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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 Dec 3, 2007 / 23 Kislev 5768

A rush to analyze, eulogize a slain athlete nobody seemed to know

By Mitch Albom


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | I didn't know Sean Taylor. I cannot tell you why he died. What he was into. What he wasn't.


I also cannot tell you what kind of man he was. And neither can many people in the media. But that hasn't stopped them from trying.


Taylor, 24, a Washington Redskins defensive back, was murdered last week, shot by someone who broke into his home. Police are investigating. And that is all we really know.


That, and that Taylor had, at times, run with dangerous people, he had a weapons conviction on his record, and he kept a machete by his bed. These are facts.


So is this: He rarely spoke to reporters. So it was interesting to watch so many of them canonize him as a man who was "turning his life around." You lost track of how many writers and broadcasters repeated the claim in the immediate hours after his death, often citing a 1-year-old daughter as cause for his enlightenment.


One ESPN panelist said, "He had a family, wife, small child and from all appearances he appeared to be turning his life around." The Sporting News wrote "becoming a parent had apparently given Taylor a new purpose and helped him mature."


One Washington Post writer said of Taylor: "He once was lost, but now was found."

THE RUSH TO JUDGMENT
Now, maybe some of these people, at best, spent a moment with a microphone or notepad in front of Taylor. I doubt many knew him. I doubt they ever went to his Miami home. I doubt any saw the machete in his bedroom.


So how do we know where his life was? Maybe it was turned around. Maybe it was turned back. Maybe he knew the person who killed him. Maybe it was a burglary gone bad. Taylor is the fourth current or former Miami (Fla.) football player to be murdered in the last 15 years. Maybe that means something, maybe it doesn't.


But if this world has taught us anything when sports mixes with crime, it is to hold our tongues. Wait and see. Do not rush into tragic prose, idealized caricatures or familiar stereotypes — especially using comments from upset friends or relatives as facts. When the Duke lacrosse case broke, the quick consensus was spoiled white kids raped black single mother. It turned out to be a big lie. When Len Bias died, there were instant experts lamenting his overworked heart and his large body — until we discovered it was cocaine that killed him.


Who knows what happened with Taylor? His house had been broken into eight days earlier, yet nothing had been taken. Taylor left the team to deal with that. Then he left the team again — without telling his coach — to spend the night in Miami on Sunday. To most observers, that's at least a little curious.

A NEED FOR PATIENCE
As for his life being turned around? Who knows? Yes, he had a baby daughter. Not to be harsh, but so what? Maybe it truly opened his eyes to a positive life. Maybe it didn't. Maybe that's how mourning friends want to see it. Maybe it was a combination.


You could just as easily state that Taylor wasn't married to the mother of that daughter. This doesn't make him a bad guy. It's just a fact — like having a daughter. Beyond that, what you draw are your own conclusions.


But from E.G. Simpson to Floyd Landis to Michael Vick, quick assumptions about athletes the minute controversy strikes — often based on teammates or friends — can leave people backtracking and embarrassed. Sean Taylor was murdered. He is gone forever. Many teammates liked him. Those are facts.


But "once was lost, now was found"? That's some pretty strong assuming. And in journalism, to canonize someone too quickly should be as wrong as besmirching someone too quickly.


Time will tell. It always does. And after time tells, then we can. In today's rush to break news, to analyze news, to eulogize faster and better than anyone else, "wait" may be a four-letter word. But it's a four-letter word that needs to be part of our vocabulary.

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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