Each year I (RoadBearLife) post on the 4th of July one of the most important and documents by the greatest American who ever lived, George Washington.
/1 Each year I post on the 4th of July one of the most important and documents by the greatest American who ever lived, George Washington. Washington, after serving as General of a most unlikely rebellion was immediately elected President of the new United States. As part
/2 of his role as President Washington, like the young surveyor he was, travel around the new country to take the temperature of its in habitants. One of his stops was in Newport Rhode Island. Afterwards, the one man most responsible for the new America received a letter after
/3 his tour of Newport that could have ignored by the great man but was not. The congregants of the Turo Synagogue came out to see and hear the General and President during his visit, and sent a letter to him, essentially, asking whether Jews were included as citizens of
4/ the new Nation. For context, Jews were a diaspora people at the time (1790), and their treatment, violence, and persecution at the hands of Europeans and Islamists prior to the U.S.'s existence naturally engendered a sense of well-reasoned political insecurity. The Jews of
/5 Newport simply asked the ultimate example of the American ethos "are we also American?" The greatest single American replied with the following letter to the Congregation:
"Gentlemen:
While I received with much satisfaction your address replete with expressions of esteem,
/6 I rejoice in the opportunity of assuring you that I shall always retain grateful remembrance of the cordial welcome I experienced on my visit to Newport from all classes of citizens. The reflection on the days of difficulty and danger which are past is rendered the more
/7 sweet from a consciousness that they are succeeded by days of uncommon prosperity and security. If we have wisdom to make the best use of the advantages with which we are now favored, we cannot fail, under the just administration of a good government, to become a great and
/8 happy people. The citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy—a policy worthy of imitation. All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. It is now
/9 no more that toleration is spoken of as if it were the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights, for, happily, the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction,to persecution no assistance,
/10 requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens in giving it on all occasions their effectual support. It would be inconsistent with the frankness of my character not to avow that I am pleased with your favorable opinion of my
/11 felicity. May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants—while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid.
/12 May the father of all mercies scatter light, and not darkness, upon our paths, and make us all in our several vocations useful here, and in His own due time and way everlastingly happy.
G. Washington"
This response sets forth in a condensed way the attributes and highest
/13 values of the American nation, by the single most representative of those values. You are an American, but being an American includes responsibilities, not just rights. That being an American includes all, but such standing is only meaningful with application of the law.
/14 America will not tolerate bigotry but requires no group be entitled different or preferential standing or status. Finally, and perhaps more importantly, that America and the American values are steeped in Providence regardless of the manner in which Providence is expressed.
/15 The father of our nation, in a simple letter to an audience who historically held the most reason to ask, sets forth the values of the Nation in a way that should be remembered every day, but especially on the 4th of July. Neither Washington nor America was or is perfect.
/16 To believe so is hubris and an affront to G-d. However, the American values expressed and largely lived by Washington are the ultimate aspirational values of any nation in the world and should be emulated and reinforced here and abroad. The fact that Washington existed as
/17 a founder of individual liberty and a war time general underscores that the American value includes the need and acknowledgement of the price in blood that is paid to preserve these unique values, and the success of the citizens in times of peace. The 4th of July
/18 in this context is always a combination of Veterans' Day and Memorial Day, and our thoughts need to remember those who risked all to achieve these values. Every American when evaluating their status as citizen and the literal blessing of their citizenship can reflect on
/19 George Washington's letter to confirm their fortune to be an American, and hold themselves proud each time they or America acts in a way that meets the General's standards written above. Have a happy and meaningful 4th of July, and G-d bless you, your family and the U.S.A.!
