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May 24, 2013

Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb: When I didn't so 'humbly disagree'

Caroline B. Glick: Thank you, Hafez al-Assad

Diana West: From the Brooklyn Bridge to London
Morgan Housel: Why spotting bubbles is so much harder than you think

Environmental Nutrition editors: NuVal labeling to the rescue?

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Memorial Day: Jews Serving and KIA in War on Terror; Liberace Bio-Pic; Jew Wins "Survivor"; Shalom, Dr. Brothers; More

The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen: HIDE THESE FROZEN TREATS FROM THE KIDDIES!: Sangria pops; Irish cream pudding pops; mango Lassi pops

May 22, 2013

John Thorne: They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman

John Rosemond: 'Disciplinary math' adds up to parental successl

Warren Richey: Are prayers before public meetings OK? Supreme Court to decide
Rick Montgomery: Use of ADHD drugs as study aid raises concern on campuses

Brierley Wright, M.S., R.D.: 6 convincing reasons you should keep carbs in your diet

Eoin O'Carroll: Scientists examine nothing, find something

The Kosher Gourmet by Carole Kotkin: This soup is made from one of the great pleasures of spring: A wonderful pairing of rosy color and earthy tang

May 20, 2013

Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?

Hannan Adely: Town raises Palestinian flag at City Hall

Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Morgan Housel: When smart investors do stupid things

Sharon Saloman, M.S., R.D.: Hunger games: Eat more, weigh less, without starving

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star

The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting

May 13, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation

David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church

Emily Alpert: Recession dragged down birth rates for less-educated women
Morgan Housel: The deep downside of home ownership

Peter Teffer: Will Dutch police soon be stalking cybercriminals on your computer?

Heidi McIndoo, M.S., R.D.: Meatless 'meat' can have its own set of problems

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Celebrate! This must-try appetizer is delicate yet has depth of flavor: Corn-Leek Cakes with Caviar, Smoked Salmon and Creme Fraiche

May 10, 2013

Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be

Caroline B. Glick: The dirty little secret about Israel's Arabs

Mona Charen: Hawking's Moral Calculus: The man and the movement he embraces
Morgan Housel: The biggest retirement myth ever told

Sandi Doughton: Eyes may provide new insight into brain problems

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : The Great Gatsby's Jewish Ties; Jews in the "Time 100 list" List; People's Most Beautiful Women

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: A sweet-hot meal: Pear salsa spices up salmon

May 8, 2013

Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas

Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate

Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
Amanda Paulson: Study reveals sad truths about community colleges

Harvard Health Letters: Evidence weak that zinc, echinacea are beneficial

The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility

May 6, 2013

Edmund Sanders and Patrick J. McDonnell: Think Israel's objective in Syria is to weaken Assad or embolden the rebels? Think again

Brian Bennett: Israeli airstrikes may show weakness in Syrian defense

Michael Ollove: Millions of ex-felons, parolees and those on probation are about to be entitled to tax-payer paid health coverage
Karen Kaplan: Most men can skip PSA test for prostate cancer, urologists say

Kimberly Lankford: How to track down a lost life insurance policy

Dream of Mars exploration achievable, experts say

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan M. Selasky: EGGPLANT WRAPS are an easy, sumptuous and scrumptious meal

May 3, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Human Courage and the Unavoidable, Disturbing Text

Steven Emerson: Attorney General Fights CAIR in Court, Lauds it in Public

Mediterranean diet helps beat dementia: study
Harvard Health Letters: When to be screened for a hearing problem

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Iron Man's Jewish Connections; Marc Maron's New TV Show; Martin Landau Grows Up with Israel; Shalom, Allan Arbus

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: A sweet surprise for Mother's Day dessert

May 1, 2013

Jonathan Rosenblum: An Improbable Journey to Orthodoxy

Jonathan Tobin: Blame Obama, Not Israel for Syria Push

Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Halena M. Gazelka, M.D.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: What you need to know about implanted pain relief devices

Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine

Jessica Shugart: When it comes to math, MRIs may be better than IQs

The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: The celebrated chef on how high-maintenance ASPARAGUS RISOTTO need not be

April 29, 2013

Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust

Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?

Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Morgan Housel: He's rich, smart and old: Listen to him

Thomas Salinas, D.D.S.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: The safety of amalgam fillings

Harvard Health Letters: Tomatoes and stroke protection

Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Swing into spring with lemon cream pie

April 26, 2013

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: The world is a mirror

Caroline B. Glick: Time to confront Obama

Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Kimberly Lankford: New strategies ease pain of paying for long-term care insurance

Howard LeWine, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Too much ibuprofen?

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Jewish Major Leaguers, 2013; New Movies and Comedy Show; Shalom, 'Lumpy' (Leave it to Beaver)

The Kosher Gourmet by Emily Ho : A bright and cheerful salad to herald the warmer months ahead

April 24, 2013

Steven Emerson: Boston Bomber Exposes Islamist Secret

Morgan Housel Admit it: No one has any idea what's going on
Harvard Health Letters: Can you get headaches from headache medication?

Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D.: How to easily get more Omega-3s in your diet

Melissa Healy: Pot in a pill: All the pain relief without the smoke

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan Russo: Chipotle Chili Butternut Squash Soup is bold, zesty, hot

April 22, 2013

Ken Dilanian: Counterterrorism's future is unclear

US man departing country arrested on terror charges
Barbara Williams: An unorthodox but growing treatment in a 9-year-old's battle against cancer

P.J. Skerrett, M.D.: How to recognize a good whole grain product

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Teen actor Jonah Bobo in New Flick: Hunky James Wolk on Mad Men; Erich Segal's Daughter Writes Prize-Winning Jewish Novel


Jewish World Review December 28, 2007 / 19 Teves 5768

Leadership and rebellion

By Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo


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Moses as a role model for moderns

Greatness isn't cultivated on a mountain top!


http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Leadership is one of the most difficult tasks for man to accomplish. It requires a rare combination of wisdom, courage, knowledge and experience. Very few people possess such qualities and even fewer know the art of combining them in a balanced way. When looking into the personality of Moses we are confronted with an astonishing story how he became fit to what must be seen as the most challenging leadership role in man's history: to liberate a few million slaves from an anti-Semitic dictatorship and transform them into a nation of G-d with the task to teach all of mankind the highest level of ethics.


We might think that to be able to inspire a few million people one would need the best religious education available, and only the finest teachers would do. There would also be the need to be holy, and no doubt this would require a well-protected environment in which outside heretical ideologies do not penetrate and in which secularity plays no role. Only under such conditions could one develop into a man who one day would be great enough to have an encounter with G-d and receive His teachings. But in reading the story of Moses, we are confronted with a different truth.


When Moses, for the first time, leaves the palace of Pharaoh to visit his own enslaved brothers, he is confronted with the hard realities of life. Right in front of him an Egyptian strikes a Hebrew, possibly with the intention to kill him. Without any hesitation Moses approaches the Egyptian, smites him and buries him in the ground.


Reflecting on the fact that Moses has just left the home of Pharaoh in which he was raised for many years, we wonder what went through Moses's mind. Whose side was he going to take? Raised in the world of Egyptian culture, receiving instruction from the elite of Egyptian educators, possibly receiving private tutelage from Pharaoh himself to prepare him for the monarchy of Egypt in years to come, Moses must have seen the Egyptian as a compatriot. This was a man of his own culture! Why take any action against him? On the other hand, Moses must have had warm feelings towards the Jew, in spite of the fact that Jews were total foreigners to him. After all, "he came to see his brothers," and so he must have been aware, perhaps only subconscious, of the fact that he was of Jewish stock however far removed he was from anything Jewish. Psychologists would no doubt raise the question whether Moses was not confronted with the problem of "dual loyalties." How would he be able to decide? Was he an Hebrew or an Egyptian?


A deeper reading of the verses may, however, give us some insight. "And he (Moses) turned this way and that way, and he saw there was no man, and he smote the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. (Exodus 2:12) As suggested by an unknown commentator, this may allude, albeit in an allegorical way, to the condition of Moses's mind: Moses suddenly realized that he lived in two worlds. While his youth was spent in the world of all that Egypt had to offer as far as culture, knowledge, art and religion was concerned, his heart was somewhere else. Deep down there was a Jewish voice speaking to him making demands on him which opposed everything Egypt stood for. It is for this reason that "he looked this way and that way." He realized that he stood at a crossroads in his life, and he realized that "there was no man" i.e. that as long he did not make up his mind to which world he belonged he was no man of any character or strength. He therefore "smote the Egyptian" man within himself and buried him in the sand.


It is this decision which turned the world on its head and which steered mankind in a completely different direction. This decision, "taken within a moment" is possibly the most radical decision ever made in human history causing mankind, Jews and gentiles, to put G-d at the center of their life. But no doubt Moses must have realized that by making an end to his ambivalent situation, he would be destroying all of his future. He would never be the new monarch of Egypt, he would surely turn the whole of Egypt against him, and he would no doubt become a wanderer and refugee without money and with no future.


It is only after this heroic act that G-d reveals Himself to Moses at the Burning Bush. Only such a man can be a leader. It had to be a man who was raised in a foreign world which was committed to the dolization of a human being and in which morality played no role, that the most outstanding leader of G-d's nation had to emerge. To become a leader one must be a fighter, and no fight takes place without war. It was the "rebel within" which made Moses into the leader of a nation whose function it is to fight and protest.


True, this should not mean that one should expose children to all sorts of anti-religious philosophies so as to make them into strong. Most people do not posses the immense spiritual strength of Moses with the capacity of utilizing secular external influences as catalysts to create spiritual power. This is only true for the very few. But it definitely means that real greatness is only accomplished through boldness and the willingness to fight.

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JWR contributor Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo is a world-renowned lecturer and ambassador for Judaism, the Jewish people, the State of Israel and Sephardic Heritage. Comment by clicking here.


© 2007, Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo