Out of two different and distinct traditions, Jennifer and Zachary have come together to learn the best of what each has to offer, appreciating their differences, and confirming that being together is far better than permitting religious differences to keep them apart. As we bless this marriage under the chuppah, we will also light a unity candle, the Christian symbol of two people becoming one in marriage . . .

America does not need to be made ‘pure’ again, at least, not in the context President John invokes. America’s purity exists not in the isolation of its diverse people, but in the embracing of all people as one, dedicated to the proposition, as the Declaration of Independence states, that all are created equal.

We conclude this joyous ceremony with the traditional breaking of the glass. The fragility of this glass suggests the frailty of human relationships. The glass is broken to protect this marriage with prayer . . . May your bond of love be as difficult to break as it would be to put together the pieces of this glass.

When the prosecution is confronted with concrete evidence of a defendant’s innocence during a trial or investigation, or even after a jury renders an erroneous guilty verdict, that prosecutor must come forward, as an officer of the court, to make sure that justice is done. Defense attorneys have no such obligation, even when they know their clients are guilty.

Perhaps we don’t pray the same as our Christian brothers and sisters do, but many men and women of God believe, regardless of our religion or our religious differences, we all pray to the same God. I have never read such evil thoughts. How does someone who writes such hateful words have the unmitigated gall to call himself a Christian?

But did guys like Dylan care about her people? Or did he believe, like many others, the victims had it coming? Arya compared the situation to a rape accusation by someone who was sexually promiscuous. She was asking for it, wasn’t she? In this case, Muslims were asking for it, weren’t they? 

Jack was angry with himself . . . He shouldn’t have allowed himself to be alone with the terrorist but his obsession with capturing him clouded his judgment. Now, he faced the ultimate irony. Here in this place, at this time, he stood accused of being a criminal, like those he spent his career bringing to justice.

Jack Dylan was not a religious man, but he thanked God that Zack was a more talented lawyer than he, Jack, was a police officer. Zachary Blake is a master; he will never mimic my carelessness. Somehow, he will persuade the jury to find me ‘not guilty.

Bad judgment in Manistee would haunt him for the rest of his life because he was the only person left alive who knew, for certain, that he was innocent.