A Mitzvah for George Washington

By Rachelle Burk

Illustrated by Chiara Fedele
 

Children can feel small, but they can still make a big difference, as Bella and her friends do when George Washington comes to visit their town. Based on an actual event, Bella and her friends sing their thanks for religious freedom, inviting the reader to sing along with them.

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"In August of 1790, Bella hears that President George Washington will be visiting Newport, Rhode
Island, where her Jewish family worships in their synagogue and lives in harmony with neighbors
of different religions. Excited to hear of the president’s visit, she discusses the news with her
father, who will address the president during a ceremony in his honor, thanking him and calling
him “a guiding light” for religious freedom. Bella and her friends plan to express their appreciation
by giving him homemade candles and singing to him. Turned away from the ceremony, they run
to the dock. Before he departs, they give him the candles and their song accompanies him
across the water as a small boat carries him to his ship. In the appended author’s note, Burk
defines mitzvah as “a good deed or religious duty,” and, to help readers separate fact from
fiction, she discusses the historical basis for her appealing narrative. In a series of large,
expressive illustrations, Fedele creates sympathetic characters within realistic, period settings.
An effective, history-focused picture book."

— Booklist

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“This touching, stirring story honors George Washington, the longstanding Jewish community in our nation, and all of America. Kids will see themselves in it and love it."

— Jeff Gottesfeld, author of Sydney Taylor Honor book The Christmas Mitzvah

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"A timely reminder of a key principle on which our country was founded — the promise of religious freedom — based on a true event that still resonates today."

— Nancy Churnin, National Jewish Book Award winner