A dream of trees
Yesterday we marked the celebration of two holidays, two birthdays even. In a rare coincidence, the American national observance of Martin Luther King, Jr’s birthday fell on the same day as the Jewish observance of “the birthday of the trees,” otherwise known as Tu B’Shevat. Martin Luther King, Jr, or MLK as he is often known, was rightly famous for many things, not the least of which was his ability as an orator. And his most famous speech was the one in which he told us that he had a dream, a dream that someday his black grandchildren would play side by side with my white children in a world where people would be judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin. This speech was delivered in the summer of 1963, 55 and a half years ago. And that dream has come tantalizingly close to reality – my children have indeed played side-by-side with children of diverse skin colors, ethnic backgrounds, and religious upbringings in their various schoolyards and day care