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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. 12, 2008 / 6 Adar I 5768

The screw-up's paradise?

By Tom Purcell


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Now I really wish I were French.


Surely you've heard about the French bank trader, Jerome Kerviel, who outwitted his company's safeguards and managed to lose billions of his employer's money.


What you may not have heard is this: As of last week, the fellow hadn't been fired yet.


According to The Wall Street Journal, French law forbids Kerviel from being officially fired until a lengthy dismissal process is carried out. His employer needs to initiate the process by calling Kerviel to a formal sit-down meeting to explain why he is being canned.


Better yet, Kerviel has the right to be supported by a trade-union official, a lawyer and any other representative he wishes to bring along.


It's not easy to get canned in France.


This is because the French believe in cradle-to-grave care by a benevolent government. They believe in government-mandated vacations — no fewer than five weeks — and 22 paid holidays and 35-hour workweeks. (French president Nicolas Sarkozy had to pass a new law to allow workers to log more than 35 hours if they want to.)


They believe in powerful unions and government regulations, too — regulations that make it virtually impossible to fire people — despite what such regulations are doing to their anemic economy.


A few years ago, the French prime minister tried to make it easier for employers to can people. He did so because the unemployment rate is high in France — it hovers around 8 percent. It's even higher for young adults. One in four is unemployed.


They are unemployed because French companies are afraid to hire new employees — for the simple reason that they will be stuck with them for life, regardless of how incompetent they may turn out to be.


So the French prime minister passed a law that allowed employers to part with an employee without providing a reason for dismissal. The new law pertained only to people under 26 and applied during their first two years of employment.


The French weren't very happy about it. They took to the streets in massive numbers, marching, protesting and rioting. The unions called for strikes to shut down the country, which wasn't hard to do. If the French worked as hard at working as they do protesting, their economy would be the envy of the world.


In any event, the protesters won. The freedom-to-can-employees law was rescinded. Which brings us back to Kerviel.


According to The Journal, Kerviel's employer sent him a formal letter asking him to appear at a "dismissal rendezvous." But since Kerviel didn't show up, the bank can't begin dismissal proceedings. Technically, he's still an employee.


As of last week, nobody else was canned, either — not one boss or senior executive or anyone else who was responsible for the safeguards that were supposed to keep rogue employees from losing billions of euros.


That's why I wish I were French.


Sure, I know that the absurd number of French labor laws are holding back businesses and choking the French economy.


I know that the French economy is growing much slower than other European Union countries', that its debt is rising rapidly and that its generous government benefits have put finances on the verge of collapse.


But sometimes I tire of the American way.


I'm self-employed, you see. Talk of a recession on the horizon has caused me to take on lots of work. I'm working long hours and socking money away just in case the economy crashes.


I know how great it is to live in a country where a person can earn more just by working harder. I know it's because we have fewer government regulations than France that our economy is robust.


I know that if some politicians have their way, our economy could become as sclerotic as France's. Every election cycle, politicians promise us more goodies — more government mandates and programs that will allegedly protect us from the unpleasantries of life.


Such ideas always do more harm than good. Still, you've got to love a country in which it's difficult for an employer to can an employee who lost billions of their dough.


Ah, to be French.

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