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July 8, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q. Duty to save gullible from themselves?

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Islamists have the West just where they want us

JWisdom:: Putting the Spirit Back into Spirituality, Part 3: The Fully Loaded Human Being by Rabbi Dovid Gross

July 3, 2008

Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski: A spiritual budget (TOUCHING!)

Jeff Jacoby: Israel still paying for its defeat

JWisdom:: Re-Jew-venating prayer, Part IV by Rabbi David Aaron

JWisdom:: The Moses Method by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

July 2, 2008

Jonathan Tobin: Appeasers Make Poor Patriots

The Kosher Gourmet By Kathleen Purvis: Slaw, y'all: For BBQs or Sabbath dinner, these southern recipes are something else!

JWisdom:: Rabbi Mordechai Becher: Jewish Rx for A Simpler Life

July 1, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q. I think it's important to leave a legacy to my children. How much should I save towards this end?

Paul Greenberg:A President who is history deficient?

JWisdom:: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Poland's Unique Antisemitism

June 30, 2008

Jonathan Rosenblum: Remembering the architect of Torah Judaism for the modern world

Abe Novick: Hulk: Still a Jew?

JWisdom: : Putting the Spirit Back into Spirituality, Part 2: The Abandoned Child

June 26, 2008

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: Quantum leap to evil

Caroline B. Glick: Victimized families must not be allowed to dictate policy

June 25, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Today in Biblical History: King Jeroboam of Israel prevents pilgrimage to Jerusalem

Jonathan Tobin: Real Friends and Real Enemies

JWisdom: Raping of reason By Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

June 25, 2008

Steven Emerson: Kristof: Never Mind the Terrorists

Stratfor Intelligence Briefing: Mediterranean Flyover: Telegraphing an Israeli Punch?

JWisdom: Rabbi David Aaron: Re-Jew-venating prayer, Part III

June 24, 2008

Caroline B. Glick: What were they thinking!?

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Guilty knowledge

JWisdom: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Warping Innocence

June 23, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Diploma dilemma

Jeff Jacoby: A world without children

JWisdom: Rabbi Dovid Gross: Putting the Spirit Back into Spirituality --- Introduction

June 20, 2008

Rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz: Man: The Crowning Glory of Creation

Caroline B. Glick: Israel's darkest week

JWisdom: We aren't worthy? by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

June 19, 2008

Rabbi Elazar Meisels: The saints who don't come marchin' in

Chris Christoff: Muslim woman demands an apology from Obama after camera snub

June 18, 2008

Jonathan Tobin: Still Dancing Around Jerusalem

The Kosher Gourmet by Steve Petusevsky: Chilled fruit and vegetable soups

JWisdom: Souls Need A Check Up? by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

June 17, 2008

Rabbi Avi Shafran: Baby Einstein

Caroline B. Glick: Bush's rhetoric, Bush's policies

JWisdom: Re-Jew-venating prayer, Part II by Rabbi David Aaron

June 16, 2008

Varda Branfman: Bob Dylan, won't you please come home?

Diana West: Academic dares to question the 'religion of peace'

JWisdom: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Positive Backfire

June 13, 2008

Rabbi Berel Wein: Trading manna for whine

Caroline B. Glick: Peace with friends

JWisdom: From the mouths of … by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

June 12, 2008

Michael Feldberg: Meet Paul Revere's pal, the Orthodox Jew who played a key role in laying Boston's cultural and business infrastructure

The Kosher Gourmet by Kathy Manweiler: No need to be tempted by Wendy's mandarin chicken salad

JWisdom: Re-Jew-venating prayer, Part I by Rabbi David Aaron

June 11, 2008

Rabbi Avi Shafran: What would Hillel say?

Jonathan Tobin: UNRWA and NGOs: The Real U.N. 'Insult'

JWisdom: Sara Yoheved Rigler: Greatness Made Simple: How a momentary decision shifted life's course and destination

June 6, 2008

Rabbi Pinchas Stolper: Revelation: The basis of faith

Binyamin L. Jolkovsky: Mere hours after becoming Israel's new 'best friend' Obama backtracks on status of Jerusalem

Caroline B. Glick: UN choosing to protect rogue nuclear programs

JWisdom: Sameness in difference by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

June 5, 2008

David Lightman: Now Obama wants to be Israel's newest 'best friend'

Obama's remarks to AIPAC policy conference

The Kosher Gourmet By Ethel G. Hofman: Shavous cuisine: Ruby Fruit Soup, Lokshen Kugel with Cheese, Key Lime Curd, Calsone Casserole Frittata with Wild Mushrooms, Sun-dried tomatoes and Olives, Baked Tilapia with Pepper Cheese Cream and Brown Sugar Shortbread

JWisdom: Why a Jewish Jerusalem makes so many nervous by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

June 4, 2008

Jonathan Rosenblum: A different sort of 'religious broadcaster'

Jonathan Tobin: Misgivings on the Road to Damascus

JWisdom: 44 Years Without An Argument? by Sara Yoheved Rigler

June 3, 2008

Daniel Pipes: Obama vs. McCain on the Middle East

Everything's Relative: There is a crisis growing in Orthodox synagogues worldwide, reveals Jordan "Gorf" Gorfinkel

JWisdom: White Facades; Black Secrets by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

June 2, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q: Lie to outsmart discriminator?

He writes the songs that make our souls sing:Gavriel Aryeh Sanders interviews Jewish music legend Ben Zion Shenker; includes stirring, uplifting song

JWisdom: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Of laws and lives

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 January 14, 2008 / 7 Shevat 5768

Marion Jones: The needle, the lying done

By Mitch Albom


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Marion Jones is reportedly out of money, out of work, nursing one child and raising another. She lives in a modest house, having sold the others she once owned. She was forced to give back her Olympic medals. She is banned from track and field, her sport. She was charged with crimes, was tried for those crimes, and despite her pleading for mercy, a judge sentenced her to jail Friday — six months, for lying to federal investigators, mostly about her steroid use.


This is more than a "fall from grace," as analysts have called it.


This is a cannon shot.


This is a sonic boom.


This is arguably our most successful female athlete of the last decade, an Olympic and world champion who reigned supreme for years while honing an attractive, eloquent image, winning races, touting products and loudly — loudly — denouncing any thought she could be cheating.


But she was. And she will go to jail. And you know who should be watching this very carefully? Roger Clemens. The star pitcher was screaming his innocence all last week, despite charges in the Mitchell Report that he was injected with steroids numerous times by his personal trainer, Brian McNamee.


Well, you can scream all you want. You can scream lies if you like. But if the government — not "60 Minutes" — starts asking you questions, you better cut to the truth.


Or you can sleep in a cell.

FINALLY TIME TO TELL THE TRUTH
"I'm very disappointed today," Jones, 32, told reporters outside the courtroom after her sentencing, "but as I stood in front of all of you for years in victory, I stand in front of you today."


Say what you will about Jones. When she fesses up, she fesses up. She admitted her lying, admitted her steroid use, she tearfully told a crowd a few months ago, "I have no one to blame but myself for what I've done."


This is quite different from what we hear from most baseball players, whose "confessions" (if they make them) tend to be, "I only took it to recover from an injury," or, "I was told it was something else." Clemens has been insisting that his trainer indeed injected him — but not with steroids or human growth hormone, only with B-12 and lidocaine. This, despite the fact that most medical people roll their eyes at the idea of injections for either one.


And the thing is, Clemens can jut his chin out as long as he wants in the private sector.


Because the only words that truly matter anymore are "federal investigators."


Apparently, athletes think nothing of lying to teammates, managers and especially the media. They don't mind cycling their usage to avoid tests, or using masking agents so that the tests come up negative. They don't mind ignoring their commissioner or a former senator trying to conduct an investigation.


The only party that carries any weight is the federal government. You know why? It's the only party that can make lying — aka perjury — a crime.

THE LESSONS ATHLETES CAN LEARN
And so Jones will go to jail — not for using steroids, but for lying about it. And Barry Bonds could face a similar fate — again, not for his body, but for his mouth.


Meanwhile, Mark McGuire, who clammed up before Congress, is a free man. Jose Canseco, who admitted steroid use in a book and countless interviews, is a free man. Andy Pettitte, who confessed to being injected with human growth hormone by Clemens' trainer, is a free man. Dozens if not hundreds of others, admitted or suspected, are free men.


And Jones will do six months. What can we conclude from all this? While I would like to think it is that steroids aren't worth it, or that athletes, as the judge who sentenced Jones claimed, "have an elevated status … they serve as role models," I fear that's optimistic.


What we're really learning is to choose your lies carefully and stay away from the feds. The image of Marion Jones' sleeping in a cell should send shivers down the sports world's spine. But we can't erase the memory of her, defiant and angry, when anyone — her rivals or her chroniclers — dared suggest she was on the juice. Only when she took that hubris to the government did she have to pay a price.


That's a long way from putting down the needle on your own.

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