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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 29, 2007 / 13 Sivan, 5767

My perfect birthday gift: A phone call

By Mitch Albom


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | It was always about presents. That's the thing I most remember. You started thinking about your birthday weeks in advance, mostly through the eyes of "What am I gonna get?"


One year it was a magic trick. One year it was an Etch A Sketch. One year a new basketball. One year a record player.


I remember less about the parties, who came, who didn't, who wished me well, who wasn't around. I was a child and I thought as a child. My eyes were on the prize. I still can feel the stomach-shivering excitement when my eyes popped open in bed that morning. I still can remember poking around in my parents' closet, in case they hid the present in there.


The sensation of unwrapping a box — that I can recall. But the year? The age? The number of candles on the cake? The faces behind the voices that sang me "Happy Birthday"? That I couldn't tell you.


That was then.


I celebrated a birthday last week. And I can blessedly say, when it comes to toys, even the adult kind, I have all I could want. They don't interest me as much as they used to, anyhow.


My birthday these days, like many people my age, is less about "What am I gonna get?" and more about "How am I gonna feel?" How's the heart rate? How's the cholesterol? How's the weight? How's the vision? How am I holding up?


And lately, "How much time do I have left?"


I have written in this space before how my birthday ritual is to eat everything I don't eat all year round — for breakfast, lunch, dinner and in-between. And I can happily report I kept my face-stuffing tradition alive.


But I noticed something else this year. Early in the morning, my phone rang. It was a family member from overseas, wishing me happy birthday. We had a nice chat. Then I checked my e-mail. My brother, who also lives overseas, had gotten a jump on the day with a 5 a.m. posting. He teased me about how old I was getting (he's the youngest). It made me smile.


As the day went on, the phone rang again and again. A sister-in-law. Another sister-in-law. Another sister-in-law. (I have a lot.) Two brothers-in-law.


I opened an e-mail from a Realtor-turned-friend and who was in Las Vegas. Happy birthday. I got an e-mail from a couple who I don't get to see enough. Happy birthday. Got voice mails on my answering machine from family, from people in the business, from a publisher in Brazil who is lovely and emotional and signs her notes "with many hugs and kisses."


She, too, wished me a happy birthday.


My parents called during the day, and we spoke nostalgically. I was eating in a restaurant when my cell phone rang and I heard the voice of my oldest friend in life. We have known each other since we were in strollers. He lives in North Carolina now, but, somehow, he remembered the date.


There were cards, simple and funny, from relatives who lived many miles away. There were notes from readers and people in a volunteer group I work with. A few family members who were within reach spent most of the day with me, eating and having fun. It seemed to be a steady stream of voices — voices, not gifts — just checking in, wishing me well.


I'm not sure where I'm going with this. Usually in a column you try to take something from the news and make a point that hopefully enlightens. My birthday is hardly news. And the only enlightening thing I can share is this:


As my day went on, I found myself flashing on the end of "It's A Wonderful Life," where George Bailey's friends and family come to help him in his hour of need. As they surround him, he opens a card — sent from his "angel" Clarence — and the handwritten message is clear and simple:


"No man is poor who has friends."


I would like, in this space, to thank mine. I didn't feel old this past birthday. I felt rich.

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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