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February 22, 2012
Warren Richey: How Supreme Court ruling on Texas could reduce affirmative action across US
Philip Moeller: Hard time determining your current and future savings needs --- and even harder still, executing a plan? Here's what to do about it!
Menachem Wecker: In Tough Job Market, Law Grads Use J.D.s for Nonlegal Work
February 21, 2012
Michael Doyle: Supreme Court to hear arguments on whether a lie is protected speech
Neela Banerjee: NSC wants rules on research that could lead to biological weapons
Fred Weir: Fearing West, Putin pledges biggest military buildup since cold war
February 17, 2012
Kristen Chick: After surviving sectarian mob, Egyptian Christians expelled from village
Eryn Brown: Microchip is a new means of medicating
February 16, 2012
SeaWorld of Pain : Watch Wyatt Cenac, a black comic, confront "whale freedom rider" Lisa Lange of PETA and make her squirm ( LENGTH: 5 minutes)
Jason Koebler: Antibiotics Do Nothing to Cure Sinus Infections, Study Says
February 15, 2012
Jeffrey Fleishman: Women were at the vanguard in the protests that ousted Hosni Mubarak. Meet some who refuse to wake up from their dream --- the mullahs and military be damned
Richard Simon: 'The check is in the mail' could soon be a legal excuse
Liz Bowie: Debate on whether cursive writing should still be taught
Jason Koebler: Super Plants: Could Re-Wired Plants Be the New Cancer Killers?
Susan Johnston: Strategies to preempt unwanted calls or other communication from collectors
February 14, 2012
Dennis Prager: Chris Christie on Israel --- and What It Means to Be a Leader
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: Shariah's police? Interpol's honoring of Saudi warrant could lead to arrest of Americans
The Kosher Gourmet by Matt Armendariz: VEGETABLE CRUMBLE is a simple, satisfying dish of tender eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes and onions crowned with a savory buttery topping and a sprinkle of fresh herbs
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
Give Your Rabbi a Break
Rabbi Dov Fischer
Every time I meet a rabbi or pastor who now is a full-time stock broker, a realtor, an entrepreneur with a storefront business or an export-import firm (not to mention a lawyer, an accountant, or even a therapist) — and I ask why they left the rabbinate — the answer typically is the same
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Rabbi Sidney Applebaum of Cong. Beth Judah in Brooklyn, the shul where I grew up, used to say from his pulpit that he waits all year to deliver the sermon for the Torah potion of Korach.
In Korach, we encounter jealous relatives of Moses and his brother, Aaron the High Priest, as those malcontents stir up a rebellion of broader disaffection among the Jews. Two recurring agitators, Dasan and Aviram, emerge rapidly as two supportive ringleaders from outside the family, and they soon craft a coalition of 250 prominent leaders among the three million Jews of the Wilderness, who also want a piece of the action.
So the political rebellion picks up steam. Instead of the obvious and true reasons for the rebellion — Korach is jealous that Moses is the political leader, Aaron the leading theological personage, while other relatives in the Tribe of Levi seem overlooked for power, prestige, glory, and fame — the political uprising now can be presented as a wider spread sociological upheaval. Dasan and Aviram, non-Levites, clearly are not "in it" for family jealousy. And now, with 250 "respectable leaders" clamoring for their slice of the pie, suddenly Moses is confronted with a real political mess. "You take too much [authority] for yourselves," the defiant ringleaders proclaim. (Numbers 16:1-3).
Moses is not a politician, and there is no one more modest and humble than he. (Numbers 12:3) He is not made of the stuff of politics and power-seeking, and he would be only too happy to remain in private life.(Exodus 3:11, 4:10) He has no ambition to fight for political survival and, frankly, would walk away from it all if G0d would allow it. (Deut. 1:12) Ultimately, it takes a miracle from G0d to maintain Moses' position. (16:31-32).
Politics can be a terrible thing. Although there seems no system for governing large assemblages of people that offers more hope and possibility than self-governance through democratically elected institutions that vie freely for the support of the public, politics also brings out the worst in many. In America, Democrats find fault in virtually everything that George Bush — take your pick — ever did or said. Republicans find fault in virtually everything pertaining to or emanating from Bill Clinton or Barack Obama. Regardless whether one is liberal or conservative, or somewhere else along the political continuum, party politics often becomes cynical and appalling. Although government of the people, by the people, and for the people offers the greatest hope and the most freedom of any system, politics also can poison the soul. Just turn on the news — cable networks like MSNBC, Fox, or CNN, or the original networks. And think of Israel, with more than a dozen such parties.
In thirty years of public life, sometimes I have misspoken or mispronounced a word, even uttered a grammatical malapropism. Sometimes because I was tired, sometimes because my mind was racing three paragraphs ahead of what I was saying. However, I am not famous, rarely am video-recorded, and thus have survived.
As venomous as secular politics can be when partisans engage in character assassination to vie for power and prestige, the matter becomes so much more dispiriting when Korach-style politics comes into the synagogue or church. A new pastor is hired, or a rabbi or cantor, and the search committee's opposing minority vows that she will never have a day's peace.
Soon , the cynics are "making lists," and there begins a very tragic congregational descent into what might be termed "the other kind of clergy abuse." How well selected does the pastor select his ties? Does the rabbi iron her skirt, or can satellite images from outer space detect wrinkles? And when will she stop arriving at services only on time, when the list-makers demand that she always arrive five minutes early?
This is what touched the very core of Rabbi Applebaum, who actually was loved and served his congregation with love — and had a lifetime contract. He had seen destructive efforts advanced against some of his closest colleagues and friends through many forms and vehicles, as list-makers slandered, meandered through the weekly Kiddush collation while spreading criticisms, and built social alliances through carpools, coffee klatches, bowling matches, and poker games.
Moses and Aaron the High Priest held power without mobilizing voters to stand with them. They did not campaign or take polls. They did not engage in "spin" or "damage control." Rather, G0d opened the mouth of the earth, and it swallowed the rebellious. No chads to count.
But JWR contributor Rabbi Berel Wein, in his Tending the Vineyard, notes that the phenomenon does not always end that neatly. Nor is this tragic phenomenon unique to the Jewish people — and we do owe it to ourselves to recognize that, too. G. Lloyd Rediger makes that clear in Clergy Killers: Guidance for Pastors and Congregations Under Attack, as does Kenneth Haugk in Antagonists in the Church. In literature, stage, and screen, one is reminded of even more tragic figures: Sir Thomas More ("A Man for All Seasons") and St. Thomas Beckett, for example. Even outside the House of Worship context, the late Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg wondered whether more of our six million martyrs might have been saved during the 1940s if some of our secular organizations had not similarly been plagued by organizational politics.
To this day, every time I meet a rabbi or pastor who now is a full-time stock broker, a realtor, an entrepreneur with a storefront business or an export-import firm (not to mention a lawyer, an accountant, or even a therapist) — and I ask why they left the rabbinate — the answer typically is the same. It was not to leave to make more money, although they now do earn more. He did not lose his passion to serve G0d or to pastor a flock. Rather, "I just couldn't take the politics anymore."
Thank G0d, Moses had G0d to steer him through the Korach rebellion with seismic support. Otherwise, if Moses and Aaron had needed to hit the Sunday talk show circuits, we might never have made it to the Promised Land
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Comment by clicking here. JWR contributor Rabbi Dov Fischer is an adjunct professor of law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles and serves as the rabbi of Young Israel of Orange County.
© 2010, Rabbi Dov Fischer
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