What Do Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and The Exodus Have in Common?

If you read about some of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s life, you get an appreciation for the fact that as a young man he came across as cocky and a bit of a jerk. When I saw him on Wilshire Blvd. back in the 70s, that scowl that he shot at me was probably representative of his general “angry young man” attitude and his disdain for others, especially those who adulated him.

But if you follow the trajectory of his life, especially the experience he had by revisiting the camp liberations during World War Two, you see the maturation and development of an angry young man, into a mature and sensitive adult. Abdul-Jabbar has, in recent years, become a thoughtful commentator and a person who seeks to build bridges within society. Just last week, he called out a number of angry young black men, some of them fellow professional athletes, for making anti-Semitic comments on social media.

He’s been called out for this as being a “Judas” or an “Uncle Tom,” but I think by this point in his life, he doesn’t really care. He knows who he is, and he knows where he comes from. Abdul-Jabbar said it very simply: “It’s so disheartening to see people from groups that have been violently marginalized do the same thing to others, without realizing that perpetuating this kind of bad logic is what perpetuates racism… The lesson never changes, so why is it so hard for some people to learn: No one is free until everyone is free. As Martin Luther King Jr. explained: ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere…’ So, let’s act like it. If we’re going to be outraged by injustice, let’s be outraged by injustice against anyone.”

We’re all on a journey, and whether we realize it or not, the stops along the way, both during a pandemic and during normal life, are all to help shape us into the better, improved versions of ourselves we are destined to become.

An angry Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has become, over the course of his life journey, an ambassador for peace, tolerance, and defending the other. There’s a lot to learn from this former angry young man.

As we approach Tisha B’Av, we have an opportunity to learn from a deeply traumatic stop along our national journey, that of the destruction of the two Temples.

Let’s use this time to learn from that historical station, that crucial stop along the journey back to Eretz Israel and the Redemption. Let’s also take time to reflect on our personal journeys, and how each stop that we’ve found ourselves at over the years, has helped to develop and improve us. If we do our job correctly, then we’ll play a vital role in bringing ourselves, and the rest of the world, to the ultimate destination.