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Arizona Shooting

Loughner pleads not guilty in Tucson shooting

JewishJournal.com January 25, 2011

Jared L. Loughner, who the police said was responsible for the shooting rampage outside a Tucson supermarket on Jan. 8, pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges that he tried to murder Representative Gabrielle Giffords and two of her aides. Appearing in Federal District Court alongside his defense lawyer, Judy Clarke, Mr. Loughner entered a written plea to Judge Larry A. Burns of San Diego without uttering a word.

Is Gabby Giffords Jewish enough?

Jewish Journal January 18, 2011

As a Conservative rabbi and a member of the movement\’s Rabbinical Assembly, I cannot officially consider Jewish descent to be determined patrilineally — from the father. In fact, in its Code of Professional Conduct, the section detailing the responsibilities for membership in the Rabbinical Assembly currently lists four standards of religious practice. The first: \”Matrilineality determines Jewish status.\” Yet like many Jews who regard Jewish status to require a Jewish mother or proper conversion, I admit to feeling pride when a Jewish athlete or celebrity is successful, even if their \”Jewishness\” isn\’t technically defined by halachic standards. After all, when Major League Baseball player Ryan Braun won the National League Rookie of the Year award in 2007, should the Jewish community have refused to claim the \”Hebrew Hammer\” as one of our own since only his father is a member of the Tribe? Braun considers himself to be Jewish, and his Israeli-born father lost most of his family in the Holocaust.

Debate rages on over Palin’s ‘blood libel’ claim

Jewish Journal January 18, 2011

The post-shooting debate over political civility is cooling down, but passions are still raging over Sarah Palin’s claim that critics were guilty of perpetuating a “blood libel” against her.

A Prayer for Tucson

Jewish Journal January 14, 2011

On this Shabbat Shira, the Sabbath of Song, We sing to God a song of grief For innocent victims Cut down too soon. May their memories be a blessing, May their lights shine brightly upon us.

Obama speech: ‘Our children’s expectations’ [VIDEO]

Susan Freudenheim January 13, 2011

As I was driving to one speech last night, I was listening to another in my car. “Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame,” President Obama said in the aftermath of the violence in Tucson, “let us use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy, and remind ourselves of all the ways our hopes and dreams are bound together.” Uplifting words, and good advice for those of us hurting on the sidelines – those of us hoping for news of the next uptick in Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford’s condition, or wishing we could just stop thinking about the guns, hatred and accusations of “blood libel” — images that keep hitting us like the aftershocks of a emotional earthquake. Good advice, particularly if you’re sitting on the sidelines, feeling the pain and sharing the experience vicariously, through news reports, and wondering what you can do to help.

Jewish groups join faith call for civility

Jewish Journal January 13, 2011

Jewish faith leaders joined a call for soul searching in the wake of the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. \”This tragedy has spurred a sorely needed time of soul searching and national public dialogue about violent and vitriolic political rhetoric,\” said the open letter to Congress signed by 50 Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders appearing Thursday in Roll Call, a newspaper that covers Congress. \”We strongly support this reflection, as we are deeply troubled that rancor, threats and incivility have become commonplace in our public debates.\”

Blame real inciters, not Palin and Tea Parties

Jewish Journal January 13, 2011

Extreme rhetoric can inspire extreme behavior, even violence. But there isn\’t a shred of evidence that anything that anyone on the political right — or left — said or wrote inspired Jared Lee Loughner to launch his deadly rampage in Arizona. Within hours of the shooting, before the blood had been washed off the Tucson sidewalk, New York Times Op-Ed columnist Paul Krugman was claiming that \”McCain-Palin rallies\” in 2008 and unspecified comments made by \”the likes of Glenn Beck and Bill O\’Reilly\” incited the massacre. Former Florida congressman Alan Grayson claimed that a map on Sarah Palin\’s website, with target symbols over various election districts, was what caused the bloodshed in Arizona. He and other blame-meisters on the left also have pointed accusing fingers at the Tea Parties, Fox News, and a laundry list of people and parties to the right.

Palin’s ‘blood libel’ remark overwhelms message

Jewish Journal January 13, 2011

It was a well-crafted message preaching unity — and mined with a “blood libel” that blew it all apart. Sarah Palin’s video message Wednesday, her first substantial commentary since Saturday’s shooting in Tucson that critically injured Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and killed six others, at first appeared to succeed in reconciling two American precepts that have seemed irreconcilable in recent days: a common purpose and a rough-and-tumble political culture. “Vigorous and spirited public debates during elections are among our most cherished traditions,” said the former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice-presidential candidate. “And after the election, we shake hands and get back to work, and often both sides find common ground back in D.C. and elsewhere.”

It’s time to reject rhetorical violence

Jewish Journal January 12, 2011

Sarah Palin did not shoot Rep. Gabriella Giffords. Neither did Glenn Beck. Or Rush Limbaugh. Or even Giffords\’ opponent in the 2010 campaign, Jesse Kelly. Giffords was shot by a mentally unstable terrorist, who after attempting to assassinate Giffords, kept shooting into the crowd that had gathered outside a supermarket in Tuscon, Ariz. Americans reacted with shock and horror, which should tell us something about our expectations. In a world rife with political carnage, in a country whose history is laden with ideological bloodshed, it matters greatly that in 21st century America, political violence is rejected wholesale. Now we have to start rejecting rhetorical violence.

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