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Dec. 1, 2008

Max Freidlander, as told to Jacklyn C. Wadler: India Inkings

Mark Steyn: Whodunit!?

Nov. 28, 2008

Rabbi Ahron Rapps: An evil seed that didn't have to be

Melanie Phillips: Carpe diem --- or can we all relax now?

Nov. 26, 2008

Michael Feldberg: Meet the Orthodox Jew who laid groundwork for scientific development of ordnance that undergirds America's current world leadership

Andrea Simantov: Shades of life

Nov. 25, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : Getting Emotional For Influence

The Kosher Gourmet by Ethel G. Hofman : Thanksiving feast!

Nov. 24, 2008

Rabbi S. Binyomin Ginsberg: 'I just Became a grandchild!'

Barry Rubin: Don't flatter your enemies, protect your friends

Nov. 21, 2008

Rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz: Money matters?

Caroline B. Glick: Civilization walks the plank

Nov. 20, 2008

Rabbi Avi Shafran: Bronfman's blindness

The Kosher Gourmet By Linda Gassenheimer: Portobellos add a hearty flavor to pasta with pesto

Nov, 19, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : Spread the wealth? Jewish tradition and income equality

Elliot B. Gertel: 'Mad Men': Tackling prejudices or reinforcing them?

Nov, 18, 2008

Dr. Debby Schwarz Hirschhorn: The End of the Age of Reason

Jonathan Tobin: Does Barack + Bibi = Disaster?

Nov, 17, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The End of the Age of Reason

Diana West: Gulling Americans into making terror legit?

Nov, 14, 2008

Rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz: The Power of Spiritual Inertia

Caroline B. Glick: The perils ahead

Nov, 13, 2008

Stratfor Intelligence Briefing: How Bush and Obama together could change the Middle East dynamic

The Kosher Gourmet by JeanMarie Brownson: Sweet and savory, crispy and meltingly tender bestilla

Nov, 12, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : Tyrannical Co-Workers

Michael Doyle: High Court to consider today donated monuments that may have religious messages in public parks

Nov, 11, 2008

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Will Obama stop government officials considering institutionalizing financial jihad?

Jonathan Tobin: They Will Decide Their Own Fate

Nov, 10, 2008

Rabbi Avi Shafran: $8 billion, modern-day Tower of Babel being built?

Barry Rubin: A letter to the president-elect from a Middle East realist

Nov, 7, 2008

Rabbi Francis Nataf: Of Children and Immortality

Caroline B. Glick: Livni's Obama strategy

Nov, 6, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: How I tricked a classroom of apathetic students into grasping the fallacy of moral relativism

The Kosher Gourmet By Gina Kim: Tips for making the perfect soup --- includes recipes

Nov, 5, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist By Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Destitute Debtors

Bruce Weinstein: 'Religulos': Bad title,even worse movie

Nov, 4, 2008

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Treasury Dept. submits to Shariah law

Frida Ghitis: A surprise for Obama in the Middle East

Nov, 3, 2008

Jonathan Rosenblum: Who says Jews are Smart?

Jonathan Tobin: Was He Wrong About Everything?

March 22, 2007

J-Rhythms with Avraham Rosenblum: JWR's cutting-edge music program showcasing performers -- singers, song writers, musicians, and bands -- who learn and live the Torah lifestyle (OUR NEWEST IGODCAST !)

Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review Feb. 15, 2008 / 9 Adar I 5768

His Excellency George Washington

By Greg Crosby


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Talk about good timing, just in time for his birthday, I just finished reading a wonderful biography on George Washington. The book is entitled "His Excellency George Washington" by Joseph J. Ellis and I recommend it highly, especially if you've never read anything specific on the father of our country. Ellis is a professor of history at Mount Holyoke College and won the Pulitzer Prize for a previous work, "Founding Brothers," which examined the challenges of the men who worked together to bring about America's founding.


Ellis drew his research for the Washington book from the newly catalogued Washington papers at the University of Virginia and has created a biography which is not only detailed and insightful, but as readable as a cracking good suspense novel. The book charts a course through George Washington's private life and career which examines the humanness of the man as well as the events which shaped his leadership decisions. In reading this book you really get to know just what made George Washington the great man that he was.


Most importantly, Ellis puts Washington's life and deeds in the proper context of his own time, eighteenth-century America, as opposed to many revisionist history books which seek to judge our forefathers by today's politically correct standards. But this book is no whitewashing of facts, either - it paints an historically accurate portrait of the man, and does so with style and thoughtfulness.


I thought I knew most of the George Washington story, but I really didn't know him at all. The famous story of little George chopping down the cherry tree that kids of earlier generations wore told, wasn't mentioned in the book - this is a work of absolute fact, not tall stories. And the facts are far more intriguing.


For instance, I knew that Washington was from Virginia, but I didn't realize that he was a fourth-generation Virginian. John Washington, the patriarch of the family, came over from England in 1657. George Washington was a staunch, patriotic American, even before America was a sovereign nation.


Likewise, I never knew how much Washington respected and worked with (and for) the American Indians - and how they respected and worked with him. Washington devised a policy to create several sovereign Indian "homelands." He believed that "Indians being the prior occupants possess the right of the soil …to dispossess them…would be a gross violation of the fundamental Laws of Nature and of that distributive justice which is the glory of a nation." Working to ensure that the Indians got a fair deal in this new nation was Washington's major preoccupation of his first term.


I came away from the biography with added respect and admiration for "His Excellency George Washington." By the way, the designation "His Excellency" was bestowed upon Washington many years before he ever became president. The Massachusetts and New York legislatures wrote congratulatory letters to him using that title when he was Commander in Chief of the Continental army. "His Excellency" became Washington's official title for the remainder of the war.


The book was published in 2004 so it might not be easy to find in bookstores. You could probably get a hold of a copy on the internet or certainly at your local library. I must admit that I've had my copy for a year or so and have now just gotten around to reading it. But then I've always been a bit slow to get with some things, my wife can testify to that fact.


The enormity of Washington's accomplishments is stunning. His character and spirit was undaunting. His integrity set the standard for every other president to follow. And speaking of good timing, what unbelievably providential timing for America that George Washington came upon the scene when he did. How fortunate for all of us, because without him, the creation of our country as we know it might never have happened. Washington most definitely was the right man in the right place at the right time.


Make it your business this February 22nd to spend some time thinking about the father of our country. And do try to find "His Excellency George Washington." Get to know him a little better. After all he did for you; it's the least you can do in return. Happy birthday, George! And happy George Washington's Birthday to us all!

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.


JWR contributor Greg Crosby, former creative head for Walt Disney publications, has written thousands of comics, hundreds of children's books, dozens of essays, and a letter to his congressman. A freelance writer in Southern California, you may contact him by clicking here.

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© 2006, Greg Crosby

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