Blind from birth, Judge Richard Teitelman was driven to work hard and do his best.

“I couldn’t see well but I had a lot of vision,” he said. “People say, ‘think outside the box.’ I could never find the box so I’ve always been outside. That was the secret to my success.”

Former Judge Ronnie White also has a simple formula for why he does what he does.

“Every day that I get up I think that I can make a difference,” he said. “Even at this late stage of my career, I’m still excited about trying to help people.”

Today, the two men who once shared seats on Missouri’s highest court are sharing something else – the Heschel/King Award.

The honor, given out annually by Jews United for Justice, recognizes two individuals – one African-American, one Jewish – for their contributions to justice and peace. It’s named after Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rabbi Abraham Heschel who marched together for civil rights and social justice.

The event, to be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 15 at the Thomas C. Hullverson and Richard B. Teitelman Center for Justice Building at 4232 Forest Park Avenue, is the seventh iteration of the ceremony, which began in 2005 by honoring Sister Antona Ebo and Rabbi Bernard Lipnick for their work. Last year’s ceremony took on a journalistic theme recognizing Donald Suggs, president/publisher of the St. Louis American, and Robert A. Cohn, editor-in-chief emeritus of the St. Louis Jewish Light.

Rabbi Randy Fleisher, a member of JUJ’s board, said that both White and Teitelman represent the spirit of the award.

“These are two men who think highly of each other and love the time they’ve spent together on the Supreme Court fighting for the kinds of things that King and Heschel fought for,” he said.

Fleisher said the site for the presentation was chosen due to its being named for Teitelman.

“One of the things about this award ceremony is that we change venue every year and try to pick a place that had significance in the city but also to the honorees,” he said.

The moniker on the building is no accident. Teitelman was the longest serving executive director in the history of Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, heading operations there for 18 years until his 1998 appointment to the Missouri Court of Appeals. In 2002, he would be named to the state’s Supreme Court. It’s been an interesting rise for the Washington University Law School graduate, a climb some naysayers never thought he would make.

“When I was 13 years old and legally blind I was told I would not be able to go to college,” he said. “Everything from then on has been icing on the cake.”

His mother had higher expectations however and challenged him to work hard and study every available moment. It paid off.

“Meeting challenges and overcoming them has made me who I am today,” Teitelman said. “The most important thing is paying forward the kindnesses I’ve had from so many people.”

There’s one other thing that helped – his faith. He said words from Deuteronomy inspired him to seek justice for others.

“Without Judaism, I don’t think I’d be the person I am,” he said. “I owe whatever I am today to the Jewish community.”

Teitelman is effusive in praise for his co-recipient, saying he found his time on the Supreme Court enriching due to his association with White.

“He is an extraordinary man,” he said. “He’s a person who lives and breathes fairness and justice, a person who has walked the walk and lives to help other people.”

White is equally generous towards Teitelman calling him the “most deserving individual I can think of.” He also noted that Teitelman’s seniority puts him on a likely path to becoming the first Jewish chief justice of the high court.

“I think having done all the work that he’s done for those who were less fortunate over the years, he has a lot of empathy for the common man which is very important,” said White, now a partner at the St. Louis firm of Holloran White Schwartz & Gaertner. “Also he has good judicial temperament and really listens to people before he makes decisions on his cases.”

A former trial attorney for the public defender’s offices in St. Louis City and County, White would go on to be elected to three terms in the Missouri House where he would chair two key judicial committees. In 1993, he became city counselor for St. Louis shortly before being appointed to the Missouri Court of Appeals. In 1995, he was named to the state Supreme Court, eventually becoming the first African-American to be named the panel’s chief justice in 2003. Two years later, he left for private practice.

Though he may have been the first African-American chief justice, it’s more important to White that he not be the last.

“I don’t really want to be recognized for being first,” said the University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School graduate. “I want to be known for how many people I helped bring along behind me. When I was chief justice, I tried to encourage as many minorities to participate and become judges as I could.”

He said what excites him most in his career was his work to help people find just solutions when they often felt there was no way out of their difficulties.

“It’s good to help them get on the right path and get it concluded,” he said.

White said that the concept behind the Heschel/King Award, which is co-sponsored by the Missouri Historical Society, was a valuable one that drew attention to lesser-known partnerships that were formed during the Civil Rights Era.

“I think historians focus a lot on the African-American contributions but they don’t focus a lot on the Jewish contributions and they were significant.”

Both men are recipients of previous awards. Among many accolades, Teitelman has been honored with the St. Louis Ethical Society’s Ethical Humanist of the Year, the President’s Award from the Missouri Bar and the American Bar Association’s Grassroots Legislative Advocacy Award.

Among his honors, White received the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis’ Distinguished Lawyer Award, an award for outstanding public service from Harris-Stowe State College and the Distinguished Non-Alumni Award from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law.

The May 15 JUJ ceremony is free and open to the public.