Brad Hirschfield joins At Issue host Ben Merens to discuss Martin Luther King’s legacy and explore what the Civil Rights Movement looks like today.

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Wisconsin Public Radio’s At Issue With Ben Merens, 1/17/11

Rabbi Brad Hirschfield speaks with Lars Larson about our need to come together as a country and embrace civility in democracy in light of the Tucson shooting.

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From the Lars Larson Show syndicated by Compass Media Networks, 1/11/11

"‘I think it’s extremely exciting that the Conservative movement, after many years of deliberation, finally found a way to welcome gay and lesbian people to their congregations and gay and lesbian rabbis and educators into their synagogues and schools. They’re leading the way for other communities.’..."

"...Sarah Palin’s use of the term ‘blood libel’ may well indicate something far sadder and of greater concern than one more example of incendiary rhetoric. In using this term, Ms. Palin reveals that she sees herself as the victim this week.

"We need a moratorium on blaming someone else or insisting some other group is more responsible than us and instead devote some time to questioning ourselves. How have we communicated our views in words and images in ways that make people with whom we disagree not simply unable to hear us but worse afraid of us?..."

"...The real issue here is not two people who fail to see that they have a religious obligation to end their marriage with as much holiness as they entered it. The real issue here is that Jewish groups are asking Friedman’s employers, both Camp and staffers of the House Ways and Means Committee, to pressure Friedman or even to fire him, if he will not grant his wife a Jewish divorce. Is it really appropriate for Jewish activists and rabbis to advocate for that kind of religious pressure?

"Sarah Palin describes those who have blamed her for Jared Lee Loughner’s Tuscon shooting spree as guilty of spreading a blood libel. Ms. Palin said that, ‘Journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn.’ Palin is certainly right that comments and analysis that serve ‘only to incite’ are inappropriate. She is not correct about the power of the words we use and how they impact others...."

Rabbi Brad Hirschfield speaks on Sara Palin’s "Blood Libel" video.

Watch Part I, in Real Player, 12:22 – 19:02....
From Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s As It Happens with Carol Off & Jeff Douglas

"Rabbi Brad Hirschfield, president of the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, said Palin’s own words — that violent political language can endanger people — are ‘affirming exactly what her critics charge.’..."

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By Cathy Lynn Grossman from USA Today — Religion Section

"It’s not just inappropriate, it’s profoundly ironic,’ Rabbi Brad Hirschfield...tells USA Today. ‘By making this comparison and playing Jew in the picture, the person endangered by a blood libel, she admits that the words people use can have deadly impact’. ‘I’m not giving her a free pass. It was a poor and hurtful analogy,’ Hirschfield said. ‘But clearly, she’s affirming exactly what her critics charge.’..."