WASHINGTON (JTA) — An array of Jewish groups representing every major religious stream has declared this coming Shabbat – the evening of Friday, June 26 until the evening of Saturday, June 27 — one of solidarity with the African American community in the wake of the Charleston, S.C. mass killing.

A release Tuesday, June 23, including among its signatories representative groups of the Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist streams “to speak out in synagogues this coming Shabbat on the issue of racism in society and to express rejection of hateful extremism” and to demonstrate support for African Methodist Episcopal (AME) churches in their neighborhoods.

On the evening of June 17, a gunman shot dead nine worshippers at Emanuel AME in Charleston. The suspect in the shooting, who is in police custody, is allegedly a white supremacist.

“The Jewish community has long-standing historic ties with the African American community going back to the Civil Rights era,” explained Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt, spiritual leader of Congregation B’nai Tzedek in Potomac, Maryland. “This Shabbat of solidarity is just the latest example of us standing together in the face of bigotry and hatred. We stand together, as a united American Jewish community in calling for a Shabbat of important introspection and examination of racism in the United States. We hope to convey our support to the African-American community nationwide and show all that we will not stand for violent acts driven by hatred.”

Weinblatt convened the coalition of groups and is also the president of the Rabbinic Cabinet of the Jewish Federations of North America, which is also part of the initiative.

Joining the call, on addition to umbrella bodies representing the various religious streams, are the American Jewish Committee; Hillel, an umbrella body for campus student groups; and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the umbrella body for Jewish public policy groups and Jewish community relations councils.

“The fact that so many responded so quickly and enthusiastically from so many different movements shows the unity of the Jewish community in reaffirming our commitment to pursue justice for all and the importance of our alliance with the African American community,” Weinblatt noted.

The organizations who have endorsed this call to action include: Rabbinical Assembly, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, Union for Reform Judaism, Central Conference of American Rabbis, Rabbinical Council of America, Orthodox Union, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, Jewish Reconstructionist Communities, in association with the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, the Rabbinic Cabinet of Jewish Federations of North America, AJC, Jewish Council for Public Affairs and Hillel.