Editorial: Why don't Orthodox Jews celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day?

Sadly, it’s a fact: Orthodox Jews don’t celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. day. In the more Orthodox schools the day passed without much of a mention. In certain modern schools, there are no secular studies, but Judaic studies continue as scheduled. You would be hard-pressed to find a yeshiva student who would be able to tell you about King’s “I Have a Dream” speech and what he and his brave cohorts were fighting for. In the best case, you may find a student who is able to tell you that King’s quotation of “Justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream” comes from Amos. Some students may be able to tell you that two of the freedom riders killed during the Civil Rights era, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, were Jewish.

This in turn also asks a larger question: Where were the Orthodox during the March to Selma? Why did Rabbi Abraham Heschel walk with King and not Rav Joseph Soleveitchik? How many freedom riders wore a kippah? This is not to say, by any stretch, that Orthodox Jews were not active during the Civil Rights era. The tactics Orthodox Jews used in the era eventually came to be the training for what would then be the fight for Soviet Jewry. This is simply to say that compared to the outsized role that non-Orthodox Jews had during the era, we were a footnote.

Over the last few years there has been a steady rise in social activism among the Orthodox Jews. Organizations like Uri L’Tzedek have been highly visible promoting several causes. Yeshiva University and Yeshivat Chovevei Torah have both been active in various causes as well. However, by and large, the Orthodox community seems to be quiet.