I would be remiss, as one who professes to focus on the religious perspective of the War Between the States, if I didn’t comment on Rabbi Shmuley Boteach’s reprinted article The Sin of Confederate Hero Worship that is being debated across the blogosphere.

Rabbi, Your editorial seems to pass judgment entirely on protestant southerners. Perhaps if you read some of the transcripts from your own brethren, you may understand why we Christians are able to acknowledge and revere our brothers in Christ who were sinners just as we are. Please refer to Robert Rosen's book, "The Jewish Confederates."

Joseph Goldsmith was a notable Jewish Confederate Chaplain. In an 1895 memoir he wrote, "I am still a living witness and can, from my own memory, give you many names of gallant Jewish soldiers of the Confederate Army. I had ample opportunity to see and to know. Many a wounded Jew have I met in the hospitals of Richmond and administered to his wants, and many a Jewish soldier have I seen walking on his crutch or having his arm in a sling, traveling to and from his command during the war. And I know further that it was simply a sense of loyalty to their homes and their neighbors that prompted them to fight for the South. If not, they could readily have left this country at any time as I myself could have done, had I so chosen. But love for our adopted country kept us here and we offered all we had in its behalf.”