BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

In 1776, patriotism meant a lot more than waving a flag. It still does. A look at local patriots, and readers' suggestions of ways to support America's ideals. By Fiona Morgan These are the times that try men's souls," wrote Thomas Paine in The Crisis, a pamphlet that stirred the withering revolutionary army to victory in the winter of 1776. In Paine's day, support for American freedom was an act of dissent. Fearing the same excesses of centralized government that they had experienced under British rule, the newly independent Americans created a Bill of Rights. Those 10 amendments to the Constitution guaranteed that the federal government would not do things as the English had done--there would be no secret detentions, no imprisonment without a fair public trial, no unfair searches and seizures of property, and no squelching of peaceful expression. Today, patriotism often feels to some of us like an odd and uncomfortable thing to embrace. Actions that draw the outr...

Katsav will not be the only one on trial Former president Moshe Katsav is to be indicted anew on rape charges. The trial date and venue - either the Tel Aviv or Jerusalem District Courts - have obviously not been determined. But whatever the outcome, the prosecution's shoddy handling of the entire sordid affair will probably taint the judgment's legitimacy. We say this without taking sides on the guilt or innocence of the accused. The facts of this case must be examined in open court, as they should have been to begin with. The flaw in this case is that the evidence was not brought to the court in a timely fashion; nor was meticulous attention paid to the legal rights of the accused. In other systems of jurisprudence, such mishandling would probably have served as grounds for dismissal of the charges. THE KATSAV affair began on July 5, 2006, when Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz met with the president, at Katsav's request, to hear him complain of a blackmail attempt (by ...

Finally! Something I have been saying all along. Get rid of the demand, not the supply. I even said it to an aide of then-Attorney General Eliot Spitzer in 2004... and they were very pro the idea! Who knew? -- Eliot, it was the hypocrisy that did you in. Sweden's sex law: Get the customer Once a radical model, it's now under consideration by other countries Selling sex isn't illegal in Sweden, but buying is — a radical approach to prostitution that faced ridicule when it was introduced nine years ago. Now, while Americans are preoccupied with the downfall of New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer in a prostitution scandal, some countries are considering emulating the Swedish model, which prosecutes the client but views the prostitute as an exploited victim. Officials say the changed approach has reduced the demand for prostitutes and reshaped attitudes toward the sex trade. "We don't have a problem with prostitutes. We have a problem with men who buy sex," said Kajsa ...

One and All ----------- The world was created with ten Divine utterances. What does this come to teach us? Certainly, it could have been created with a single utterance. However, this was in order to make the wicked accountable for destroying a world which was created with ten utterances and to reward the righteous for sustaining a world which was created with ten utterances. - Ethics of the Fathers, 5:1 * * * * In other words, G-d chose to "expend" ten utterances on our world to make our life's mission within it more significant and valuable. Yet this explanation seems somewhat unsatisfactory. If G-d could create a world with a single utterance, then this ought to be the true measure of its worth. Any additional "expenditure" on His part seems but an artificial inflation of its value. As the commentary Midrash Shemuel puts it: If A pays ten zuz for an object worth only a single zuz, and B steals it, would B's obligation be for more than the object's tr...

IS GUN CONTROL THE ANSWER? First it was hate speech. Imus took the rap and Sharpton, Limbaugh, Coulter and Jackson continue to get a pass. The "guns" in their cases are their mouths and the "bullets" their words. Then its the Virginia Tech massacre. I know what it is to be a depressed college student but I didn't go and get a gun. Despite a father that was in law enforcement and an NRA member as well as guns in our home, it never occurred to me to do something like that. I have a carry permit but I wouldn't think of turning a gun on others in a fit of rage or hate. The issue of gun control in the U.S. comes up time and again. Columbine, Waco and now VA Tech. NYC has very strict gun control laws yet there have been shootings within blocks of me. Anger is rampant. Some is justified, most isn't (in my opinion). I don't know what the answer here is. I'd welcome all input. And prayers for our world and the families of those who were kille...