Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), a Democrat from the Bronx, received widespread praise this week for his speech commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. in a Manhattan synagogue. …

“Doctor King once said that history will record that the greatest tragedy is not the strident clamor of the bad people. But it’s the appalling silence of the good people. Elie Wiesel once said that the opposite of love is not hate. It is indifference. And what we’ve seen in the aftermath of October 7th is appalling silence and indifference and cowardice from so-called leaders in our society, from institutions that we once respected and admired,” Torres continued later in the nearly 10-minute sermon.

“And if we as a society cannot bring ourselves to condemn the murder of innocents with moral clarity, then we must ask, what are we becoming as a society? What does that reveal about the depth of anti-Semitism in the American soul? October 7th has been an awakening for the Jewish community. But it must be a reckoning for all of America,” he declared[.]

I’ve watched this a couple of times. It’s no exaggeration to say it’s one of the great speeches of our time. It would be wonderful if it was shown in every school and university. Bravo @RitchieTorres pic.twitter.com/C0Rekn6tNv

— Jake Wallis Simons (@JakeWSimons) January 16, 2024

[The whole speech is worth watching, and praising. Rep. Torres and I would probably disagree on many issues, but I’m happy to be entirely on his side here. — Ed]