During the last week of December, my wife and I traveled to Washington DC with the sole purpose of being tourists for two days. I have been to DC countless times, typically for meetings or for lobbying on the Hill, but haven’t been a tourist there in over 20 years. We took time to walk and experience the magnificent monuments. All of them, the ones I had seen previously and the newer ones, were striking and inspiring. Our final stop on our walk around the monuments was at the one for Martin Luther King, Jr.. While we were exhausted, we took the time to read and soak in all the quotes from MLK chiseled into the stone walls. It was exhilarating. Monday is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. It’s a time for all of us as Americans, as Jews, and as American Jews to reflect upon the civil rights movement, its successes and its successes yet to be realized. With all of that as background, I thought it was great to see that the Maccabeats, a Jewish a capella group, released a YouTube video performing James Taylor’s “Shed a Little Light”.

Many organizations in the Jewish community are conducting programming coinciding with Martin Luther King Day. I hope you can find a way to learn and connect.

Shabbat Shalom,