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February 13, 2012
Binyamin Rose: Back to the Bunker: How a life-risking act by a Christian family during the Holocaust saved a family and built a thriving community a world away
Menachem Wecker: Business Schools Teach Real Estate Despite Troubled Housing Market
February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
March 22, 2004
/29 Adar, 5764
When political discourse misses the point
By Rabbi Y. Y. Rubinstein
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http://www.jewishworldreview.com |
The holiest place on earth to Jews is the Western Wall or Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. It's the last remaining part of Judaism's Temple, destroyed two thousand years ago, when the Jewish people were driven into exile. So to gaze at it, is to evoke centuries of suffering, persecution and pogroms.
Well anyway, a while ago, a husband and wife were praying at the wall and afterwards as they walked away, the wife asked her husband what he had prayed for. He told her and asked what she had prayed for. Then the wife asked her husband if he had Touched the wall while he'd prayed and he replied that he had not. "If you don't touch the wall," she said "Then your prayers won't get answered!" The husband told his wife that this was a load of rubbish and it didn't make any difference whether you touched the wall or not.
Well from these simple beginnings a loud and juicy argument ensued with each insisting that they were right! A Rabbi who had been listening …you really couldn't help listening…. decided to interrupt.
"I hope you don't mind me interrupting, but it's really not a question of whether you touched the wall. It's a question of whether the wall touched you."

And the whole world, yes, the whole world, has been more than touched by the sickening butchery that took place in Spain just a few days ago. Whether Jew or Gentile, Christian or Muslim and for whatever reason or grievance, lets make one thing very clear, the perpetrators of such acts are terrorists…vicious, evil, terrorists; not militants or extremists they are terrorists.
Anyone who targets innocent civilians is a terrorist. It makes no difference whether the victim is sitting in a pub in Birmingham, walking along the road in Belfast, sitting in an office in New York or travelling on a Plane a Bus or a Train. Whether Jew or Gentile, Christian or Muslim from other faiths or none, their crime is simply being an innocent person in the wrong place at the wrong time.
And if some voices invite you to try understand Why the people who do these things do them, I invite you not to.
Of course terrorists have reasons for doing what they do, avenging another injustice or trying to engineer a political outcome. But if they do it by targeting innocent people simply travelling to work, children and grown ups Jew or Gentile Christian or Muslim then they deserve no sympathy and no understanding.
And if the whole world, yes, the whole world, has been touched by the slaughter yet again, of so many innocents, then no sympathy and understanding is what they'll get. Only a determination to oppose them and all that they stand for, which is the killing of innocent people.
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JWR contributor Rabbi Y. Y. Rubinstein, an international lecturer, is a commentator for the British
Broadcasting Company (BBC). He was cited by the U.K. paper, Independent, as being among the five
most regarded people in the Britain to turn to for advice. Comment by clicking here.
© 2004, Rabbi Y. Y. Rubinstein
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