I notice that many of the Orthodox Jewish clergy joining the “Black Lives Matter” campaign come from the yeshivot of R. Avi Weiss, such as Chovevei Torah and Yeshivat Maharat.
Why I Was Arrested in St. Louis
August 13, 2015
by Rori Picker NeissThe hardest part about getting arrested was when they took away my necklace.
I had not mentally prepared myself for it, probably because I forgot that I was even wearing it. It is a gold chain with three charms, each bearing the initial of one of my children. The necklace, and subsequent charms, were given to me by dear friends upon the birth first of my daughter four years ago, then added to after the arrival of my second daughter, and finally my son.
The U.S. Marshal was unaware of the significance as she silently unhooked the chain without any warning. Admittedly, I am sure that she was used to far more invasive encounters with people. Moreover, as she collected my earrings, cell phone, driver’s license, and all other non-clothing paraphernalia, one necklace likely seemed inconsequential.
Yet, in that moment, I felt as if my breath had been knocked out of me.
It is because of my three children that I was paraded into jail that day. It was because of them, because of their innocence and their love, that I locked arms with fellow clergy and people of faith to march to the federal courthouse in downtown St. Louis and protest the treatment of blacks and to demand reforms to the criminal justice systems in St Louis, and in America. It was them that I was thinking of as I chanted about democracy and sang songs of freedom. It was their future that I was thinking of as I climbed over a police barricade onto the plaza. It was their world I hoped to change as I walked past the police line to sit in front of the courthouse…Maharat Rori Picker Neiss is Director of Programming, Education and Community Engagement at Bais Abraham Congregation.
