longer participate. According to Rabbi Leberman, they cited his “connection to Israel” as the reason.
In a public Facebook post responding to the decision, Rabbi Leberman said he was “deeply upset” by the reversal. He stressed that his message was aligned with Dr. King’s teachings, even when that alignment was misunderstood.
“That being said, I have been deeply upset by the decision to no longer have me speak,” he wrote.
Rabbi Leberman argued that excluding him because of Israel ran counter to Dr. King’s own record. He pointed to Dr. King’s public support for the Jewish people and for Zionism, including statements affirming Israel’s right to exist in security.
“To exclude me from speaking runs counter to Dr. King’s message,” Rabbi Leberman wrote, especially “at this moment in history, when Jews are experiencing the most significant rise in hate crimes of any group.”
Organizers Respond After No Jewish Rabbi Is Allowed to Speak
The event was organized by Alliance San Diego, which later issued a public response. The group said it asked two scheduled speakers to step aside after raising concerns about potential disruption linked to debates over Zionism and anti-Zionism. The identity of the second speaker was not disclosed.
Alliance San Diego also acknowledged that its decision caused harm. The organization said the move intensified pain rather than easing tensions. Despite those explanations, the program went forward without any Jewish rabbi speaking. The event marked its 38th year.
Jewish Institutions Condemn Decision
San Diego’s Jewish institutions responded quickly. Nearly four dozen synagogues and Jewish organizations issued a joint statement condemning the exclusion. They said the event’s “All Peoples Celebration” title clashes with the removal of a Jewish rabbi for holding beliefs widely shared across the Jewish world. Many now view the outcome, the statement warned, as an event welcoming all people — except Jews.
Jews and the Civil Rights Movement: A Shared Moral Legacy
The controversy has also revived discussion about the Jewish role in the Civil Rights Movement, as many Jewish Americans were active partners.
Jewish leaders marched beside Dr. King. They organized voter registration drives and provided legal support across the South. Their involvement reflected shared moral commitments and lived experience with discrimination.
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel famously walked arm-in-arm with Dr. King during the 1965 Selma to Montgomery march. Rabbi Joachim Prinz addressed the 1963 March on Washington, warning that silence in the face of injustice was itself a moral failure.
Jewish students and activists also joined Freedom Summer and some even paid with their lives. In 1964, the Ku Klux Klan murdered Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner in Mississippi while they worked to register Black voters.
A Moment That Demands Reflection
In his statement, Rabbi Leberman said he had agreed to participate in the event knowing he would share the stage with people whose views he did not share. “To me, that is precisely the work Dr. King called us to do,” he wrote — engaging across disagreement, seeking common ground, and recommitting to equality.
“For these reasons, I will not be attending the event,” Rabbi Leberman concluded. “The decision to disinvite me is, in my view, a disservice to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”
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