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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

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 Feb. 27, 2006 / 29 Shevat, 5766

Knitting, purling and scratching

By Lloyd Garver


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Knitting was once an activity that grandmothers did when they got together and complained about how infrequently their grandkids called them. In recent years, there's been an explosion in knitting's popularity. Now, it's not uncommon for granddaughters to feel they're too busy knitting to call their grandmothers. Younger women have taken up the craft, and so have high school and college students. But one group that's knitting and purling away the evening hours is somewhat of a surprise: adult men.


What's your stereotypical view of what it's like when a bunch of men get together? Are they watching sports? Talking about sex? Eating hot dogs and drinking beer? Scratching themselves? Burping and not saying, "Excuse me?" Well, if you add to that image a bunch of guys knitting potholders, you'll get what's going on today.


Once a week, a knitting shop in New York's Greenwich Village has a Men's Only night. There, the guys can exchange knitting tips — while they eat hot dogs and drink beer. Similar places are springing up all over the country and throughout the world. Women are going to have to get used to hearing things like, "I might be home late. I'm going out knitting with the guys."


Foolish people will probably debate whether knitting is a "manly" activity. Even those traditionalists would have to admit that snowboarding isn't wimpy. Well, snowboarders are among the males who have started to knit. They want to make their own winter gear, both as a way of saving money and as a fashion statement.


Men probably knit for the same reasons that women do: Some find it relaxing, some want to express themselves creatively, some want to make their own clothes, and some want to be able to say, "I can't answer that phone. My hands are full."


When I was a little kid who couldn't sit still, my grandmother taught me how to knit. She figured that if I'd sit and knit, she wouldn't have to chase me around her apartment. It worked. She never bothered showing me how to end a project or do anything fancier than knit, knit, knit, but that was enough for me. I'd end up with these long pieces that I'm sure she either threw away or ripped apart as soon as I went home to my parents, but she'd end up with a head that didn't ache.


Most historians believe that knitting began with men. It grew out of knitting fishing nets. After that came socks, and then sweaters that cost more than what those fishing boats used to cost.


In this day and age, when people can do things previously only done by the opposite gender, it's only natural that men have taken up needles and yarn. And these men don't necessarily fall into any stereotype. One wife reports that her husband loves to knit, but also fishes and hunts. He's probably fun to shop with before vacations: "I'll take that shotgun, that reel — and that really cool pattern book to go with this yarn."


The web site, MenKnit.net has a motto, "Man Enough To Knit, Strong Enough to Purl." Some super-macho knitters probably will carry this one step further and have the slogan tattooed on their hairy chests. I just hope they use something safer than a knitting needle to do the tattooing.


I can see a time when inmates in maximum-security prisons will give up weightlifting and scowling for crocheting and knitting. CAVEAT TO WARDENS AND GUARDS: Make sure they aren't knitting extra long scarves to swing themselves over the walls.


So, just as I see as positive the opening up of occupations and sports to women that were historically dominated by men, I see no reason why men should not be allowed to work with needles and balls of yarn just as women have done for years. In fact, not all knitting sessions have to be for just one sex. Men have been known to take women to a knitting class on a first date. This, of course, brings up a new social etiquette question, "Do you kiss after the first knit — or wait until after he takes you purling?"

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

JWR contributor Lloyd Garver has written for many television shows, ranging from "Sesame Street" to "Family Ties" to "Frasier." He has also read many books, some of them in hardcover. Comment by clicking here. Visit his website by clicking here.

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© 2005, Lloyd Garver

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