Everybody in America knows that April 15 is a special day.  And, aside from a few IRS agents, no one likes it.  Even though we are aware of all the important services and goods our tax dollars provide (from feeding hungry children to caring for the elderly to maintaining roads to defending the nation) we still don't like to pay taxes.  We complain, we find ways to lessen our tax burden, and we even make a political movement out of paying less.  Nobody likes giving taxes.   Read more...

Human beings never seem able to express all their hatred for each other. Men and women war against each other; blacks and whites, gay and straight, liberals and conservatives, city-folk and suburbanites -- there is no end to stereotypes, hostility and mistrust. In response to this propensity to hate, Nobel laureate Elie Weisel organized an international conference on hate in Oslo, Norway. The glittering list of invited participants included four presidents, and 70 writers, scientists and academics.   Read more...

Conscience: A Still Small Voice.   Every Jew knows the Sh'ma, the biblical declaration of God's unity, which the Rabbis of the Talmud used as a pledge of allegiance.  "Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord alone."  This verse signified an acceptance of God's sovereignty over each individual Jew.   Read more...