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Sept. 5, 2008

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: What does 'doing the right thing' entail?

Caroline B. Glick: The master strategist

Sept. 4, 2008

Ron Kampeas: Biden, Palin take lead in clash on Mideast issues

Bruce Dancis: With humor as their weapon, the Three Stooges took on Hitler

Sept. 3, 2008

Rabbi S. Binyomin Ginsberg: Productive school years don't just happen

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: Quick lamb stew serves up flavors of India

Sept. 2, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Costly Advice

Caroline B. Glick: Calling Israel's bluff

JWisdom: Wandering in Wonder by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

August 29, 2008

Rabbi Berel Wein: 20/20 sightlessness

Caroline B. Glick: When history is not repeated

JWisdom: Blessed or Cursed: It's Really Up to You by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

August 28, 2008

Steve Lipman: A Comeback for the 'Jewish Jordan'

Jeffrey Weiss: Researcher reports 'intriguing' diabetes breakthrough

August 27, 2008

Rabbi Zecharya Greenwald: Removing the perfectionist's mask

The Kosher Gourmet by Emily Nunn: Summer harvest linguine

JWisdom:: The Missing Link in Spiritual Life by Rabbi David Aaron

August 26, 2008

Yaffa Ganz: Grandma gets lessons in staying cool

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: The Dems' 'soft' jihadist

JWisdom:: Today: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Plague of indifference

August 25, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q: A friend is bearing a silly grudge from a supposed wrong. What recourse do I have?

Daniel Pipes: Barack Obama through Muslim Eyes

JWisdom:: The knowledge you need to overcome your insecurities by Malka Schulman

August 22, 2008

Rabbi Berel Wein: Life's essential ingredient

Caroline B. Glick: Dominos anyone?

JWisdom:: Actually, Do Sweat the Small Stuff! by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

August 21, 2008

Today in Biblical History by Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Popularization of Kabbalah: 20 Menachem-Av 1558 CE

Jonathan Rosenblum: Lessons from the Beyond

JWisdom: : The Olympian within is rooting for you -- yes, you! –- to go for the gold

August 20, 2008

Jonathan Tobin: Misleading Platform Platitudes

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: Chicken Salad with Asian Dressing

JWisdom: The Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith: America's Defense of the Jews --- Until WWII by Rabbi Nosson Scherman

August 19, 2008

Dennis Prager: If the Almighty doesn't exist

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Obama's Islamist problem has nothing to do with his upbringing

JWisdom: Think your life is messed up? by Rabbi David Aaron

August 18, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Business with Friends

Diana West: Roars About Russia, Bare Whispers About Islam

JWisdom: Relationship agony: The real cause by Malka Schulman

August 15, 2008

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: To love the Divine

Caroline B. Glick: Georgia, Israel, and the nature of man

JWisdom: The Truly Righteous Don't Demand Entitlements by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

August 14, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Confessions of broken spirit

Libby Lazewnik: The Numbers Game

JWisdom: Six Questions You'll Be Asked in Heaven? - Uh - Let's Just Take One for Now! by Gavriel Aryeh Sanders

August 13, 2008

Jonathan Tobin: Georgia should be on their minds

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: Go Greek: Pair flavorful lamb kebabs with a hearty salad

JWisdom: Human hybrids aren't science fiction by Rabbi David Aaron

August 12, 2008

Rabbi Avi Shafran: Bless us

Daniel Pipes: The West's Islamist Infiltrators

JWisdom: From Sadness to Gladness: The Route from Tisha b'Av to Rosh Hashana by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

August 11, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: A Jewish view on fair pricing

Caroline B. Glick: Ignoring failure in Gaza

JWisdom: 'Communication' Is Not The Answer! by Malka Schulman

August 7, 2008

Rabbi David Gutterman: A Continuing Story With a Sustaining Goal

Rabbi Berel Wein: Mourning and morning

JWisdom: Yes, we are still in exile by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

August 6, 2008

David Ashenfelter: Government made military engineer's life a living hell because of his faith, Defense Department report documents

Jonathan Tobin: Speak the Truth; Defeat the Lies

JWisdom: Jewish Spirituality: Fusion or Confusion? by Rabbi David Aaron

August 5, 2008

Chris Leppek: Church/state wall beginning to crumble?

Paul Greenberg: Exit Olmert (no encore, please)

JWisdom: Serenity: Make the commitment by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin (Read by Gavriel Sanders)

August 4, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Am I taking advantage of another's psychological quirk?

Andrew Silow-Carroll: A black and a Jew walk into the White House…

JWisdom: The Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith: Edward R. Morrow visits the ‘living dead’ by Rabbi Nosson Scherman

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 Feb. 26, 2004 / 4 Adar, 5764

High Court rules states can deny scholarships to divinity students

By Frank James


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http://www.jewishworldreview.com | (KRT) In a major victory for advocates of a strict constitutional separation of church and state, the Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a Washington state ban on taxpayer-funded college aid being given to students pursuing theology degrees.


The 7-2 ruling buoyed opponents of school-voucher programs who said it might bolster their case that public money shouldn't be used to assist parochial-school students.


But advocates of such programs took solace in the narrowness of the high court's decision, saying the justices hadn't dealt a mortal blow to their position.


Writing for the majority, Chief Justice William Rehnquist spurned the argument of Joshua Davey, who as a college student sued Washington state. Davey said a state law that forbid publicly funded scholarships from going to students taking courses that prepare individuals for the ministry violated his 1st Amendment right to freely exercise religion.


"We reject his claim of presumptive unconstitutionality," Rehnquist said. "In the present case, the state's disfavor of religion (if it can be called that) is of a far milder kind" than another case cited by the student where the high court had ruled a state had indeed infringed on religious freedom.


The Washington law "imposes neither criminal nor civil sanctions on any type of religious service or rite," the chief justice said. "It does not deny to ministers the right to participate in the political affairs of the community


"And it does not require students to choose between their religious beliefs and receiving a government benefit," Rehnquist wrote. "The state has merely chosen not to fund a distinct category of instruction."


Writing in dissent, Justice Antonin Scalia said the different treatment Washington showed to religious studies was unconstitutional on its face.


"When the state makes a public benefit generally available, that benefit becomes part of the baseline against which burdens on religion are measured," he wrote. "And when the state withholds that benefit from some individuals solely on the basis of religion, it violates the free exercise clause no less than if it had imposed a special tax.


"What next? Will we deny priests and nuns their prescription-drug benefits on the ground that taxpayers' freedom of conscience forbids medicating the clergy at public expense?" Scalia asked. Justice Clarence Thomas joined him in dissent.

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The Bush administration said it believed its efforts to make it easier to give federal funds to faith-based groups were not affected by the ruling.


"We don't believe anything in the ruling affects the president's efforts to reach out to faith-based and community organizations to help those in need," said Scott McClellan, White House press secretary." And the ruling, I think, is very narrow and applies only at the state level."


Because of the religious issues, the Davey case had come to be seen as an important test by both sides on the voucher issue since it was about public money being used to fund religious education.


"We're very, very pleased by the court's decision," said Michael Simpson, assistant general counsel of the National Education Association. The group had filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of Washington state.


"The voucher proponents had thought they were going to win this case," he said. "But the court rejected their efforts to force unwilling states to fund private religious education with public money."


The NEA in particular was relieved, Simpson said, because it is involved in two cases in Florida and Colorado where it has challenged voucher programs under state constitutions that contain language proscribing the use of public money for religious education.


"Had the court gone the other way, it would've weakened our arguments substantially," Simpson said.


For those who support vouchers, the ruling was seen as less of a loss than it could have been.


"If we had to lose this case, this was about the best opinion I can think of to lose with," said Clark Neily, a senior attorney with the Institute for Justice, an organization that filed a brief on Davey's behalf.


He called the ruling a "a gratifyingly narrow decision since Rehnquist stated that the core issue in the case was the state's interest in not funding the training of religious clergy.


"From my perspective, the question now for any school voucher program is, `Is this teaching anyone to be a minister?' No. Then (the Davey) case really doesn't apply.


"It could have been written a lot more broadly. And it could have stated some principles in a broader, more sweeping way that would have been a problem," he said.


Davey, who had long planned to be a minister, won a Promise Scholarship given by Washington state and decided to attend Northwest College, a private, Christian college with an affiliation to the Assemblies of God denomination.


At Northwest, he decided to do a double major in pastoral ministries and business management and administration. At the start of the 1999-2000 academic year, he was told that he could not use his scholarship to get a theology degree. He sued.


A California-based federal appeals court had ruled that the Washington state law violated Davey's constitutional rights. The Supreme Court reversed the lower court's decision.


Driven in part by the anti-Catholic bias of the time, many states enacted laws during the 19th Century and later that banned public money from paying for sectarian education, so-called Blaine amendments, named for a congressman who tried but failed to get such an amendment added to the Constitution.


Illinois and 36 other states have such restrictions that go beyond the church-and-state separations of the Constitution, and the Supreme Court in the past has expressed its uneasiness with the bigoted history of those laws.


In a footnote to his opinion, however, Rehnquist said the Blaine amendment had no relevance to the case since Davey hadn't "established a credible connection" between the Washington state law over which he sued and the Blaine amendment.


That left school-voucher advocates free to argue in the future the unconstitutionality of the Blaine amendment laws as they attempt to put school choice programs on a firmer legal footing, Neily said.

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Frank James is a reporter for the Chicago Tribune. Comment by clicking here.

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