Oct. 13, 2008 Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The Happiness Quotient Jonathan Rosenblum: Ignore the Grandchildren Oct. 10, 2008 Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: The limitations of scientific miracles Caroline B. Glick: Lebanon on the brink --- and why it matters Oct. 8, 2008 Rabbi Berel Wein: The day when the sane talk to themselves Ana Veciana-Suarez: Many nonobservant Jews are finding religion Oct. 7, 2008 Gary Rosenblatt: Of politics and prayer Caroline B. Glick: The ironies of the West's collusion with the Arabs and Iran Oct. 6, 2008 Rabbi Yitzchok R. Rubin: Mamma to the masses Jonathan Tobin: Ahmadinejad Isn't Too Impressed Oct. 3, 2008 Rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz: The 'living dead' are all around us Caroline B. Glick: Olmert's parting blows Oct. 2, 2008 The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q: Often customers looking for our competitor accidentally enter our store. Can we just serve them without comment? Jonathan Tobin: Jewish pundit quiz on next year's news Sept. 29, 2008 Rabbi Eli Gewirtz: Lehman Brothers and the Day of Judgment Rabbi Leiby Burnham: Apples, Honey and You Sept. 26, 2008 Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The shofar and the Echo of Sinai Caroline B. Glick: A road paved on reality Sept. 24, 2008 Greg Crosby: Home for the Holy Days Ethel G. Hofman: Rosh Hashanah Favorites: Old-fashioned taste, reduced calories Sept. 23, 2008 Caroline Glick: Liberalism or lives!? Michael Ledeen: Dear President Ahmadinejad Sept. 22, 2008 The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q: I gave a check to a local merchant, but it hasn't been cashed in months. Probably they lost it. Do I have to tell them? Diana West: We are losing Europe to Islam Sept. 19, 2008 Rabbi Berel Wein: On harvesting success Caroline B. Glick: It is time to act Sept. 18, 2008 Rabbi Hillel Goldberg: Is camping the panacea to save Jewry from self-destruction? Craig Gordon: Was SNL hilarity too much for Hillary? Sept. 17, 2008 Jonathan Tobin: The Whole World Is Watching The Kosher Gourmet By Linda Gassenheimer: East meets Southwest in this quick meal: MEXICAN-ASIAN TOSTADOS Sept. 16, 2008 Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. : Into the fire Everything's Relative : Your Official Jewish Guide to the 2008 USA Presidential Election Sept. 15, 2008 The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Enabling risky behavior Diana West: A day that will live in ... accommodating Islam Sept. 11, 2008 Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The skeleton in my closet Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein: Persecution and systematic destruction of Christians in the Middle East must be stopped Sept. 10, 2008 Jonathan Tobin: There's Something About Sarah The Kosher Gourmet by Kathy Manweiler: Who needs Chili's when you have these? Recipes for Mexican that taste great and are dietetic! Our commitment to freedom Sept. 9, 2008 Daniel Pipes: Must counterinsurgency wars fail? Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Sept. 8, 2008 The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: How far must one go to help somebody out of a contract? Barry Rubin: Waiting For Something Sept. 8, 2008 The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : How far must one go to help somebody out of a contract? Barry Rubin: Waiting For Something 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 What does ‘doing the right thing’ entail? By Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski How to be good and do good “Righteousness, righteousness shall you pursue.”                         —   Deut. 16:20 http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | The great Chassidic master Rebbe Simchah Bunim of P'shis'che observes that the repetition of the word ''righteousness'' means that one should pursue righteousness with righteousness. We may not use unjust methods even in the interest of a just cause. The end does not justify the means In commerce, good and bad are determined by outcome. Profit is good, loss is bad. If someone undertakes a project in a helter-skelter manner and ends up with a windfall profit, he is a good businessman. If someone does a careful market analysis, uses every bit of caution in setting up his business and goes bankrupt, he is a bad businessman. It is unfortunate that our preoccupation with commerce has resulted in our personal lives being influenced by commercial standards. We often evaluate ethical good and bad by results rather than by process. Rabbi Chaim Shmulevitz, the late dean of the Mirrer Yeshiva of Jerusalem, cites the incident where Moses chastised the High Priest, Aaron, for burning a sacrificial offering against his instructions. Aaron argued that Moses may have erred in understanding the Divine commandment. Moses conceded that Aaron was right. ''You are right. G-d had indeed commanded as you said, but I had forgotten'' (Leviticus 10:20, Zevachim 101b). Rabbi Shmulevitz points out that Moses was faced with a dilemma. Inasmuch as he was the sole conduit of G-d's word, to admit that he had forgotten something and erred would have placed the authenticity of the entire Torah (Bible) in jeopardy unto eternity. ''If Moses could err in this, where else might he have erred?'' It would perhaps be better if he said to Aaron, ''What I instructed you was right.'' Moses decided that he had only one responsibility: to tell the truth, whatever the consequences may be. Preserving the authenticity of the Torah was G-d's problem, not his. His duty was to tell the truth. There is an interesting question that arises from a unique halachah, Jewish law. The Talmud states that in a case of capital punishment, if all seventy-one judges of the Sanhedrin (Supreme Court) vote ''guilty,'' the case is dismissed. The rationale is that the cross-examination of the eyewitness was so meticulous that a minor discrepancy in the testimony was usually found, and this was enough to invalidate the testimony. Therefore, if the testimony coincided so perfectly that there was not even the slightest difference between the two so that not even one of the seventy-one judges could vote ''not guilty,'' this was ample reason to believe that the witnesses had been carefully rehearsed and that the accusation and testimony was set-up. The votes of the Sanhedrin were oral rather than by secret ballot. The question arises, suppose that seventy judges vote ''guilty,'' and the seventy-first judge happens to feel that the defendant was not guilty. If he casts a ''guilty'' vote, then the rule that a unanimous guilty verdict results in acquittal will apply, and his opinion that the defendant is not guilty will be implemented. However, if he votes ''not guilty,'' then there is no unanimous vote of ''guilty,'' and the verdict will be that of the majority: guilty. Should this last judge, therefore, vote ''guilty'' in order to achieve the acquittal that he believes to be just? The Ohr HaChaim says that the last judge must vote his opinion of ''not guilty,'' even though that will result in the opposite of what he believes to be just. Why? Because a person is obligated to speak the truth as he sees it, rather than consider the result. According to Torah ethics, the process must be righteous, because it is the process that lies in human hands. Results are up to G-d. Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes inspiring articles. Sign up for our daily update. It's free. Just click here. Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski, M.D. is a psychiatrist and ordained rabbi. He is the founder of the Gateway Rehabilitation Center in Pittsburgh, a leading center for addiction treatment. An Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, he is a prolific author, with some 30 books to his credit, including, "Twerski on Chumash" (Bible), from which this was excerpted (Sales of this book help fund JWR). Comment by clicking here. © 2004, Mesorah Publications, Ltd.