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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 Nov. 7, 2005 / 5 Mar-Cheshvan, 5766

The Veteran’s Soul

By Tom Purcell


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | With Veterans Day to be celebrated this Friday, it's worth reading a book called "Chicken Soup for the Veteran's Soul."

In it, John McCain tells a story about a fellow named Mike, who had been shot down in 1967 and captured by the Vietnamese. Mike grew up poor in Alabama. He didn't wear shoes until he was 13. Character was his only wealth.


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Mike made a needle out of a piece of bamboo and gradually sewed scraps of red and white cloth into an American flag. He sewed the flag onto the inside of his prisoner's shirt. Every afternoon, the American prisoners hung Mike's flag onto the wall and said the Pledge of Allegiance.

One day, the guards discovered Mike's flag and confiscated it. They took Mike outside and beat him severely, puncturing his eardrum and breaking several ribs. Later, as everyone else had fallen asleep, McCain noticed Mike in the corner under the light bulb. With his eyes nearly swollen shut, Mike quietly picked up his needle and began sewing a new flag.

There are numerous other tales about servicemen and women that will give you goose bumps and bring tears to your eyes.

One fellow explains how he was blown off the USS Astoria. He grabbed his rubber lifebelt and inflated it, and it kept him afloat for several hours. He became fond of the lifebelt, particularly since it was made in his home town of Akron, Ohio.

During his next leave, he told his family his survival tale and showed them the lifebelt. His mother picked it up and was amazed at what she saw. She had been an inspector at a local rubber plant. Her inspection number was on the lifebelt that saved her son's life.

Another man, whose family practiced bigotry and racism during his childhood, taught his own children to treat every man with dignity and respect, regardless of their skin color — partly because of what he experienced in World War II.

His name was Sergeant L.G. Pool, a former bull rider out of Texas, and he rode the Sherman tank he commanded with the same enthusiasm. He was always the first out front and the last to wrap up for the day.

One night, he found himself out of fuel, trapped five miles behind enemy lines. Pool and his men were sitting ducks. While they hoarded their shells, calculating the best targets to fire at, two other men volunteered to travel five miles on foot carrying a five gallon can of fuel. They were guided to Pool's tank by the sight and sound of gunfire, and Pool and his men were saved because of their bravery.

One of the volunteers was Native American, the other African-American.

Other stories celebrate the best of the human spirit. There's a story about four chaplains on a sinking ship. There weren't enough lifebelts to go around and each of the four took theirs off and strapped them onto others. The chaplains died when the ship went down.

There is a story of an American GI in Germany during WWII. His battalion had pushed back the Germans near a small Belgian town. Later that morning, he heard church bells ringing. He saw a priest begin the service, but there was no altar boy. The American GI went to the altar and performed the job.

After mass he followed the priest into the sacristy, and, as is the custom, kept his hand in the prayer position while the priest removed his garments. The priest was wearing a German officer's uniform — he was a chaplain in the German army. The men shook hands and parted, both exhilarated by the truth that "even in war our common humanity, under the same G-d, can triumph over hatred and division

It's an oddity of human existence that in the midst of the hell of war, human goodness and beauty are at their highest. That's just something else to remember as we honor our veterans next Friday, and pray for the men and women who are in harm's way right now.

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© 2005, Tom Purcell

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