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May 16, 2008

Rabbi Hillel Goldberg: Torah talk 'lost in translation'?

Diana West: Israel is not a freedom franchise, Mr. President

Caroline B. Glick: Understanding Hizbullah's power play

JWisdom: Real estate and real living by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

May 15, 2008

Jonathan Tobin: Finding a Reason to Do Nothing

Oline H. Cogdill: Jesse Kellerman paints art world tale in brilliant strokes in 'The Genius'

JWisdom: Blake Nordstrom Speaking! by Sara Yoheved Rigler

May 14, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Snitching to the IRS

The Kosher Gourmet by Jill Wendholt Silva: Spring greens with fennel and herbs

JWisdom: A Righteous Gentile by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

May 13, 2008

Jonathan Mark: For pro-Israel voters, Obama's middle name should be the least of their concerns

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: The Leaker Shield Act

JWisdom: Why You & I Never Die: A Jewish View of Immortality, Part II by Rabbi David Aaron

May 12, 2008

Chosen Words: A newsletter for personal and spiritual growth gleaned from classic biblical and other sources that will help you enhance your day to day life. Likely the most constructive three minutes you will spend today

Mark Steyn: Israel's 'doom' could also be Europe's

JWisdom: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: When Faith Meets Fate, Part One

May 9, 2008

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: Reverence, Yes; Worship, No

Mona Charen: Did Israel Drive Out the Arabs 60 Years Ago?

JWisdom: Ultimate opportunities by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

May 8, 2008

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Israel at 3,500+

Jonathan Tobin: Still Fighting the Same War

Steven Plaut: How ‘nakba’ proves the fiction of a Palestinian Nation

JWisdom: Taking Israel for Granted? by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

May 7, 2008

Rabbi Hillel Goldberg: Israel is irrelevant to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Dion Nissenbaum: Latest Olmert scandal could derail efforts to force Israel's compromises

JWisdom: My Inner Ventriloquist by Sara Yoheved Rigler

May 6, 2008

Caroline B. Glick: Anti-Zionism at 60

The Kosher Gourmet By Ethel G. Hofman: In honor of Israel's 60th anniversary, the former president of the International Association of Culinary Professionals, whose members included the likes of Julia Child, is back with a smorgasbord featuring the taste and essence of the Jewish homeland

JWisdom: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Jewish Deer in Nazi Headlights

May 5, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Busy work

Jonathan Mark: Remarkable half-century old Mike Wallace interview with Abba Eban puts current anti-Israel sentiment into perspective

May 2, 2008

Rabbi Berel Wein: Rote religiosity

Caroline B. Glick: Whitewashing Hamas

JWisdom: Parent trap?

May 1, 2008

David Zwiebel: Faith communities can learn from Orthodox Jews in stimulating private philanthropy for religious education

George Friedman and Peter Zeihan of Stratfor: The Shift Toward an Israeli-Syrian Agreement

JWisdom: It's time to wake up by Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis

April 30, 2008

Jonathan Tobin: Pennsylvania's Democratic slugfest may leave some Jewish votes up for grabs

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: Fresh herbs, sauteed veal and tiny creamer potatoes makes a light spring dinner

JWisdom: How to Build a Mentch by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

April 29, 2008

Daniel Pipes: Barack Obama's Muslim Childhood

Joel Brinkley: On human rights, the U.N. once again strikes out

JWisdom: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: When The Truth is Unbelievable

April 28, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q: I'm often stuck in the doctor's waiting room for hours! Doesn't he owe me something for my wasted time?

Steven Emerson: New U.S. government policy advises agencies to avoid using some of the very same words that make up terror groups' names

JWisdom: Why You & I Never Die: A Jewish View of Immortality, Part I by Rabbi David Aaron

April 25, 2008

Rabbi Mitchell Wohlberg: Schadenfreude isn't kosher for Passover --- or at any other time

Rabbi Berel Wein: The secret of how the data bank of memory is transferred from one generation to the next

JWisdom: Stepping Up to A Higher Spiritual Life by Rabbi Lawrence Kelemen, Part III

April 24, 2008

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: The successful failure

Fred Burton and Scott Stewart of Stratfor: Placing the terrorist threat to the food supply in perspective

JWisdom: Stepping Up to A Higher Spiritual Life by Rabbi Lawrence Kelemen, Part II

April 23, 2008

Connie Ogle: An intricate game of a novel

Jonathan Tobin: Making Sense of the 'J Street' Jive

JWisdom: Stepping Up to A Higher Spiritual Life by Rabbi Lawrence Kelemen

April 22, 2008

Jonathan Rosenblum: Why Israel's 'Leaven law' matters

Caroline B. Glick: Obama the Savior

April 18, 2008

Rabbi Harvey Belovski: Multimedia tool of antiquity

Caroline B. Glick: Revealed Truths vs. revealed lies

JWisdom: More than miracles by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

April 17, 2008

Rabbi Avi Shafran: Deconstructing Dayeinu

Rabbi Elazar Meisels: Is innovation at the Seder a slap at tradition?

JWisdom: Discovering Your Divine Mission, Part III by Rabbi David Aaron

April 16, 2008

Jonathan Tobin: A Prayer for Sderot's Children

Ethel G. Hofman: Sumptuous Seder

JWisdom: The Divine is in the details by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

April 15, 2008

Rabbi Dovid Zauderer: Let Charlton Heston Go!

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Jimma, tyranny's enabler

JWisdom: Relationships: Beyond Mars & Venus, Part IV by Dr. Lisa Aiken

April 14, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: The Snitching Supervisor

Jonathan Tobin: Forget the Fun and Games!

JWisdom: Sincerity is Valued Most by Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski, M.D.

April 11, 2008

Rabbi David Gutterman: A Mystery in the Middle East

Caroline B. Glick: Why Ahmadinejad smiles

JWisdom: Elevated illness by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

April 10, 2008

Stratfor Intelligence Briefing by George Friedman: A Mystery in the Middle East

The Kosher Gourmet By Steve Petusevsky: The spring elegance of asparagus

JWisdom: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: The Power of Rational Lies

April 9, 2008

Michael Feldberg: An all but forgotten Colonial doctor who put his Jewish values before his life

Jordan "Gorf" Gorfinkel's "Everything's Relative" gets philosophical

JWisdom: Four Rabbis in Bnei Brak by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

April 8, 2008

Caroline Glick: Covering for the enemy

Elliot B. Gertel: 'House' goes Hasidic

JWisdom: Relationships: Beyond Mars & Venus, Part III by Dr. Lisa Aiken

April 7, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q: I have a translating business. Recently someone asked me to translate some financial documents that are clearly forged. Should I agree?

Jonathan Rosenblum : Israel is unwittingly helping to fuel the international campaign of delegitimization against it

JWisdom: Matzah and leaven as a life philosophy by Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski, M.D.

April 4, 2008

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: The Mystery of Suffering

Caroline B. Glick: Fear of democracy

JWisdom: Dirty Jews by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

April 3, 2008

Rabbi Y. Y. Rubinstein: Parents --- and the children who would be them

The Kosher Gourmet by Kathy Manweiler: Tempted by restaurant dressings? Don't be. Here are recipes that can be made at home, healthier!

JWisdom: The importance of retaining a 'slave mentality' by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

April 2, 2008

Mitch Albom: Child abuse, disguised as faith

Jonathan Tobin: Unreasonable Accommodations

JWisdom: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith with Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Eliminating Jewish Influence over Germans

March 22, 2007

J-Rhythms with Avraham Rosenblum: JWR's cutting-edge music program showcasing performers -- singers, song writers, musicians, and bands -- who learn and live the Torah lifestyle (OUR NEWEST IGODCAST !)

Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review May 10, 2005 / 1 Iyar, 5765

Filibusters: The Sandbox Rules

By Tony Snow

Tony Snow
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Pressure operates differently on different substances. It reduces coal to diamonds, and politicians to goo. Consider the predicament of the United States Senate, where the honorables have come unglued.


Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid smoked a cherry bomb over the weekend when he told a group of high school juniors that the president was "a loser." Then, emboldened by chortling 16-year-olds, he ad-libbed an apology, not to the president, but to Karl Rove, whom he cast as the real power behind the throne.


As the teens filtered out of the room, the top-ranking Democrat in Washington no doubt began thinking, "What did I just say??!" whereupon he phoned an abject apology to an empty White House (the president is overseas) and released the following statement: "I regret my poor choice of words today, and I have called the White House to apologize. Over the years the President and I have had our share of disagreements, but we've always maintained a respectful and courteous relationship. We owe it to the American people to work as well as we can together on their behalf."


Meanwhile, Republican senators began speaking in tongues and writhing on the floor because they have come to realize that they soon will face a fateful choice: They must decide what they cherish more — back slaps from Democratic colleagues or the cherished traditions of the United States Senate.


At issue in both cases — Reid's and the fretting Republicans — is the fact that Democrats have used the filibuster to prevent the Senate from confirming candidates nominated by the president for high-level judgeships. This has never happened before, and it shatters the longstanding precedent of letting presidents pick the men and women who will fill judicial vacancies.


Many Republicans are ready to lay down the law now. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist recommended a rule that would guarantee a floor vote for every judicial nominee — and prevent the Senate Judiciary Committee from killing nominations by dragging its feet. Both parties accuse the others of practicing this perfidy in previous Congresses. It also provides for what amounts to unlimited floor debate about any nominee, and guarantees the filibuster's free and unfettered use on any other piece of Senate business.


This seems eminently reasonable, but Democrats summarily rejected it. The showdown in turn has focused attention on a handful of GOP senators, who don't want to take sides. Leading the Hamlet Caucus is Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel. Hagel fears the Frist proposal will "limit minority rights" in the Senate by hobbling the filibuster. This is a reasonable argument: Senators cherish their traditions, and the filibuster was improvised as a way of making it possible for minority parties to ensure that the world's greatest deliberative body took its time in mulling over important legislative issues.


But note an important distinction: The practice was designed for internal Senate business - not matters involving coequal branches of government — such as the approval of judges. No one ever has filibustered a treaty or a cabinet nomination, or any of the other bits of business in which the legislative branch attempts to advise, consent, check or balance the White House. So why do it to judges?


Hagel (in my view) gets his filibuster history wrong when he says both sides have filibustered judges — and when he argues the Frist proposal would limit "minority rights."


It gets even more complicated: Hagel, like most, if not all, of his Republican colleagues, also wants to abolish the Democrats' recently invented practice of filibustering judgeships. He declared last week on my show that he believes every judicial nominee deserves a vote on the Senate floor.


In other words, Sen. Hagel wants to limit the filibuster without touching the filibuster. Unfortunately, he can't have it both ways — and if he really believes judges should have their day before the court of public opinion, he'll have to side with Sen. Frist by specifying the precise instances in which filibusters may be used.


This gets us to what probably lies at the heart of the Hamlet Caucus's heartburn: Sen. Hagel and others rightly cherish the good old days when senators behaved with decorum, and not like mud-wrestlers. He wants to get along, and he doesn't want to enrage Democratic friends in the World's Greatest Deliberative Body.


Ironically, Frist's proposal of guaranteed votes for every potential judge, regardless of party, will make things better in the Senate, not worse. It will eliminate forever a practice that inflames tempers, indefensibly hobbles a president, and invites endless recrimination. If Republican Senators really want harmony, they ought to make the rules clear, as parents often must do with their quarrelsome young, knowing that once the tantrum subsides, peace can prevail. Likewise, senators, relieved of the pressures imposed by screeching activists, might start getting along again.

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