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June 19, 2013

Peter Grier and Harry Bruinius: In the end, NSA might not need to snoop so secretly after all

Howard LaFranchi: Taliban peace talks hold glimmer of hope, but also unanswerable questions

Warren Richey: Supreme Court: For right to remain silent, a suspect must speak
Meredith Cohn: Leeches are making a comeback as medical helpers

Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D.: How to pick the healthiest breakfast cereal

The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: Spicy Double Chocolate Banana Muffins

June 17, 2013

Rabbi Simcha Weinstein: Black to the Future: American Apparel Gets Biblical

Patrik Jonsson: Minnesota Nazi: How did Nazi hunters miss Michael Karkoc?

Kate Irby, Ali Watkins, Trevor Graff and Kevin Thibodeaux: All the ways you're being watched
Don Lee: G-8 meeting will test NSA leaks' effect on U.S. influence

Patrik Jonsson: Fort Hood shooting: Judge nixes Nidal Hasan defense strategy. What now?

Stacey Burling: Why the stigma for migraine sufferers?

The Kosher Gourmet by Lisa Abraham: Does it work? 5 new kitchen gadgets put to the test

June 14, 2013

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: A spiritual budget: Religious economics and being a ruler

John P. Martin: Hitler insider's missing diary found

Matt Pearce: NSA surveillance disclosure could affect court cases
Peter Tinti: US bounties changes strategy on (Wild, Wild) West African jihadis

Daniel Pendrick, M.D.: Memory loss? Old age may be the least of it

Lauren F. Friedman: But it's all natural! Should we have an instinctive preference for herbal remedies?

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Streisand and Alicia Keys in Israel; "Girls" Stuff; Mel Brooks, Another TV special; Superman (who is Jewish) returns --- Israeli plays his mom

The Kosher Gourmet by Sharon K. Ghag : Bored with salad? Bling it up a bit (4 effortless recipes that will result in a 'WOW!')

June 12, 2013

Stephanie Hanes: Little girls or little women? The Disney princess effect

Fred Weir: In tweak to US, Russia would 'consider' asylum for Snowden

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: What's so special about Omega-3 supplements?
Morgan Housel: What newspapers were saying when you should have been buying

Pete Spotts: How cockroaches evolved so as to bypass 'roach motels'

The Kosher Gourmet by Anjali Prasertong: Deep-dish cookie: Warm, gooey and a little over the top

June 10, 2013

Joseph A. Slobodzian: Faith healing and third degree murder: Thorny legal case
Lindsay Wise: Few options for online users to avoid spying, experts say

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: There are plenty of nutritional food bargains out there
Harvard Health Letters: Can bariatric surgery control diabetes?

Zach Murdock: Superglue helps doctors save infant's life

The Kosher Gourmet by Celebrated chef Mario Batali : As good as grilling gets: Rib eye with dry mushroom spice rub

June 7, 2013

Rabbi David Aaron: Beating jealousy

Caroline B. Glick: Wounded . . . and dangerous

Clifford D. May: Al Qaeda vs. Hezbollah
Harvard Health Letters: Fighting back against allergy season

Kimberly Lankford: Grandparents who use FSA to cover grandkid's braces and other must-know info

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom:J ewish Tony Nominees/Tony Awards; Jewish Teen Actor In Sci-Fi Flick; Jewish singer in "Voice" finals

The Kosher Gourmet by Anjali Prasertong: A tart filling so good it might not make it to the crust

June 5, 2013

John Rosemond: Mom, Dad: Talk More and listen less

Kristen Chick: Egypt court sentences 43 pro-democracy workers to prison

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: Mushrooms Have Medicinal As Well As Culinary Value
Morgan Housel: Why you never learn from your investment mistakes

Don Lee: In China, kindergarten rivalry takes deadly turn

The Kosher Gourmet by Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan: 30-Minute Coq au Vin isn't a dream

June 3, 2013

Molly Hennessy-Fiske: Military judge to consider letting Fort Hood shooting defendant represent himself

Richard A. Serrano: Pvt. Bradley Manning's WikiLeaks trial also a test for government

Mark Trumbull: Have degree, driving cab: Nearly half of college grads are overqualified
Kim Lankford: What to do when long-term care insurance premiums rise

Deborah Netburn: Study: Adults' mouth bacteria may help babies

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Jewish Contestant on 'The Voice'; Will Smith's 'Jewish movie family'; Bravo Gives Long Island Jews the Jersey Shore Treatment; Magicians and More

The Kosher Gourmet by Bill Ward: How to be as refined as the wines at a wine tasting

May 29, 2013

Andrew Connelly and Helene Bienvenu: The Little Synagogue that Refused to Die

Dennis Prager: The 'Muslims-Killed-by-the-West' Lie

David Clark Scott: Open war on teachers?
Morgan Housel: If you know only five things about investing, make it these

Sara Reardon: AGenome detectives change the donation game

Deborah Netburn: A one-way ticket to Mars? 78,000-plus and counting apply by video

The Kosher Gourmet by Bev Bennett: CHEDDAR AND CHERRY MUFFINS --- your mouth is already watering

May 24, 2013

Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb: When I didn't so 'humbly disagree'

Caroline B. Glick: Thank you, Hafez al-Assad

Diana West: From the Brooklyn Bridge to London
Morgan Housel: Why spotting bubbles is so much harder than you think

Environmental Nutrition editors: NuVal labeling to the rescue?

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Memorial Day: Jews Serving and KIA in War on Terror; Liberace Bio-Pic; Jew Wins "Survivor"; Shalom, Dr. Brothers; More

The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen: HIDE THESE FROZEN TREATS FROM THE KIDDIES!: Sangria pops; Irish cream pudding pops; mango Lassi pops

May 22, 2013

John Thorne: They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman

John Rosemond: 'Disciplinary math' adds up to parental successl

Warren Richey: Are prayers before public meetings OK? Supreme Court to decide
Rick Montgomery: Use of ADHD drugs as study aid raises concern on campuses

Brierley Wright, M.S., R.D.: 6 convincing reasons you should keep carbs in your diet

Eoin O'Carroll: Scientists examine nothing, find something

The Kosher Gourmet by Carole Kotkin: This soup is made from one of the great pleasures of spring: A wonderful pairing of rosy color and earthy tang

May 20, 2013

Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?

Hannan Adely: Town raises Palestinian flag at City Hall

Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Morgan Housel: When smart investors do stupid things

Sharon Saloman, M.S., R.D.: Hunger games: Eat more, weigh less, without starving

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star

The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting


Jewish World Review Week of 7 Iyar

Dedicating the new walls of Jerusalem

By Rabbi Yonason Goldson


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | The same month in which Jews commemorate Yom Yerushalayim, the day upon which the modern state of Israel regained sovereignty over Jerusalem's Western Wall, also offers us the opportunity to observe the anniversary of another event even more significant in the history of that great city.


Two years after the first celebration of the Purim festival in the year 3405, the Persian king Achashverosh died, leaving his throne to his young son, Darius. Although he considered himself a Persian, Darius inherited from his mother, the Jewish Queen Esther, a great benevolence toward the Jews. In 3408, the second year of his reign, Darius not only gave permission to the Jews to rebuild their Temple in Jerusalem but helped finance the project, sent building materials, and threatened the governor in Samaria that he would deal most harshly with any interference.


Under the direction of Zerubavel, the prince of Yehudah, together with the prophets Chaggai and Zechariah, Jewish workers completed the second Temple in the year 3412. On the third day of the Hebrew month of Adar, the Jews in Israel inaugurated the new Temple amidst great rejoicing, bringing peace offerings of 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 sheep, in addition to 12 goats as sin offerings for each of the tribes of Israel.


At the time Zerubavel and the other leaders returned to rebuild the Temple, one of the greatest Jewish sages, Ezra the Scribe, had remained in Babylon to assist his rabbi, Baruch ben Neriyahu. When Baruch died the year following the completion of the Temple, however, Ezra traveled to join his colleagues in Israel. What Ezra found there distressed him so profoundly that he ripped his garments and tore out his hair.


Although Zerubavel and his colleagues had succeeded in organizing the people to rebuild the Temple, they were not successful in turning the mostly impoverished, fractious, and disaffected Jews back to Torah observance. Many prominent Jews, including sons of the High Priest himself, had become indifferent to Jewish tradition and practice.


Where the leaders who preceded him had proven unable to form any strategy, Ezra took immediate action, declaring a fast, calling a public assembly, and exhorting the people with such passion that, with only minimal resistance, the Jewish populous proclaimed their loyalty to G-d, confessed their transgressions, and committed themselves to renewing the holy covenant of the Jewish nation.


Rather than castigating the people for their transgressions, which might well have driven them even farther away, it was the genius of Ezra to arouse their sense of shame and their desire to return to the path of Godliness. By expressing and displaying his own personal grief at how far the people had descended, by declaring the urgency with which they must distance themselves from their sins, Ezra brought about repentance on a national scale.


Despite the impressiveness of Ezra's success reversing so much of the damage of decades after only a few months, enormous obstacles remained to a Jewish renaissance in Israel. The people were for the most part uneducated, and the fire of Ezra's exhortation could not ignite an entire country to devote itself to the slow and arduous task of reestablishing the foundations of Jewish scholarship and literacy. The people remained poor and uneducated, the internal danger from dissenters and the external danger from hostile Samaritans remained a threat, and Jerusalem remained a sparsely settled ruin.


Ezra had labored to solve these problems, but the tide only turned when, after a decade, he was joined by the prophet Nechemiah in the year 3418. One of Darius's most influential advisors, Nechemiah succeeded in gaining permission to join Ezra after he received a deeply distressing letter describing the state of affairs in his homeland. Nechemiah arrived to find the walls of Jerusalem still torn down from the Babylonian invasion almost a century earlier and the gates of the city still charred and ashen. He recognized that as long as Jerusalem stood in ruins, the Jewish people would continue to see it as a reminder of their shame and their degradation. Only by restoring the city to a portion of its former glory could the people rouse themselves from the mindset they were still an exiled and vanquished nation.


Nechemiah swiftly organized a labor force and directed it toward the reconstruction of the walls surrounding the Jewish capitol city . Led by an apostate named Sanvalat HaChoroni, the enemies of the Jews first tried to demoralize Nechemiah's workers, mocking their efforts by calling out to them that the job was too great, that even if they could rebuild the walls their construction would crumble the instant that even a fox ran upon it. When they saw that the workers were nearing completion despite their taunts, Sanvalat's company conspired to attack the workers and tear down the walls themselves, but Nechemiah learned of their plan and stationed guards with bows and spears to protect the city. Having lost the element of surprise, Sanvalat attempted to lure Nechemiah to a meeting where he could be assassinated, but this plan also failed.


Neither Nechemiah nor any of his workers allowed themselves the luxury of changing their clothes or bathing during this project, and in only 52 days they completed work on the walls that had laid in crumbled ruins for 90 years, dedicating their completed project on the 7th day of the month of Iyar. The Samaritans and the surrounding gentile nations looked upon the Jews of Israel with a new awe, giving the Jews themselves a much needed sense of their own power and potential.


But it was not only enemies from without that caused trouble for the Jews. The few Jews who had acquired wealth and prestige for themselves had used their good fortune to make loans to their poorer brethren, loans whose value were recovered first from the fields and properties of the borrowers and then by indenturing their sons and daughters into personal service.


When Nechemiah learned of this he gathered the wealthy Jews and publicly berated them, asking them sarcastically if their next step would be to sell their poor brothers as slaves to the gentiles. So stinging was Nechemiah's rebuke that the wealthy Jews promptly forgave the loans and returned the children to the parents and the properties to their owners. By thus restoring a new measure of security and economic stability to the Land of Israel, Nechemiah set the restoration of the Second Commonwealth of the Jewish nation on a secure course into the future.


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JWR contributor Rabbi Yonason Goldson teaches at Block Yeshiva High School in St. Louis. Comment by clicking here.


© 2006, Rabbi Yonason Goldson