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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

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: 'Noodles,' Asian style is a carb sub, sure. But they are also amazingly delicious and colorful

April 19, 2013

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: When violence seems the only answer

Caroline B. Glick: Why Obama's visit to Israel had no impact on public opinion or government policy

Morgan Housel: Gold collapse: The start of something big?
Harvard Health Letters: Can you die of a broken heart?

Pete Spotts: Livable super-Earths? Two candidates among Kepler's latest finds

Nora Schultz: Oxytocin helps beat booze cravings

The Kosher Gourmet by Carole Kotkin: Middle Eastern cuisine meets Italian delicious with this lentil and eggplant pastitsio

April 17, 2013

Shira Rubin: Too much of a good thing? 'Palestinians' realize downside of foreign aid boom

Geoffrey Mohan: Can computers decode dreams? Researchers take a first step

Morgan Housel: BAD NEWS: EVERYONE IS RIGHT!
Brierley Wright, M.S., R.D.: 6 heart-healthy eating tips help cut saturated fat but not taste

Michael Craig Miller, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Told your child has sensory processing disorder? Seek a second opinion

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Corn and Curry Add Zing to Chilled Soup

April 15, 2013

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The Death of Education?

Kristen Chick: Egyptian Christians respond with harsh words to attack -- rocks, Molotov cocktails, and gunfire -- against main cathedral

Marcy Darnovsky and Karuna Jaggar: High Court to decide if you should own your DNA
Howard LaFranchi: US bracing for more Russian blowback after taking action against 18 more human rights violators

Kristin Ohlson : The loneliest fight

The Kosher Gourmet by Dana Velden: A tasty, rich dish that hints at spring's arrival while still anchored in a favorite winter staple


Jewish World Review Dec. 24, 2008 / 27 Kislev 5769

Our movies and ourselves: What will you be watching this holiday weekend?

By Don Feder


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | A friend told me: "Show me a list of a person's favorite movies and I'll tell you what he believes — including his politics." Another said he could pretty much tell how someone felt about America by his reaction to John Wayne movies.


I'm inclined to think that cinema shapes reality far more than reflects it. But the type of movies we are drawn to reveals our worldview — provides a map of our inner selves.


The left adores films that are anti-American, anti-faith, politically correct, paranoid, cynical and nihilistic. In the past few years, the critics have salivated over trash like, "No Country for Old Men," "There Will Be Blood," "Million Dollar Baby," "The Departed," "Atonement," and - most recently - "Batman: the Dark Knight."


Movies that reflect middle-class norms and Judeo-Christian values are derided as dull, clichéd, unrealistic, simplistic and saccharine,


An over-the-top example of the left's disdain for normalcy is the piece by City Editor Wendell Jamieson in the December 19 New York Times ("Wonderful? Sorry, George, It's a Pitiful, Dreadful Life") in which the writer takes a sledge hammer, a chainsaw and a flame-thrower to "It's a Wonderful Life."


The Capra classic is #11 on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 best American movies -- just behind "Singin' in the Rain" and ahead of "Sunset Boulevard." It was Frank Capra's favorite film and Jimmy Stewart's favorite role.


Movie maven Roger Ebert observes: "What is remarkable about 'It's a Wonderful Life' is how well it holds up over the years. It's one of those ageless movies, like 'Casablanca' or 'The Third Man' that improves with age. Some movies, even good ones, should be seen only once. When we know how they turn out, they've surrendered their mystery and appeal. Other movies can be viewed an indefinite number of times. Like great music, they improve with familiarity. 'It's a Wonderful Life' falls in the second category."


Until exclusive broadcast rights were acquired by NBC in 1994, it was shown dozens of times during the holiday season each year. As a Christmas movie (that wasn't intended to be a Christmas movie), it was more popular than "Miracle on 34th Street and "A Christmas Carol."


Generations of fans have been charmed and inspired by its gentle humor, pathos, humanity and life-affirming story.


The storyline, for those who haven't seen it: A sense of duty compels small-town George Bailey (Stewart's character) to give up his dreams of greatness in the wide world, to save the Bailey Building and Loan and help residents of Bedford Falls achieve their modest dreams of home ownership.


In the process, he marries the woman he's always loved, has four adorable (if at times irascible) children, makes a crucial contribution to the community and builds a wonderful life for himself.


A crisis and the prospect of disgrace and imprisonment drive him to despair and the verge of suicide. Enter his befuddled guardian angel, who brings him to a true understanding of his worth, by showing him what the world around him would have been like if he'd never been born (his wish while standing on a bridge contemplating a plunge in the icy water below).


Jamieson -- and, presumably, The Times — finds "It's a Wonderful Life," "a terrifying, asphyxiating story about growing up and relinquishing your dreams, of seeing your father driven to the grave before his time, of living among bitter, small-minded people. It is a story of being trapped, of compromising, of watching others move ahead and away, of becoming so filled with rage that you verbally abuse your children, their teacher and your oppressively perfect wife."


In other words -- follow your dream, even if it leads you to a life filled with material success that's spiritually impoverished, and others suffer in the process?


The elite thinks bitterness and narrowness are the defining characteristics of small-town America.


If the hicks are mean-spirited and all that, why do the cities have much higher rates of homicide, suicide, alcohol and drug abuse and other social pathologies than the sticks?


For George Bailey, Jamieson tells us, "disappointments pile up." He's the "pathetic older sibling," who's "emasculated when his bad hearing keeps him out of World War II." Finally, "all the decades of anger boil to the surface" and George "explodes" with justifiable rage. Liberals are big on rage - anger being a sign of authenticity.


Jamieson would probably look at "Casablanca" and say, "It's a story about a disillusioned drunk who's manipulated by his ex-girlfriend, in the midst of municipal corruption."


According to Jamieson, Bailey's also a chump for sacrificing his happiness for those around him.


Not that the left is opposed to sacrifice in all cases. When it's for "racial justice," the downtrodden, spotted owls, the planet, the Kennedys — liberals are very much in favor of self-abnegation. It's sacrifice for family, friends, community and country that it finds incomprehensible.


Two things are worth noting about the way Jamieson sees Stewart's alternate reality - when George Bailey glimpses a world without him, and Bedford Falls transmogrifies into Pottersville.


The fate of George's family and friends is meant to show his positive impact on the lives of those around him. Instead, Jamieson draws a negative lesson.


The writer condescendingly observes: "Now as for that famous alternate reality sequence: This is supposedly what the town would turn out to be if not for George. I interpret it instead as showing the true characters of these individuals, their venal internal selves stripped bare." Thus "flirty Violet" becomes a tart, gruff but loveable Bert is maniac cop, and Ernie the cabbie is lonely and chronically depressed. How liberals love to psychoanalyze.


The Talmud tells us we all have two natures (the good inclination and the evil inclination) struggling for dominance. Sometimes all it takes is an act of kindness, or a good example, to push us in the right direction.


Jamieson's other bit of brilliance is when he smugly admits that he prefers Pottersville (a honky-tonk hell) to prosaic Bedford Falls.


Pottersville "looks like much more fun than stultifying Bedford Falls - the women are hot, the music swings, and the fun times go on all night. If anything, Pottersville captures just the sort of excitement George had long been seeking." Why then is he horrified by this vision? Our hero wanted to see the world and design buildings, not wallow in the gutter.


Apparently, it's irrelevant that George's wife becomes a mousey, spinster librarian, his mother is a bitter, dried-up hag who runs a dilapidated boarding house, Uncle Billy loses his marbles when the Building and Loan fails and ends up in the loony bin, the pharmacist, Mr. Gower, goes to prison for accidentally poisoning a child, and all of the men on a transport ship die in a kamikaze attack because brother Harry wasn't there to save them (because George wasn't there to save him when he fell through the ice as a child), and so on.


But then, what are a score of ruined lives compared to the babes and rock-around-the-clock action of Pottersville? By the way, it's interesting that a sophisticate like Jamieson finds gambling, fast women, bright lights and blaring music among life's most delightful experiences.


The great lesson of "It's a Wonderful Life": Each life is special. Be we ever so humble, there's no one like us. We actually can make the world a better place — or, in the words of the angel Clarence: "Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?"


The great lesson of liberalism: There are no great lessons — no absolutes. Life is meaningless. Other than self-gratification and various causes (anodynes to make us forget our hopelessness) our lives serve no purpose.


Because this perspective is so relentlessly bleak, the left is driven to spread the pain — that is, to make the rest of us miserable too. Hence their urge to tax, control, regulate and order our existence down to the minutest detail.


But aren't liberals compassionate and charitable? Only in movies. In real life, it's conservatives who walk on the Bailey side of the street, and liberals who are more like mean, old Mr. Potter — the wheelchair-bound misanthrope and control freak.


In 2006, Arthur C. Brooks, a professor at Syracuse University, wrote "Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism." Brooks found the following:


Although liberal families on average have incomes 6% above those headed by conservatives, the latter give 30% more to charity than the former ($1,600 against $1,227).


Conservatives also do more volunteer work. And, they are more likely to give blood. (When it comes to blood, the left believes it's more blessed to take than to give -- especially at tax time.)


In 2004, John Kerry took only one of the 25 states where charitable giving is above the national average. Bush won the other 24.


Of the 10 reddest states (which Bush won by more than 60%), on average, charitable giving, as a percentage of income, is 3.5 percent — almost double the average in the states Kerry carried by the same margin — 1.9%.


But the left is like Henry Potter in another important way. Potter owned just about everything else in Bedford Falls, but was driven to distraction because he couldn't get his grasping hands on the Bailey Building and Loan.


Like Lionel Barrymore's character, the left wants it all. It owns Hollywood, most newspapers, national news magazines and network news departments, except for FOX.


That's not enough. Like sour, covetous Mr. Potter, it plots and schemes endlessly to control or destroy the one medium it doesn't dominate -- talk radio. Potter had a bank-run and a stolen deposit working in his favor. Liberals have the Fairness Doctrine, which they mean to resurrect in the next Congress.


But, I digress. We are drawn to movies that reflect our sense of life - cynical or joyful, obsessive or clear-headed, hopeless or hopeful.


Of course the left loathes films like "It's a Wonderful Life." How could it not? This courageous, ultimately optimistic, little gem of a movie is a ray of light trying to penetrate the shriveled soul of modern liberalism.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

Send your comments by clicking here. JWR contributor Don Feder is a former syndicated columnist for the Boston Herald and author of Who's Afraid of the Religious Right? (Regnery) and A Jewish Conservative Looks at Pagan America. He works as a freelance writer and media consultant and serves as the president of Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation.

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