At the core of Judaism is human action. While the Divine may remind us of why we are performing the action, it is our performance that is important.  Generally, we invoke God before we do something; we bless and then act. Whether it is saying the “Motzi” before eating bread, or reciting a blessing before lighting Chanukah candles or reading from Torah, first we focus on the mitzvah with a blessing, and then we do it. In this way, Jewish prayer leads to action. Sometimes though, the action may even be the prayer.

A few years ago, I had the privilege of learning from Dr. Susannah Heschel, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel’s daughter.  Her last talk was about the very special and sacred relationship her father had with Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King.  She told us about the march in Selma; the danger, the fear, and the faith of all those who participated.  She told us of the West African proverb that her father learned, “when you pray, move your feet.”  We all know that he incorporated that proverb into his own life and his own experience:

“When he came home from Selma in 1965, my father  wrote, ‘For many of us the march from Selma to Montgomery was about protest and prayer. Legs are not lips and walking is not kneeling. And yet our legs uttered songs. Even without words, our march was worship. I felt my legs were praying.’

“I felt that my legs were praying.”  Dr. Heschel told us that her father and Dr. King stayed with other activists at the house of Sullivan and Richie Jean Sharrod Jackson. She told us that on the morning of the march, Mrs. Jackson walked into the living room and saw Rev. King in one corner and Rabbi Heschel in another, and other guests throughout the room saying their “morning prayers.” I wonder what they were thinking about as they prayed. Perhaps Rabbi Heschel was pondering that moment in Torah, seconds before the Sea parted, when Moses shouted at the fearful Israelites to stand by and witness God’s power (Ex 14:13) and God said, “Why do you cry out to Me? Tell the Israelites to go forward!” (Ex. 14:15)  ‘Pray with your feet,’ God says, ‘your cries have been heard, tell those who are fighting for justice to stop praying and act...go forward.’ The action was the prayer.

How often do we find ourselves in a bind, with seemingly no place to go? It may be something quite personal, or it may be something that affects the country or the world. It can feel almost useless, or impossible to move. That is precisely when we need to keep walking forward.  At the Reed Sea, God taught Moses that “thoughts and prayers” were not enough. God’s message was clear, “v’yissa-u”,  ‘move forward, I will be with you!’ Today’s world can feel overwhelming.and sometimes paralyzing. Let us first pray with our hearts and then pray with our feet. Whether it is teaching the truth, writing to our leaders, becoming leaders, and standing up to injustice, we need to find ways to build bridges, and then to lock arms and walk over them.

May the memory of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King be for a blessing.