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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 Oct. 31, 2007 / 19 Mar-Cheshvan 5768

Sometimes a picture is worth diddly

By Kathleen Parker

Kathleen Parker
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia — There's no substitute for being there, as has been illustrated by the reaction to an image of Laura Bush's alleged abaya-wearing incident during her recent visit to the Middle East.


Unlike most who have commented, I was there — one of three members of the American media invited to accompany Bush on her journey. The others were Greta Van Susteren of Fox News' "On the Record" and Robin Roberts of ABC's "Good Morning America."


The controversial photo shows Bush donning a black headscarf decorated with the iconic pink bows signifying breast cancer awareness. It was the only time Bush covered her head during the trip and the episode lasted perhaps a minute.


The scarf in question was a gift to Bush from a dozen Saudi women who shared their experiences fighting breast cancer with the first lady. The morning meeting was touching and intimate, the sort of bonding experience that opens hearts and minds in diplomatically useful ways.


Upon receiving the gift, Bush did what any decent, well-mannered person would do. She demonstrated her appreciation by placing the scarf on her head. In Saudi Arabia, it was a sweet, wordless gesture of friendship and mutual respect.


Yet to read and hear remarks over the past few days, you'd think Bush had organized a pilgrimage to the stoning fields. Remind me: When did rudeness work as a diplomatic strategy?


Not only were the facts concerning the scarf incorrectly stated in some cases, but in at least one instance, the alleged image was a retread. Sunday morning, when Chris Wallace interviewed Bush on Fox News, the cable program featured a photo of the first lady that the White House says was taken in 2005 at Israel's Western Wall.


On Monday, a column posted on The Jerusalem Post's Web site carried the headline, "Our World: Laura Bush's embrace of tyranny." Huh? Columnist Caroline Glick wrote that Bush's donning of the scarf and her visit in general were symbolically "deeply disturbing."


Glick's point, reiterated elsewhere throughout the blogosphere, was that Bush was effectively endorsing the subjugation of Saudi women by wearing the scarf.


Camel dust.


It's true, obviously, that Saudi women have few rights — though they do own 40 percent of businesses and 70 percent of the nation's savings accounts, according to U.S. Ambassador Ford M. Fraker.


And while we might find Saudi Arabia's Wahhabi brand of Islam off-putting, insulting Saudi women isn't likely to tilt their sympathies our way. The women with whom we met didn't convey much urgency in shedding the abaya.


Upper-class and royal Saudi women enjoy wearing Western styles when they travel and wear the abaya when they're at home. Would they — or their less privileged countrywomen — prefer to toss their black robes aside completely? Who knows? But of this much we can be certain: If Saudi women do decide to chuck their abayas, it won't be because Americans think they should.


That said, reform is in the air, thanks in part to these woman-to-woman encounters, and whatever changes eventually evolve will be helped by respectful exchanges such as those led by the first lady.


Other criticism of Bush's visit, meanwhile, has focused on her concentration only on breast cancer and not other women's issues.


First of all, the trip was specifically about the U.S.-Middle East Partnership for Breast Cancer Awareness and Research. Second, you don't win people's confidence by offending them. Finally, breast cancer in the Middle East is a woman's political issue.


Making breast cancer the centerpiece of what was fundamentally a diplomatic mission was frankly a savvy and calculated move. Whatever their flaws, Saudi men — like their American counterparts — do not want their wives, sisters, mothers and daughters to die of cancer. One thing leads to another and a woman's right to insist on health care to combat a deadly disease cannot be dismissed from broader rights and reforms.


In fact, breast cancer wasn't the only piece of Bush's mission. In Kuwait, four high school students participating in the U.S. State Department's English Access Microscholarships Program, part of the larger Middle East Partnership Initiative, spoke passionately about their experiences studying English, American culture and democratic principles.


The aim of the initiative, now in more than a dozen Arab countries, is to foster leadership development, economic growth, cultural understanding and women's empowerment. The Kuwaiti students, including two teenage girls, mentioned their newly gained sense of freedom and their hopes for a democratic future that sounded remarkably American.


If that's not successful diplomacy, I don't know what is.

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