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August 29, 2008

Rabbi Berel Wein: 20/20 sightlessness

Caroline B. Glick: When history is not repeated

JWisdom: Blessed or Cursed: It's Really Up to You by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

August 28, 2008

Steve Lipman: A Comeback for the 'Jewish Jordan'

Jeffrey Weiss: Researcher reports 'intriguing' diabetes breakthrough

August 27, 2008

Rabbi Zecharya Greenwald: Removing the perfectionist's mask

The Kosher Gourmet by Emily Nunn: Summer harvest linguine

JWisdom:: The Missing Link in Spiritual Life by Rabbi David Aaron

August 26, 2008

Yaffa Ganz: Grandma gets lessons in staying cool

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: The Dems' 'soft' jihadist

JWisdom:: Today: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Plague of indifference

August 25, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q: A friend is bearing a silly grudge from a supposed wrong. What recourse do I have?

Daniel Pipes: Barack Obama through Muslim Eyes

JWisdom:: The knowledge you need to overcome your insecurities by Malka Schulman

August 22, 2008

Rabbi Berel Wein: Life's essential ingredient

Caroline B. Glick: Dominos anyone?

JWisdom:: Actually, Do Sweat the Small Stuff! by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

August 21, 2008

Today in Biblical History by Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Popularization of Kabbalah: 20 Menachem-Av 1558 CE

Jonathan Rosenblum: Lessons from the Beyond

JWisdom: : The Olympian within is rooting for you -- yes, you! –- to go for the gold

August 20, 2008

Jonathan Tobin: Misleading Platform Platitudes

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: Chicken Salad with Asian Dressing

JWisdom: The Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith: America's Defense of the Jews --- Until WWII by Rabbi Nosson Scherman

August 19, 2008

Dennis Prager: If the Almighty doesn't exist

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Obama's Islamist problem has nothing to do with his upbringing

JWisdom: Think your life is messed up? by Rabbi David Aaron

August 18, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Business with Friends

Diana West: Roars About Russia, Bare Whispers About Islam

JWisdom: Relationship agony: The real cause by Malka Schulman

August 15, 2008

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: To love the Divine

Caroline B. Glick: Georgia, Israel, and the nature of man

JWisdom: The Truly Righteous Don't Demand Entitlements by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

August 14, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Confessions of broken spirit

Libby Lazewnik: The Numbers Game

JWisdom: Six Questions You'll Be Asked in Heaven? - Uh - Let's Just Take One for Now! by Gavriel Aryeh Sanders

August 13, 2008

Jonathan Tobin: Georgia should be on their minds

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: Go Greek: Pair flavorful lamb kebabs with a hearty salad

JWisdom: Human hybrids aren't science fiction by Rabbi David Aaron

August 12, 2008

Rabbi Avi Shafran: Bless us

Daniel Pipes: The West's Islamist Infiltrators

JWisdom: From Sadness to Gladness: The Route from Tisha b'Av to Rosh Hashana by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

August 11, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: A Jewish view on fair pricing

Caroline B. Glick: Ignoring failure in Gaza

JWisdom: 'Communication' Is Not The Answer! by Malka Schulman

August 7, 2008

Rabbi David Gutterman: A Continuing Story With a Sustaining Goal

Rabbi Berel Wein: Mourning and morning

JWisdom: Yes, we are still in exile by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

August 6, 2008

David Ashenfelter: Government made military engineer's life a living hell because of his faith, Defense Department report documents

Jonathan Tobin: Speak the Truth; Defeat the Lies

JWisdom: Jewish Spirituality: Fusion or Confusion? by Rabbi David Aaron

August 5, 2008

Chris Leppek: Church/state wall beginning to crumble?

Paul Greenberg: Exit Olmert (no encore, please)

JWisdom: Serenity: Make the commitment by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin (Read by Gavriel Sanders)

August 4, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Am I taking advantage of another's psychological quirk?

Andrew Silow-Carroll: A black and a Jew walk into the White House…

JWisdom: The Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith: Edward R. Morrow visits the ‘living dead’ by Rabbi Nosson Scherman

August 1, 2008

Rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz: We have the power to alter another's destiny — use it well

Caroline B. Glick: Why Olmert — finally — did it

JWisdom: Life By The (Book of) Numbers by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

July 31, 2008

This Week in Biblical History by Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Ezra the Scribe returns from exile

Joan Verdon: Demure is in demand: More brides seek 'modest' gowns

JWisdom: You don't have to be ‘compatible’ to have a stable, happy relationship by Malka Shulman

July 30, 2008

Jonathan Tobin: Does Israel need 'tough love'?

The Kosher Gourmet by Gail Borelli: Pickling captures the fleeting tastes of summer's fruits and vegetables

JWisdom: Serenity: It's Really Up to YOU! by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin (Read by Gavriel Sanders)

July 29, 2008

Rabbi Avi Shafran: Good things happen

Dick Morris: How Israel's race could shift ours

JWisdom: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Equal but Not Jewish or Jewish but Not Human?

July 28, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: How and when to lie

Steven Emerson: More Perils of Interfaith Dialogue

JWisdom:: A TripTik for Your Spiritual Journey by Rabbi Dovid Gross

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 July 5, 2006 / 9 Tamuz, 5766

In the name of honor

By Kathryn Lopez


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Samaira Nazir was brutally and needlessly murdered. The 25-year-old in Southall, England, was killed in April of last year by her 30-year-old businessman brother — all in the name of "honor." He stabbed her, cutting her throat in front of his young children, ages 2 and 4.


Samaira had turned down family arrangements for marriage and ultimately fell for another man, an Afghan her family said was from the wrong — lower — caste. As a prosecutor put it, "It would appear she lost her life for loving the wrong man." Her brother, appropriately, has been found guilty of murder, and is facing the prospect of life in prison. And the good news, if it can be called "good," is that you're reading about Samaira and her story. Her name lives on and makes headlines. And in her memory, we'll keep any veil from covering the next time this happens — until, finally, there is no next time for these "honor killings" that are anything but honorable.


We'll remember, too, Ghazala Khan, who was shot dead in a town west of Copenhagen, Denmark, this past September, by her brother, just two days after her wedding. Her death won't go unpunished, either: Both her brother and her father, along with other family members (six in total were all involved in the planning of the murder, which had been ordered by her father) are now in jail for their crime.


The murders of Samaira Nazir and Ghazala Khan are infuriating and tragic. But that we know about them, and that civilized society is refusing to tolerate what happened, is cause for hope.


Honor killings, to be honest, are hard to write about — in part because they are so brutal. No one really wants to read that Samaira's blood splattered on her young nieces as they were made to watch, authorities believe, the perverse execution — including her escape attempts. (Neighbors reported seeing her dragged back into the family home by her hair.) But what makes it even more difficult is the sense that the honor killings we know about may be the tip of a horrific iceberg.


You see, honor killings sometimes (possibly most often) go completely unreported: Murders will be disguised as suicides, and no one outside of a particular family will know what really happened. Some will be killed and never found. In Jordan, just a few weeks ago, three bodies were found in makeshift graves outside Amman — three sisters, killed 12 years ago by their brother (again, on their father's orders) for "immoral behavior." The family told anyone who asked that the girls had left the country.


As the free world wages an international war on militant-Islamic terrorism, nations like Britain and Denmark need to confront this far more domestic form of terrorism. And it is Muslims who face a special challenge, as word of these honor killings spreads. All of the stories I've mentioned have involved Muslim families, they need to make it clear that they will not tolerate these atrocities — often committed in the name of Islam.


Here in the West we are constantly cautioned, when we encounter news of a terrorist plot in which Muslims happen to be involved, not to take out our anger on Muslims in general, which is only sensible. One shouldn't lash out at a whole group of people because a member of the group did something awful. But what we really need are loud Muslim voices of outrage. They're out there, but not quite loud enough yet. Moderate, mainstream Muslims — those who abhor the kind of values that condone honor murders — need to speak out against those who are bringing such shame upon their religion.


This kind of speech can have a global effect. As Nina Shea of Freedom House has pointed out, "even Islamist totalitarian governments like Iran and Saudi Arabia can be shamed by public exposure. There are examples where these governments have desisted from executing stonings and other hideous human-rights atrocities after a public outcry either in the West or at home."


Bat Ye'or, a scholar of Islamic culture, says we need to denounce these atrocities vigorously "because secrecy is the best friend of crimes."


Denounce them not just for the sake of those who died; the Samaira Nazirs and Ghazala Khans, who can't tell their own horrible tales; denounce them also for the "lucky" ones like Noor Jehan, a 14-year-old Pakistani girl who was shot five times by her cousins (by order of her father) because she wouldn't submit to her arranged marriage. She told reporters, "They thought I was dead but ... somehow I got courage to come out of that ditch."


Hundreds of women and girls are believed to be killed this way in Pakistan annually. Muslims need to start leading, and take their religion out of that deadly ditch.

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