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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
Dec. 31, 2003
/ 6 Teves, 5764
Moral men learn it's lonely at the top
By Kathleen Parker
A look at the recent JWR controversy. For the record, your editor did not choose the headline. He views himself as merely a guy working out of a basement in Brooklyn who is trying to make a difference.
http://www.jewishworldreview.com |
When political pundits predicted that gay marriage would become a splinter issue in the coming election year, they weren't just whistling Dixie.
So divisive is the gay-marriage question that it has produced some of history's most unusual bedfellows, figuratively speaking. Put it this way: When you've got the creator of one of the Internet's most conservative Jewish Web sites appearing to share common ground with the gay community against his own conservative allies, something's afoot.
 | | It does, indeed, get lonely sometimes |
This complicated story is a didactic tale of one man's insistence that morality is never negotiable. The protagonist is Binyamin Jolkovsky, known to Internet travelers as the host of the Web site, Jewish World Review - a news site that runs mostly "conservative" columnists, including yours truly, cartoons and news stories, some with an inspirational tilt. Jolkovsky describes it as "the intersection of politics, culture and spirituality."
Jolkovsky is also known for operating his Web site on an old computer and a shoestring, sleeping only four to five hours, except on the Sabbath, which he strictly honors as a non-working day. If you e-mail Jolkovsky at 2 a.m., as I have done on sleepless nights, he'll answer back in minutes, delighted to find a fellow toiler in the insomniac fields.
The rigors of his work style have taken a physical toll on Jolkovsky, who a few months ago was hospitalized for what he characterizes as a "wake-up call."
Regular visitors to his site aren't necessarily Jewish or conservative. In fact, Jolkovsky's goal is also his attraction: he aims to bring together people of whatever faith who believe, as he does, that traditional values are more than a cliché. They are standards by which one lives, period, end of story.
One of Jolkovsky's non-negotiable values is that marriage is a holy union between one man and one woman. Yet recently, he posted a story on his Web site that has cost him 500 subscribers, as well as allies in the traditional marriage fight, while earning him unlikely supporters among gays, the very people whose lifestyles he deeply opposes.
What's afoot that brings such disparate entities together against others of more like mind? In a word, terrorism. Call it the trickle-down moral of the Sept. 11 story: Where there are terrorists or terrorist sympathizers, there can be no compromise.
The controversial story, written by Evan Gahr (also controversial for his sometimes strident commentary) strongly suggested that the Alliance for Marriage, a rainbow coalition of religious groups pushing for a U.S. constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, had compromised its moral integrity by including among its board of advisers the secretary general of the Islamic Society of North America, Dr. Sayyid M. Syeed.
Although Syeed is considered by many to be a moderate, some individuals and groups within his organization - 300 Muslim mosques, schools and service organizations - hold extremist positions and have troubling associations, according to both Gahr and Steven Emerson, author of "American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us."
Emerson wrote, for example, that ISNA publishes a magazine that champions militant Islamist doctrine and hosts conferences where Islamic militants are given platforms "to incite violence and promote hatred."
In September, officials arrested one controversial ISNA associate, Abdurahman Alamoudi, on suspicion of being a senior terrorist operator. Alamoudi, who had worked successfully within both political parties in Washington - even courting George W. Bush when he was Texas governor - was a regional representative of ISNA.
While Alamoudi's alleged history doesn't necessarily indict ISNA or impugn Syeed, these are tricky times that call for greatest caution and, Jolkovsky would argue, strongest conviction. You pick your friends carefully, in other words.
At great personal cost, Jolkovsky has picked his own according to a code that says you don't sacrifice moral integrity for political expediency.
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"Looking ecumenical is not the end all," he says of the AFM. "People who are supporters of traditional marriage will not be less supportive just because a Muslim group is not there. But pro-gay marriage advocates will have much, justifiably, to carp about if you keep them."
Indeed, some in the gay community have hailed Jolkovsky's courage in eating his own when principles are at stake. Andrew Sullivan, the gay writer/editor and blogger, praised Jolkovsky for recognizing that terrorists are more dangerous than homosexuals who want to commit to marriage.
Others who see Jolkovsky's quixotic trouble making as disloyal to the cause of fighting gay marriage have been, shall we say, un-Christian in their punitive reactions.
To which Jolkovsky unflinchingly responds: "I'd rather shut down than sell out."
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in Washington and in the media consider "must reading." Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Kathleen Parker can be reached by clicking here.
Kathleen Parker Archives
© 2003, TMS
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