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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 May 21, 2007 / 4 Sivan, 5767

The commodity not found in stock price

By Mitch Albom


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Trust? Why should they trust? Why should Chrysler workers believe anything they hear from the new would-be owners, Cerberus Capital Management, a firm named for a mythical, three-headed hound of hell? Do you trust a new king who was born in another country? Do you trust a new landlord who has a history of evicting people? Who trusts anything when it comes to big business today? If you know someone, tell me.


I don't. Not anymore.


What I know are workers whose firms have been bought and sold so many times, they have to look at their paychecks to see who owns them. What I know are workers who get herded into conference rooms to meet their new bosses and are told of "exciting" new directions and "exciting" possibilities — then bang, they get laid off.


How "exciting" is that?


What I know are Americans who, when asked about the companies they work for, roll their eyes, shake their heads and say, "It's ridiculous." Or "It's awful." Or, the most com- mon phrase, "It's unbelievable."


But history has shown what's believable. And it is generally not the promises of one big company taking over another one.


If it were, Daimler and Chrysler would still be happily married, and this column would not be being written.


Nine years ago, we were told how Daimler-Benz and Chrysler would be better together than they ever could be apart. You look back on it today and you almost start laughing.


Now Cerberus comes along, full of promises and assurances that it will not slash Chrysler workers, will not break the company apart or sell it off in pieces.


"We believe in Chrysler," John Snow, the Cerberus chairman, told the media last week.


Of course, this comes from a man who only joined Cerberus seven months ago, so the "we" makes people nervous. And he used to be the Treasury secretary for — and a cheerleader for the policies of — the Bush administration, which makes people nervous.


And he now works for a firm whose business model is to take very rich peoples' money and make them more money from it. Cerberus is not an auto company. It is a wealth company. It creates wealth by buying things — and by selling things. And by doing so quickly, so investors see growth.


Feeling trustworthy yet?


This is not a personal knock at Cerberus. This is simply the sad truth of American business. There is barely a dotted line anymore between the workers' purpose and the owner's purpose. The workers think they are there to make better cars, or more stylish clothes, or higher quality carpets. The owners want to keep the stock price high.


Smaller companies are bought by bigger companies, which are then bought by bigger companies. We used to call this "greed." Now it's called "global competition." They have to be this big, we are told, to compete with those big and nasty European or Asian companies.


So when employees are fired, plants shut down, families uprooted or health care slashed, workers are told to stop their whining. Don't they realize how hard it is to compete? There is such a disconnect between the top and the bottom, you wonder if either party, given a compass, a map and an hour time limit, could even find each other?


In my time at this newspaper, it has been owned by two different corporations, and merged, business-wise, with the competition. During that same time, the radio station I work for was merged with another huge company and is now being sold to another.


I hardly know anyone, besides mom-and-pop store owners, who hasn't experienced the new policy letter, the new benefit plan memo, the whole "new owner" experience.


And those people will tell you, trust is the last thing you feel. Because not long before, some other owner was doing the same.


Cerberus may be good for Chrysler. It may make money for Chrysler. It may beat the lousy alternatives.


But for now, it is simply another huge, rich company, buying a company that used to be huge and rich and telling workers, "Trust us."


Fat chance.

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.

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