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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 May 1, 2008 / 26 Nissan 5768

Obama throwing Wright under the bus

By Michael Barone


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | On Monday, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright spoke at the National Press Club in Washington, with nationwide reverberations. On Tuesday, Barack Obama denounced Wright and his statements. Judging from the talk I've been hearing from Democratic insiders since Wright's Monday speech, Obama did what he had to do. But the problem remains. Obama has now taken two positions on Wright. March 13: No, I cannot disown him. April 29: Yes, I can. Left still unanswered is the question: How can the man we heard deliver that speech in July 2004 about what unites us—in which his strongest line was "in the blue states we worship an awesome G-d"—how could that Barack Obama have attended the church of that Rev. Jeremiah Wright for 20 years? And not just attended: He and his wife contributed more than $20,000 to the church. It just doesn't add up. It undercuts Obama's very appealing theme of bridging divisions in our society.

I think this is going to be a continuing problem for Obama. As I suggested several weeks ago, it threatens especially to dampen the support Obama has won from young voters—the millennial generation. He has brought them out in great and unexpected numbers to vote for him in primaries and caucuses. It's not clear he will be able to do that in the general election—and the argument that he can has been one that has had weight with many Democratic superdelegates.

My column earlier this week looked at other problems Obama has as a general-election candidate. Polling shows him making a stronger race against John McCain in some important states, notably Colorado (nine electoral votes). But it has also shown him weaker than Clinton in some others, especially Florida (27 electoral votes). As I note in the column:

In 2000, Al Gore won 67 percent of the vote in Broward County and 62 percent in Palm Beach County—both have large Jewish populations. In this year's Florida primary, Obama lost those counties to Clinton by 57 percent to 33 percent and 61 percent to 27 percent. No Democrat can carry Florida without big margins in Broward and Palm Beach.

Let me set out those numbers a little more fully. In 2000, the Gore-Lieberman ticket carried Broward County by 209,821 votes and Palm Beach County by 116,790. Its next-highest popular-vote margin in a county was 39,293 in Miami-Dade, followed by 22,371 in Leon (Tallahassee). The final count showed Gore trailing by 537 votes. In 2004, John Kerry's margin in Broward was 209,199 and in Palm Beach 115,999. He lost the state. His next-biggest popular-vote margins in counties were 48,637 in Miami-Dade and 32,258 in Leon. Kerry lost the state by 380,978 votes.

Obvious lesson: No Democrat can carry Florida without large popular-vote margins in Broward and Palm Beach counties. Or even come close. There's just no other county in Florida where a Democrat can win by anything like such a large margin. And without overwhelming support from Jewish voters, no Democrat can win big popular-vote margins in Broward and Palm Beach. Obama's weakness among Democratic primary voters is apparent from the results in Massachusetts (check out Newton), New York (look at Manhattan or Westchester County), California (look at the totals in the West Side and San Fernando Valley districts in Los Angeles County), and Pennsylvania (look at Montgomery County). My Democratic sources with close knowledge of Jewish voters in these areas believe that Obama has real problems there.

Footnote. A regular reader sends along the link to a June 2007 Chicago Sun-Times article about Obama's electrifying speech to the national meeting of the United Church of Christ in Hartford. The last two paragraphs are interesting:

Obama made several references to the 9,000-member South Side Chicago church to which he belongs. Trinity UCC is a church that still believes in altar calls. Obama, the son of Muslim and Christian parents, answered that call as a young man, mentored by Trinity's pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

Wright was in Chicago Saturday but offered a videotaped introduction of the senator. During his talk, Obama received three standing ovations and, at the end, was cheered for nearly three minutes.

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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JWR contributor Michael Barone is a columnist at U.S. News & World Report. Comment by clicking here.




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