I recently returned from my annual fundraising expedition.  Each year our group, Jodi’s Climb for Hope travels the globe to raise money for promising breast cancer research. Our mountain climbs often take us to remote, if not less developed countries. The past two years Jodi’s Climb for Hope journeyed to Ecuador and Tanzania.

After fabulous experiences,… read more
Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 07/01/09 at 09:42 AM | Comments (0)

The Real Work Begins

As a board member of The Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore, I had a front-row seat to the board’s dealings on the Owings Mills JCC Shabbat opening issue.

Many things stand out in my head. People on both sides of this difficult issue had a great deal of passion and clear thoughts about it.  While the debate… read more
Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 05/28/09 at 10:28 AM | Comments (0)

Jodi Alter Buerger, 1963-2009

The following remarks combine the thoughts of Peter Augustini with mine on the loss of Jodi Alter Buerger, Mr. Augustini’s wife and my sister.

Jodi A. Buerger lost her four and one-half year struggle with cancer ended early this morning May 8, 2009.
 
My sister Jodi was the inspiration to create Climb for… read more
Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 05/11/09 at 09:22 AM | Comments (2)

Black Prophets

The Prophet Elijah came early this year. Well, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) was actually late to his own gala dinner of the Elijah Cummings Youth Program in Israel (ECYP), having spent the day dealing on Capitol Hill with the economic crisis. But he did make the appearance here two weeks before Passover.

His event made me think: It… read more
Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 04/06/09 at 12:48 PM | Comments (0)

Investigating Israel’s Soldiers

Almost two weeks ago, the Baltimore Sun published an editorial applauding Israel for its investigation of alleged solider misconduct in its recent offensive into Gaza.  I can’t say I disagree with that statement. CLICK HERE

What troubles me in calling out Israel and writing “The military code of the Israel Defense Forces, the best army in… read more
Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 04/02/09 at 02:52 PM | Comments (0)

Vengeance

There’s nothing more awful than hearing about a young woman who is beaten, raped and murdered.

When the perpetrator is apprehended, you want revenge — an “eye for an eye,” as the Torah declares.

I tend to be against the death penalty, but find myself hoping that the guy who tortured and ended a beautiful life suffers horribly.… read more
Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/23/09 at 01:50 PM | Comments (0)

What’s with Ron Smith?

During this whole recent Rush Limbaugh flap when he made all those powerful GOPers back down and apologize, I didn’t get worked up. Nor was I concerned when he publicly said he wanted President Barack Obama to fail at a time where we’re losing 500,000 jobs per month.

He’s an entertainer. He gets paid more money according to… read more
Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/19/09 at 12:42 PM | Comments (0)

Is the Pope for Real?

I realize coming from a person who followed a legend, people shouldn’t compare people to their predecessors. Heck, I had to follow Chuck Buerger as Publisher of the Baltimore Jewish Times. He was seen as the finest in his field. I know how Doug DeCinces – who replaced Brooks Robinson at third base for the Orioles—felt.

But, I… read more
Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/17/09 at 03:59 PM | Comments (0)

Dubai’s Fault II

UPDATE: New developments call for an update to my last blog entry about Dubai denying an entrance visa to Israel’s Shahar Peer to play in the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, which run Feb. 25 to March 9. CLICK HERE

Since I wrote, several major sponsors announced they would pull out in protest, including the European Wall Street… read more
Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/26/09 at 11:37 AM | Comments (0)

Dubai’s Fault

In President Barack Obama’s inaugural address, he so eloquently remarked about “why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent Mall, and why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take… read more
Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/25/09 at 10:12 AM | Comments (0)