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May 9, 2008

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: Reverence, Yes; Worship, No

Mona Charen: Did Israel Drive Out the Arabs 60 Years Ago?

JWisdom: Ultimate opportunities by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

May 8, 2008

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Israel at 3,500+

Jonathan Tobin: Still Fighting the Same War

Steven Plaut: How ‘nakba’ proves the fiction of a Palestinian Nation

JWisdom: Taking Israel for Granted? by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

May 7, 2008

Rabbi Hillel Goldberg: Israel is irrelevant to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Dion Nissenbaum: Latest Olmert scandal could derail efforts to force Israel's compromises

JWisdom: My Inner Ventriloquist by Sara Yoheved Rigler

May 6, 2008

Caroline B. Glick: Anti-Zionism at 60

The Kosher Gourmet By Ethel G. Hofman: In honor of Israel's 60th anniversary, the former president of the International Association of Culinary Professionals, whose members included the likes of Julia Child, is back with a smorgasbord featuring the taste and essence of the Jewish homeland

JWisdom: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Jewish Deer in Nazi Headlights

May 5, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Busy work

Jonathan Mark: Remarkable half-century old Mike Wallace interview with Abba Eban puts current anti-Israel sentiment into perspective

May 2, 2008

Rabbi Berel Wein: Rote religiosity

Caroline B. Glick: Whitewashing Hamas

JWisdom: Parent trap?

May 1, 2008

David Zwiebel: Faith communities can learn from Orthodox Jews in stimulating private philanthropy for religious education

George Friedman and Peter Zeihan of Stratfor: The Shift Toward an Israeli-Syrian Agreement

JWisdom: It's time to wake up by Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis

April 30, 2008

Jonathan Tobin: Pennsylvania's Democratic slugfest may leave some Jewish votes up for grabs

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: Fresh herbs, sauteed veal and tiny creamer potatoes makes a light spring dinner

JWisdom: How to Build a Mentch by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

April 29, 2008

Daniel Pipes: Barack Obama's Muslim Childhood

Joel Brinkley: On human rights, the U.N. once again strikes out

JWisdom: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: When The Truth is Unbelievable

April 28, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q: I'm often stuck in the doctor's waiting room for hours! Doesn't he owe me something for my wasted time?

Steven Emerson: New U.S. government policy advises agencies to avoid using some of the very same words that make up terror groups' names

JWisdom: Why You & I Never Die: A Jewish View of Immortality, Part I by Rabbi David Aaron

April 25, 2008

Rabbi Mitchell Wohlberg: Schadenfreude isn't kosher for Passover --- or at any other time

Rabbi Berel Wein: The secret of how the data bank of memory is transferred from one generation to the next

JWisdom: Stepping Up to A Higher Spiritual Life by Rabbi Lawrence Kelemen, Part III

April 24, 2008

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: The successful failure

Fred Burton and Scott Stewart of Stratfor: Placing the terrorist threat to the food supply in perspective

JWisdom: Stepping Up to A Higher Spiritual Life by Rabbi Lawrence Kelemen, Part II

April 23, 2008

Connie Ogle: An intricate game of a novel

Jonathan Tobin: Making Sense of the 'J Street' Jive

JWisdom: Stepping Up to A Higher Spiritual Life by Rabbi Lawrence Kelemen

April 22, 2008

Jonathan Rosenblum: Why Israel's 'Leaven law' matters

Caroline B. Glick: Obama the Savior

April 18, 2008

Rabbi Harvey Belovski: Multimedia tool of antiquity

Caroline B. Glick: Revealed Truths vs. revealed lies

JWisdom: More than miracles by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

April 17, 2008

Rabbi Avi Shafran: Deconstructing Dayeinu

Rabbi Elazar Meisels: Is innovation at the Seder a slap at tradition?

JWisdom: Discovering Your Divine Mission, Part III by Rabbi David Aaron

April 16, 2008

Jonathan Tobin: A Prayer for Sderot's Children

Ethel G. Hofman: Sumptuous Seder

JWisdom: The Divine is in the details by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

April 15, 2008

Rabbi Dovid Zauderer: Let Charlton Heston Go!

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Jimma, tyranny's enabler

JWisdom: Relationships: Beyond Mars & Venus, Part IV by Dr. Lisa Aiken

April 14, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: The Snitching Supervisor

Jonathan Tobin: Forget the Fun and Games!

JWisdom: Sincerity is Valued Most by Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski, M.D.

April 11, 2008

Rabbi David Gutterman: A Mystery in the Middle East

Caroline B. Glick: Why Ahmadinejad smiles

JWisdom: Elevated illness by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

April 10, 2008

Stratfor Intelligence Briefing by George Friedman: A Mystery in the Middle East

The Kosher Gourmet By Steve Petusevsky: The spring elegance of asparagus

JWisdom: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: The Power of Rational Lies

April 9, 2008

Michael Feldberg: An all but forgotten Colonial doctor who put his Jewish values before his life

Jordan "Gorf" Gorfinkel's "Everything's Relative" gets philosophical

JWisdom: Four Rabbis in Bnei Brak by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

April 8, 2008

Caroline Glick: Covering for the enemy

Elliot B. Gertel: 'House' goes Hasidic

JWisdom: Relationships: Beyond Mars & Venus, Part III by Dr. Lisa Aiken

April 7, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q: I have a translating business. Recently someone asked me to translate some financial documents that are clearly forged. Should I agree?

Jonathan Rosenblum : Israel is unwittingly helping to fuel the international campaign of delegitimization against it

JWisdom: Matzah and leaven as a life philosophy by Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski, M.D.

April 4, 2008

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: The Mystery of Suffering

Caroline B. Glick: Fear of democracy

JWisdom: Dirty Jews by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

April 3, 2008

Rabbi Y. Y. Rubinstein: Parents --- and the children who would be them

The Kosher Gourmet by Kathy Manweiler: Tempted by restaurant dressings? Don't be. Here are recipes that can be made at home, healthier!

JWisdom: The importance of retaining a 'slave mentality' by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

April 2, 2008

Mitch Albom: Child abuse, disguised as faith

Jonathan Tobin: Unreasonable Accommodations

JWisdom: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith with Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Eliminating Jewish Influence over Germans

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. 10, 2007 / 1 Teves 5768

When lawyers take to the streets for justice

By Nat Hentoff


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Declaring "emergency rule," Pervez Musharraf suspended Pakistan's Constitution, replaced seven justices of the Supreme Court and placed the chief justice under house arrest. Immediately, thousands of Pakistani lawyers, in their black suits, took to the streets demanding that justice be restored. Many were beaten and arrested; and in solidarity, American lawyers rallied in protests, leaving courtrooms to show Musharraf and the world why they became lawyers.


On Nov. 13 in New York, some 700 lawyers gathered in front of Manhattan's State Supreme Court building. Also present were the deans of three law schools as Catherine Christian, president of New York County Lawyers Associations, heralded Pakistani's lawyer's fight "for liberty and an independent legal system."


Nationally, the American Bar Association reported that "many state, local and specialty bar associations" were issuing statements and planning events to honor their Pakistani colleagues' embodiment of the rule of law.


Moreover, The New York Sun reported (Nov. 14) that "the American Bar Association has called for lawyers to march around the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., and attend a rally on the courthouse steps."


And in New York, Barry Kamins, president of the New York City Bar Association, announced that he had received an e-mail from students and professors at Lahore University from the battleground for justice in Pakistan. Appreciating the encouragement from America's lawyers, the message from those on the front line said: "What Pakistan faces today is the subordination of every independent organ of state to unchecked and unaccountable military executive power."


This heartening bonding of defenders of the rule of law also made me realize that there is an important lesson for what American lawyers can do for restoring accountability at home from an administration that, with regard to our Constitution, has been acting as if the president, as commander in chief, has certain military powers in dealing with terrorism to revise the Constitution all by himself.


Many American lawyers and law professors have spoken and written about the consequences to our rule of law when both the Republican and now the Democratic-controlled Congress fail to uphold the separation of powers.


One of many examples: President Bush has given the CIA extralegal authority to operate secret prisons and conduct kidnapping "renditions" that allow the enemy and even some of our friends to mock our pride in being a global model of constitutional democracy. There has been no investigation by Congress, even with its subpoena powers.


Yet, this weakening by the administration of the very structure of our founding document (along with our individual liberties in the Bill of Rights as we become a surveillance nation) is not an issue among most prospective voters in the presidential election, as is evidenced by the indifference to it by most of the candidates.


Even Joe Biden, whose knowledge of the Constitution and proposed legislation to repair it makes him an exceptionally qualified candidate, does not cite it nearly enough on the stump.


By contrast, during the Vietnam War, the increasing controversy about the lack of debate among the general public was accelerated when college professors and students held teach-ins on campuses. Supporters of the war had counter-sessions, and the public got involved until Congress felt the impact.


And right now, having admirably instructed the citizenry here about the breakdown of law in Pakistan, American lawyers on the streets could be a valuable instructive force about our breakdown of law as the presidential elections near by having sit-ins, including debates, not only at colleges but also at community centers, on television and the Internet (and why not on YouTube?).


The homicidal threat of terrorism against American targets, including people, will not abate once we have a new administration. Nor will the continuing threat from within to our institutions and values if the strong precedents for unitary executive power set by Bush and Cheney are adopted by the next president, and Congress accedes to them.


With Rudy Giuliani in the Oval Office, for instance, unaccountable executive power might well increase. I am not at all confident that any of the other front-runners in either political party are eager to let go of the expanded authority bequeathed to the next president by George W. Bush.


And the John G. Roberts, Jr.-Samuel A. Alito, Jr. Supreme Court — unless it is suddenly converted to an "originalism" based on the clear statement of separation of powers in the Constitution — may not be a dependable shield against a sincere but misguided commander in chief convinced he or she has no time to deal with delaying judicial supervision. American lawyers taking to the streets, rallying the citizenry to support the rule of law, could convince the presidential candidates and the next Congress to prevent the terrorists from using fear to change who we are as Americans.

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.


Nat Hentoff is a nationally renowned authority on the First Amendment and the Bill of Rights and author of several books, including his current work, "The War on the Bill of Rights and the Gathering Resistance". Comment by clicking here.

Nat Hentoff Archives

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