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May 25, 2012
Mark Clayton: Is Hillary's State Dept. hacking Al Qaeda? Not quite
Erika Bolstad: Temple cancels Wasserman Schultz speech
The Kosher Gourmet by Ethel G. Hofman: The former president of the International Association of Culinary Professionals, whose members included the likes of Julia Child, is back with contemporary Shavous cuisine: Ruby Fruit Soup, Sweet Noodle Kugel with Cheese, Key Lime Curd, Calsone Casserole Frittata with Wild Mushrooms, Sun-dried tomatoes and Olives, Baked Tilapia with Pepper Cheese Cream and Brown Sugar Shortbread
May 24, 2012
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May 23, 2012
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May 22, 2012
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Thomas M. Anderson: Walking Away From a Mortgage
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: Enjoy a celebration of the most rich and layered flavors: Black bean, sweet potato and quinoa chili
May 21, 2012
Mark Clayton: Cybersecurity: How US utilities passed up chance to protect their networks
Howard LaFranchi: NATO summit: Who will foot the bill for long-term Afghanistan security?
Chris Farrell : Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Stephen Whiteside, Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: Social anxiety disorder --- or just shy?
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The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: Famed chef's veal shoulder farsumagru: A festive meat course for late spring
May 18, 2012
Rabbi Berel Wein: Striving: The People of the Book's Book for (All of) the People
Steven Goldberg: 5 Great Stock Picks and the Exchange-Traded Fund that Owns Them
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The Kosher Gourmet by Carolyn Malcoun: DIY healthy lunchbox treats: HOMEMADE FRUIT BARS for kids and brown-bagging adults alike
May 17, 2012
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Josh Mitnick: Netanyahu's 'centrist' coalition is already proving it's anything but
Steven Goldberg: Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Amina Khan: Research links coffee to lower death rates
The Kosher Gourmet by Faith Duran : Cheesy Potato Breakfast Casserole with Cheddar and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
May 16, 2012
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Melissa Healy: National strategy on Alzheimer's disease aims to halt it by 2025
The Kosher Gourmet by Joyce White : GOODNESS GRACIOUS: GREENS! 4 winning recipes that are no longer just for down-home folks (Includes expert tips & techniques)
May 15, 2012
Kristen Chick: Obama administration resumes arms sales to Bahrain despite serious unresolved human rights issues. Activists feel abandoned
Pat Mertz Esswein: Homes are now affordable again and mortgage rates are low. What you need to know before you buy
Kathy Kristof: Our Practical Investor Fights Inflation with These 6 Investments
Sue Hubbard, M.D.: The Kid's Doctor: Lactose intolerant young child? Check again
The Kosher Gourmet by Kathy Hunt: Spread a Little Excitement with EXOTIC CONDIMENTS (4 RECIPES)
May 14, 2012
Lisa Gerstner: How to Protect Your Identity, Finances If You Lose Your Phone
Harvard Health Letters: Heart disease and dementia
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: MANGO COCONUT OAT MORNING MUFFINS are a bright but hearty delight
May 11, 2012
Jessica L. Anderson: Get the Best Deal on a Used Car
Jett Stone: Forget face-lifts and fake knees. Scientists have seen the fountain of youth --- and it's broccoli
The Kosher Gourmet by Chef Mario Batali: The famed chef's vegetable dish that tastes true to the season: FAVAS AND SUGAR SNAP PEAS WITH POTATOES AND TARRAGON
May 10, 2012
Sergei L. Loiko: Putin sends warning to U.S., NATO in Victory Day speech at Red Square
Mary Rourke: How being a 'mentch' got Vidal Sasoon his start and fighting in Israel's War of Independence provided him with confidence and a strong sense of his own identity
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The Kosher Gourmet by Betty Rosbottom: Gleaming with its golden, crimson, and snowy white hues, this silken smooth and creamy STRAWBERRY ORANGE TRIFLE looks impressive, but is easy to prepare
May 9, 2012
Sharon Palmer, R.D. How you can reduce your risk -- or delay -- chronic diseases associated with aging
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Jewish World Review
Nov. 12, 2010
/ 5 Kislev, 5771
Bars into Churches
By
Paul Greenberg
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Some people are alone because they want to be. This we call solitude, and how sweet it is. Others are alone but don't want to be. So they cluster. Where do all the lonely people go to be together? If they have laptops, to Starbucks. If not, they can be found -- where else? -- in either bars or churches. Both institutions provide fellowship, allay fear, offer succor and may disappoint.
So why not combine them? Why aren't bartenders more spiritual, preachers less preachy? What would be a better place for a bar than a church, making due allowances for those hardshell denominations -- Baptist and Muslim -- who frown on the use of spirits. My respects to both, if not agreement. For the connection between spirits and the spiritual is more than linguistic. Both can intoxicate, lead to communion and let us be reconciled with one another.
Wine may be a mocker, and strong drink raging, but doesn't the Good Book also advise a sip as a digestif? And there was that wedding in Cana where the water was turned into wine with the Lord's blessing. In the end, we are left to follow the wisdom of the Greeks: moderation in all things, perhaps even in moderation.
The omnibibulous H.L. Mencken was all in favor of drinking, but not without observing certain rules. For example: "First, never drink if you've got any work to do. Never. If I've got a job of work to do at 10 o'clock at night, I wouldn't take a drink up to that time. Secondly, never drink alone. That's the way to become a drunkard. And thirdly, even if you haven't got any work to do, never drink while the sun is shining. Wait until it's dark. By that time you're near enough to bed to recover quickly."
As the old boy said after reading that day's installment of Little Orphan Annie, I don't know if I believe half of that.
Not drink if you've got work to do? That all depends on the work. Some of us treasure a story about the late great Harry Ashmore of the old Arkansas Gazette. On being told it was closing time at the Little Rock Club, he ordered one more. "Make it a double," he told the waiter. "I've got an editorial to write."
It isn't drink that has ruined many a newspaperman, but an immoderate sobriety that reduces their copy to safe, sober, soporific solemnity. With maybe a few moralistic platitudes thrown in as an additional sin. Respectability has ruined more columnists than rum has.
I'd add a few rules that my father taught me about drinking, including: Never drink without eating. Much like Mr. Mencken, he was against drinking alone. And he was dead set against trying to drown your sorrows -- on the ground that drink only intensified them. His rule was to drink only on happy occasions, preferably those with some religious significance. What kind of sabbath would it be without the blessings over the bread and wine? It would be like communion without the wafers and wine.
On the other hand, my grandfather, the drinker of the family, never considered supper properly started without his glass of schnapps. According to family legend, he couldn't decide whether to have his aperitif before or after the fish course, so he compromised by having it before and after. You never met a sweeter old man. He was also the best behaved of gentlemen. My grandmother saw to that.
Alcohol has its uses, as any good pharmacist can affirm, and is not to be despised. It merits respect. Which is what's wrong with the way so many of us drink -- casually, without ceremony, not even a toast. The family dinner table should be a kind of altar.
The itinerant preacher from Nazareth associated with gluttons and winebibbers, much as he was criticized for it. Just as many might not understand, let alone approve, the idea of installing a bar in church. Or, for that matter, a church in a bar. But what good is a religion if it doesn't scandalize? There's something almost oxymoronic about respectable religion; it takes the spirit -- and spirits -- out of it.
Why not invite ministers with the call to take their place behind the bar at the neighborhood pub Tuesdays and Thursdays? Perhaps some associate pastor or youth minister, one not yet given to talking more than listening.
Or just ordain the bartender. Naturally he would be required to know his bible as well as he does his Bartender's Guide. As the poet noted, "Malt does more than Milton can/ to justify God's ways to man."
Of course, someone would have to see to it that no one monopolized the conversation around the bar. Bores and boors take the fun out of drinking as surely as they do the wit out of conversation. Not that there's anything wrong with communing in silence, as at a Quaker prayer meeting. As modern music so often reminds us, there is much to be said for silence.
Cheers.
Paul Greenberg Archives
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