Rainn Wilson Instagram – Happy MLK day! Did you know about the great American’s friendship with the renowned Rabbi, theologian and activist Abraham Joshua Heschel? I just learned about it earlier today from @raceamity. The great Rabbi once said, “it was easier for the children of Israel to cross the Red Sea than for a Negro to cross certain university campuses.” (From an essay by Heschel’s daughter) “The 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery was a major event for both Heschel and King. A few days before the march took place, Heschel led a delegation of eight hundred people to FBI headquarters in New York City in order to protest the brutal treatment of demonstrators in Selma. On Friday, March 19, two days before the Selma march was scheduled to begin, Heschel received a telegram from King, inviting him to join the marchers. Heschel was welcomed as one of the leaders in the front row…” Dr. King said that Heschel “is indeed a truly great prophet…. Here and there we find those who refuse to remain silent behind the safe security of stained glass windows, and they are forever seeking to make the great ethical insights of our Judeo-Christian heritage relevant in this day and in this age.” On March 25, 1968, just ten days before he was assassinated, King delivered the keynote address at a birthday celebration honoring Heschel, ­convened by the Rabbinical Assembly of America. Their friendship and kinship was proof that we can work together — regardless of differences in our beliefs, race or backgrounds — for a lasting, universal peace and justice.