“That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the whole Torah, all the rest is commentary.” So says Rabbi Hillel, famously, upon being asked by a student to teach the whole Torah while standing on one foot.
This year’s Jewish Community Relations Committee’s Social Justice Seder will take a deeper dive into that notion of loving your neighbor and looking out for others in the community. The concept is one shared by both Jewish and Christian texts, and this year’s speaker will be Sloan Luckie, a teacher, community leader, and youth mentor in his hometown of Chicago.
Luckie’s connection to Nashville began in Israel in 2018 when he embarked on what he says was a lifechanging pilgrimage. It was then that he says he gained a deeper appreciation for the Jewish roots of his faith. “I do believe that there’s a westernized Christianity that’s been birthed out of America and Europe. And unfortunately, I believe that more westernized version of Christianity hasn’t only obliterated these beautiful Jewish roots, but it’s been weaponized.”
It was then he decided to learn Hebrew so he could study the text in its original form. “I took a class called “The Dream Team,” and one of the teachers is named Abigail Hazony.” Hazony’s brother Danny Goldberg, lives in Nashville and is one of the seder’s co-chairs. He is involved in the local food bank community. Goldberg was looking for a midwestern connection and during a conversation with his sister, Luckie’s name came up. “Abby sent him a video of me blowing a shofar. And he said, ‘That’s my guy.’”
Goldberg says the connection between him and Luckie was instant. “We’re chosen family now. And one thing that really made the time we spent together so worthy of celebrating was he is absolutely devoted to understanding as precisely as he can, what the Torah says in Hebrew.”
The budding friendship blossomed into something richer and Luckie even stayed in Nashville at Goldberg’s home during the celebration of Goldberg’s father’s 93rd birthday. That visit included a trip to Shabbat services at Sherith Israel. “I think the thing that Abby and Danny appreciate is not only my appreciation for the Jewish roots, but my passion to disclose to the members at my church how the Tanach (Old Testament) and the B’rit Chadashah (New Testament) fit together like a hand and glove.”
Luckie’s work in his church is built around two main themes, both of which he plans to share at the Social Justice seder. “One is the importance of mentorship. I was mentored, but there just aren’t enough for young men and because of that, they don’t have enough guidance and direction.” He cites the relationship between Moses and Joshua as one of mentorship.
The other theme is the one that led to the seder’s theme, Love thy neighbor, the rest is commentary. “I do believe we’re entering an environment where people are starting to look out for themselves and not looking out for their neighbor,” he says.
Deborah Oleshansky, director of the Community Relations Committee for the Jewish Federation of Greater Nashville, says it is Luckie’s passion for mentoring, and his dedication to the deeper connections between Jews and Christians that makes him a good fit for the seder. “This idea of mentoring, helping and loving your neighbor and the notion that society is moving from ‘we’ to ‘me’ that intrigued the committee,” she says, “We wanted to go back to the concept of ‘Love they neighbor,’ in the most basic sense.”
In looking at mentorship and teaching young people to care about each other, the JCRC felt it was important to also include the community’s young people. Sarah Roth is head of school for Kehilla High School and co-chair of the seder committee. She says, “So many kids now are more aware of the injustices in the world, certainly than when I was a teenager. It’s a big part of Jewish education to make it clear how what they are learning about how to be a good Jew overlaps with how to me a mensch more broadly and how to do good in the world.”
Luckie agrees with Roth about the importance of reaching teens early on and teaching about the value of looking out for others. “If I can get them understanding the Jewish roots of the faith at 10, 11, and 13 years old, they’ll be more rooted, they’ll be more illuminated as it relates to the scriptures, and antisemitism will not take place in their bodies.”
This year’s Social Justice Seder is on Thursday, April 3rd at 5:30 at the Gordon JCC.
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