Martin Luther King Day

 Today is Martin Luther King Day. We marked the day at shaharit in a variety of ways, we didn't recite Tachanun, we changed some melodies to mark the day.

At the end of services we read some selections from king's " I Have a Dream" speech.Two of the people sitting in the room had attended the March on Washington and had heard those moving words in person in 1963.


Last night i recalled how several weeks before Dr. King was assassinated I was present in the same room with him/ That year, he was the key note speaker at the Rabbinical Assembly convention. I remember him sitting at the dais in the dining room at dinner that night. I was deemed too little to stay up late to hear his talk later that evening. I do remember how excited my parents were both in anticipation of his talk that evening and then the next day talking about his talk to their community of rabbis.

I was touched on my walk home to see that two buildings across 98th street from one another had made sure to be decked out in bunting in honor of today. I am moved that at least in my corner of America that today is an American holiday.

Clearly not every piece of King's dream is now a reality. But on the other hand, we have indeed come so far.