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Nov. 6, 2009
Rabbi Berel Wein: Choosing to hear
JWisdom.com Zero to 1/60th: How to Empower An Hour with Gavriel Aryeh Sande (7 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick The mullahs' big week
Suzanne Fields A Fallen Wall for Fallen Man
Nov. 5, 2009
The Kosher Gourmet: Three scrumptious -- but simple -- butternut squash dishes
JWisdom.com Hidden Hints: Unlocking Faith & Prayer with Rabbi Jay Yaacov Schwartz (10 minutes)
Nov. 4, 2009
Tom Hamburger and Kim Geiger: Should prayers be covered?
JWisdom.com When God played peacemaker With Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (5 minutes)
Nov. 3, 2009
Martin Peretz: Beware, Barack. Beware, Rahm. Beware, Axelrod
JWisdom.com Are you are closet idolater? With Sara Yoheved Rigler (10 minutes)
Nov. 2, 2009
Paul Greenberg: The Holocaust is now on Facebook
JWisdom.com Abraham's Strange Change With Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer (5 minutes)
Oct. 30, 2009
Rabbi David Aaron: Secret to Immortality
Caroline B. Glick Silencing dissent in America
Oct. 29, 2009
Lini S. Kadaba: Do tactics avert flu or reduce humanity?
JWisdom.com We Must Revamp our Religious Vocabulary With Gavriel Aryeh Sanders ( 10 minutes)
Oct. 28, 2009
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Atheists in Bubbleland
JWisdom.com Why what we wear impacts who we are With Rabbis Mordechai Becher, Menachem Golberger and Aliza Bulow ( 10 minutes)
Oct. 27, 2009
Paul Greenberg: The United Nations Is Outraged Again, Or: Department of Mideast Static
JWisdom.com The Science of Love With Rabbi Jonathan Rietti ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 26, 2009
The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Damaging disclosures with a twist
JWisdom.com Wisdom and Wonks With Rabbi Eytan Feiner ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 23, 2009
Rabbi David Aaron: Are you ready for the ultimate pleasure?
JWisdom.com Watermark and oneness with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 4 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick Stop using limited powers in a way that expands our enemies' advantages over us
Oct. 22, 2009
Steven Emerson: Terror Cases Share Desire to Kill Americans
JWisdom.com No More More Family Fights --- Really? By Sarah Chana Radcliffe ( 5 minutes)
Oct. 21, 2009
Tonya Alanez: Holocaust denier sues survivor, calling Auschwitz memoir 'vicious lies'
JWisdom.com Meditating Jewishly: A Panacea for Success by Sarah Yoheved Rigler ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 20, 2009
Dennis Prager: Obama and Dalai Lama: Why Israel Worries about U.S. President
JWisdom.com Abraham was not religious By Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer ( 6 minutes)
Oct. 19, 2009
JWisdom.comWhy Good People Do Bad Things By Rabbi Eytan Feiner ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 16, 2009
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The Perfect Number
JWisdom.com Hearing Voices By Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 5 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick How Turkey was lost
Oct. 15, 2009
Jeff Jacoby: Peace vs. the 'peace process'
JWisdom.com: Former MTV producer and stand-up comedian Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff: Taming a Control Freak (A VERY fast 15 minutes)
Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review May 1, 2009 / 7 Iyar 5769

Honor Mother

By Greg Crosby


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | In case you missed it, we have just gone through that yearly observance which used to be called, "Secretary's Day" but is now referred to, in our more politically correct enlightened era as "Administrative Professionals Day." (Never mind that an "administration professional" is a nebulous term which encompasses all levels of administrators including the bosses themselves, and thus waters down the focus on the secretary - the person who is the actual honoree.)


The fact is, Administrative Professionals Day has now become a week, as so many other yearly celebrations have. The reason being, I suppose, that there simply is not enough time in one single day to bestow all the honors upon the administrative professionals that they deserve. Perhaps even a week is not enough - could there be an administrative professionals month in our future?


As our calendars become more and more crowded with long playing non-event events such as African American History Month, Latino Heritage Month, Asian Pacific Islander Month, and Himalayan Cultural Month, let us at this time turn our attention to that one day which was established as a national holiday 95 years ago to honor someone who really does deserve to be honored - mother.


Mother's Day as we know it was started in 1907 by Anna Jarvis, a school teacher in Philadelphia, who began a movement to set up a national Mother's Day in honor of her mother, Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis. She solicited the help of hundreds of legislators and prominent businessmen to create a special day to honor mothers. The first Mother's Day observance was a church service honoring Anna's mother. At that time Anna handed out her mother's favorite flowers, white carnations, representing sweetness, purity, and patience.


Anna was no dummy. In 1912 she trademarked the phrases "second Sunday in May" and "Mother's Day" and created the Mother's Day International Association. Anna's hard work finally paid off in the year 1914, when President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday in May as a national holiday in honor of mothers.


It's interesting to note that Anna was very specific concerning the apostrophe in Mother's Day; it had to be a singular possessive, for each family to honor their mother, not a plural possessive commemorating all mothers in the world. This is also the spelling used by Wilson in the law making it an official U.S. holiday and by Congress. Slowly and gradually the Mother's day became very popular and gift giving activity increased. All this commercialization of the Mother's day angered Anna as she believed that the day's sentiment was being sacrificed at the expense of greed and profit.


Anna would probably be happy to know that Mother's Day never grew into Mother's Month and it probably never will. However the day has been hijacked somewhat by the politically correct forces in our society of late in an effort to turn it into an observance of women's breast cancer awareness day. This is like turning Father's Day into testicle cancer awareness day. Mother's Day should be the day that is set aside to honor one's mother, period. Do cancer awareness at another time, please. August would be a good month for example. Nothing much goes on in August.


The 5th Commandment states "Honor your father and mother." In America we as a nation do exactly that on the second Sunday in May and the third Sunday in June every year. As individuals, of course, we should honor our parents all year 'round. As far as religion is concerned, to honor doesn't mean to love, to excuse, to respect, or even to forgive. It means only to honor. Showing honor to your parents is the commandment. Loving and respecting is an extra special plus, so if you have parents that you dearly love and respect, as I did, then so much the better and good for you!


It has been over 3 years now since my mother has been gone and not a day goes by that I don't miss her terribly. This Mother's Day I wish I could again look into her eyes and tell her how much she has meant to me, how grateful I am for all she did for me, and yes, how much I loved her. I will never be able to do that anymore. Thank G-d I did it when I had the chance - Mom knew how much I loved her.


Remember your mother this Mother's Day and honor her. I will remember mine and I continue to honor her.

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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© 2008, Greg Crosby

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