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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 August 15, 2006 / 21 Menachem-Av 5766

When time comes for banishment

By Lloyd Garver


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | For many of us, every four years, we go through an arduous selection process. We agonize over our choice, and after we've made it, we worry that we made the wrong one. I'm not talking about something as easy as voting for president. I'm talking about buying a new computer.


Computers seem to be considered obsolete in three to five years. I don't know of any other thing that we happily buy, knowing that we're not going to be happy with it in a few years. OK, there's that purple shirt that is a little "out there," but I'm talking about major purchases. Even if we get a new car after a few years, how much faster is that new car than the old one? And can it carry four times as many people in it than the car you bought a few years ago?


So, we buy computers, and then buy them again. We've become so dependent on them that we don't feel we have any choice. When my computer is "in the shop," I panic until it's back home. And there are other computers in our house, so I can still write my column and check my e-mails, but it's not the same as using my "baby." Yes, it's almost like a member of the family is being operated on — except I know this family member will be obsolete soon.


And one reason we panic when something's wrong with them or when it looks like we may need a new one is because so many of us have no idea how they work. So we have to trust the expert — our Computer Guy. And when our Computer Guy says it's time to buy a new computer, we do it.


Last week, my Computer Guy said it was time. After bringing it back to health following a nasty virus, he said it would still work for a while, but he could "hear it strain" as it booted up and performed other operations. It sounded the same to me as it did four years ago, but I trusted what he said. After all, he's the guy wearing the blue shirt with the company logo on it.


He recommended a computer with a 160-gigabyte hard drive, 1 gigabyte of RAM, and a speed of 2.13 gigahertz. This would make it much faster and it would have a much greater storage capacity than my old one — which was much faster and had a greater storage capacity than I ever needed. (I use it almost exclusively for word processing and e-mail. I'm rarely called upon to figure out pi to a thousand decimal places while simultaneously creating a birthday card that sings and dances.) My Computer Guy's answer was that I should get the computer with all of this technology that I don't really need because all of these improvements are so cheap.


It's true that as computers have gotten faster and better over the years, they've gotten less expensive. But they're still not as cheap as if you didn't have to buy a new one. They're not free.


So, I thought it was time for me to actually find out what I was buying. I knew that gigahertz (GHz) was a measure of speed, but just how fast was it? My only frame of reference was miles per hour. Was this new computer faster than my car? So, I looked it up and learned that a gigahertz is a unit of alternating current or electromagnetic wave frequency equal to one billion hertz.


That definition wasn't particularly helpful, since I guess I'm one of the few people in the world who doesn't know how fast a "hertz" is. (I can tell how fast a Hertz rent-a-car is, but that comes with a speedometer.)


So, I wasn't able to calculate how many miles per hour a megahertz is. But one billion of anything sounds like a lot, so I assume a gigahertz is very fast. After all, it's got a one with nine zeroes after it (1,000,000,000 Hz). That's got to be speedy. And my new computer will be going at an amazing rate of not just 1, but 2.13 of those giga-puppies. My Computer Guy told me that's blazing fast! But, of course, in four years, he'll be telling me how slow it is.

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.

JWR contributor Lloyd Garver has written for many television shows, ranging from "Sesame Street" to "Family Ties" to "Frasier." He has also read many books, some of them in hardcover. Comment by clicking here. Visit his website by clicking here.

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