Eliyahu Stern, an Orthodox rabbi, should take a few deep breaths, relax, and contemplate before rushing out with another condemnation of someone else’s sincerity or good faith as an Orthodox Jew. I’m confident that if he does this, he’ll realize that he has himself forgotten to apply an important Torah principle–which I’ll freely admit I…

Let’s cut to the crux of the issue: Jack Abramoff is an embarrassment to Orthodox Jews. His rabbis and the religious figures supporting him and living off his dirty money are embarrassments to Judaism. Lest you have forgotten the way Abramoff–the lobbyist who yesterday pleaded guilty to three felony counts in a deal with federal…

What Jack Abramoff did is a shanda. It is unethical and illegal. On top of the laundry list of legal counts against him, Abramoff used racist and defamatory language about his Native American clients. Nice Jewish boys shouldn’t do such things, because it is just plain wrong; because, historically, the actions of any one Jew…

The news of Jack Abramoff’s guilty plea is, sadly, just the latest chapter in the sordid story of the intersection of money and power. Going back to the story of Purim, we see how the wicked Haman–the first lobbyist?–paid King Achashverosh 10,000 silver talents to get a decree passed to annihilate the Jews. Since the…

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