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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, 2008 / 21 Adar I 5768

Obama fights a photo assault

By Clarence Page


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Rule number one for presidential candidates in this media age: Do not put anything on your head in the presence of news cameras.


Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis was done in during his 1988 campaign by images of himself riding in a tank and wearing a helmet that reminded many witnesses of Snoopy.


Fellow Massachusetts Democratic Sen. John Kerry was similarly set back in 1994 by a greenish NASA safety suit that made him resemble a smiling Gumby.


President Bush had the foresight after landing grandly on an aircraft carrier to remove his helmet, although not enough foresight to remove the banner behind his head that said "Mission Accomplished."


Those thoughts came to mind when I saw the photo that somebody leaked to the Drudge Report Web site of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama dressed in Somali tribal garb.


At first I thought the photo might be a digitally altered gag shot of Obama's face superimposed on a Somali's body. I was recalling Kerry's 2004 campaign in which photos of the Vietnam War veteran were digitally altered to put him with Jane Fonda at a protest rally.


But, no, the Obama photo records an actual event. Only some of the picture's implications are misleading. The photograph was taken during Obama's 2006 visit to Kenya, his late father's homeland. It shows Obama trying on local garb, including a turban, tunic and walking stick given to him in a rural region of the country.


The Drudge Report claimed that an unnamed staffer of Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign submitted the photo and complained of a pro-Obama media bias. The Obama campaign suggested that the photograph amounted to fear mongering. Maggie Williams, Clinton's new campaign manager, issued a reply that ridiculed that notion, yet neither confirmed nor denied that the campaign had anything to do with it.


Sure, the photo would be no big deal, if Obama were not running for president. But hardly a day goes by without my receiving some e-mailed lie that claims Obama is a secret Muslim or some other bogus notion intended to smear Obama or his Church of Christ minister in Chicago as somehow un-American, anti-white, threatening or subversive. Politics is largely perceptions. If you can't nail your opponent with the truth, according to ancient wisdom of political dirty tricks, send rumors.


It is a sign of America's progress that Obama is not eliminated from the public's consideration because of his African heritage. Yet, he is vulnerable to other prejudices of our post-Sept. 11 era. His relatively recent arrival in national politics helps us to see him as the agent of change that he wants us to see, but it also makes him more vulnerable to lies and suspicions about his background to those who, despite his Web site and two memoirs, don't take time to learn much about him.


Imagine, for example, what kind of person is still an undecided voter after all of this time and exposure to the campaign. Many undecideds are relying on one positive or negative impression that will tilt the balance in favor of one candidate or the other. For the still-undecided voters, any little impression can have a big impact.


I've been waiting, for example, for some mischievous photo retoucher to try replacing Obama's necktie with a bow tie. The same bow tie that makes MSNBC's Tucker Calson look preppy or columnist George Will look professorial would make Obama look like a son of Louis Farrakhan. That hardly would be a fitting image for a candidate known for transcending race.


Whoever might be responsible for the turban photo's release, it provides a test run for what both Clinton and Obama can expect when one of them finally wins the nomination. Dukakis and Kerry both learned the hard way that they cannot let a false impression fester in public conversations for days or weeks without a strong response.


Candidates like to think the public is too intelligent to be easily fooled. I believe most of us are. But in a close race, it only takes an uninformed minority to tip the balance.

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

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