Congressman John Lewis, representing Georgia’s 5th District, will be the featured guest speaker at Congregation Beth Israel’s annual MLK Shabbat service, at 6 pm, Jan. 17. Since 2007 Beth Israel has collaborated with local African American communities to present this lecture and Shabbat service honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The son of Alabama sharecroppers, Lewis was born in 1940. As a teenager he was inspired by the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the words of King. While attending Fisk University, Lewis organized sit-in demonstrations at segregated lunch counters in Nashville, TN, and later volunteered in the Freedom Rides. As co-creator and chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Lewis became a nationally recognized civil rights leader. At the age of 23, he spoke alongside King at the historic March on Washington.
Congregation Beth Israel
1972 NW Flanders St., Portland
503-222-1069 | bethisrael-pdx.org
