by Paysach Freedman
Amalek had a vested interest in attacking the Jewish people, whose very existence proved the existence of God to the world.
Remember what Amalek did to you, on the way when you were leaving Egypt... (Deut. 25:17-19)
"Remember what Amalek did to you." How can one do that? The Torah says, "Remember the day of Shabbat." We can't remember both! (Midrash - Pirkei D'Rabbi Eliezer)
We are an intelligent people. Can we not manage to remember Shabbat, while also remembering Amalek?
And why is Amalek so significant? Thousands of nations have oppressed the Jewish people. Why are the Amalekites alone singled out?
The most common answer is that they were the first. It was their audacity, in attacking the Jews immediately after the Exodus, which emboldened later enemies to rise against us.
This is only partially true, however. The first to attack were actually the Egyptians -- who pursued the Jews at the Red Sea, shortly after the Exodus.
The truly unique accomplishment of the Amalekites was that they attacked us when no one else dared. After the splitting of the Sea, "The nations heard... fright gripped them" (Exodus 15:14). Even the most wicked nations were sufficiently ...   more »

by Yaffa Ganz
Is Purim just a fun-filled dress up holiday? Or is it something more? Perhaps it's a flip-flop, upside-down, full of surprises kind of day...not at all what you'd expect.
Over 2,000 years ago, the Holy Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. The Jewish people were sent away from the Land of Israel and were forced to live in Babylonia.
Fifty years later, Babylonia was defeated by Persia. Achashverosh (that's pronounced: Ah-chash-vey-rosh) was the second Persian king. He ruled 127 provinces from Hodu (India) to Kush (Africa) the largest, strongest kingdom in the world.
A new king needs a new capital, so Achashverosh chose the city of Shushan. To celebrate, he made a tremendous feast for all the important people in the kingdom. It lasted for 180 days. Then he made a second feast just for Shushan. Everyone in the city was invited, even the Jews.
Mordechai, the leader of the Jews, warned his people not to go to the feast, but they were afraid to disobey the king. And to tell the truth, they were honored and pleased to have been invited. For seven days they ate and drank to their heart's content. ...   more »

by Rabbi Shaul Rosenblatt
Finding light in the darkness.
The book of Job is surely the most shocking book of the Bible.
Job is a righteous man -- there is "no one like him on earth; pure, straight, God-fearing, and does no evil" (Job 1:8). He is wealthy, accomplished, respected, and the father of ten children.
God decides to test Job. And it's not a stubbing-one's-toe type of test. In one fell swoop, his children die and his wealth is completely obliterated.
"Naked I left my mother's womb and naked shall I return. God gave and God took back. May the name of God be blessed" (Job 1:21). This is Job's answer. If ever there was a noble and dignified response to suffering, this is surely it. It seems as though Job's faith is unshakable.
Now God ups the stakes and covers Job's entire body with horribly painful blisters. Once again, his response is incredible. His wife asks why he is still blessing God when God has put him through all this, and he says to her, "We have accepted the good from God, shall we not also accept the bad from Him?" (Job 2:10)His three friends come to visit ...   more »

by David Gelernter
The truth about the Temple Mount controversy.
Israeli government authorities are building a ramp to allow non-Muslims to reach the enormous platform atop the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The old access ramp was condemned as unsafe and torn down several years ago. The interim ramp that replaced it was designed for short-term service only. (Muslims control the Temple Mount and therefore have their own private access routes.) The new ramp is controversial. Some ramp must be built or non-Muslims will have no way to reach the Mount; but leading Israeli archaeologists say that the ramp under construction is badly placed and ought to be someplace else.
This dispute among Israelis is important but in itself would never have attracted much attention. However, by the nature of their reactions, Arab leaders have brought worldwide notoriety to the story--and made it a blood-curdling study in the power of lying in this credulous, ignorant global-media age.
Outraged Arab politicians describe the new ramp as an attack on the Al-Aqsa Mosque -- although the mosque is on the Temple platform and the ramp stands outside the platform on pylons, and won't have any effect on the mosque at all. But those ...   more »

Israeli archeologist responsible for original discovery of burial site in Jerusalem cave dismisses claims by filmmakers that cave contains remains of Jesus, other members of Holy family
Roi Mandel
Excitement over the discovery of Jesus’ burial site is premature, Israeli archeologist Professor Amos Kloner said.  
Speculation  
Jesus’ burial site found - film claims / Ariella Ringel-Hoffman  
New film documents discovery of Jerusalem cave containing ten caskets believed to hold remains of Jesus, Mary, Mary Magdalene and others   
Kloner was referring to the hype surrounding a new documentary film, which has made the claim that coffins found in a Jerusalem cave nearly 30 years ago contain the remains of Jesus, Mary, Mary Magdalene, and other family members.  
The internationally renowned archeologist, who revealed the findings of the dig 10 years ago, criticized the filmmakers' marketing strategy and warned against being over enthusiastic about the alleged discovery.  
“The claim that the burial site has been found is not based on any proof, and is only an attempt to sell,” Kloner said.  
'Filmmakers not archeologists'
He mentioned that a similar film was released 11 years ago, and said that this current film was merely a renewed ...   more »

Ruins of two large synagogues in Gush Katif transformed into military base used to fire rockets at Israeli cities and train for attacks against the Jewish state, senior terror group member says

Aaron Klein,
The ruins of two large synagogues in Gush Katif, the evacuated Jewish communities of the Gaza Strip, have been transformed into a military base used by Palestinian groups to fire rockets at Israeli cities and train for attacks against the Jewish state, according to a senior terror leader in Gaza.  
When Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in August 2005, it left intact 20 synagogues of the Gush Katif Jewish communities following an Israeli Cabinet decision against demolishing the structures.  
Immediately after the Israeli evacuation was completed, Palestinians mobs destroyed most of the Gaza synagogues, including two major synagogues which were situated in Neve Dekalim, the largest Gush Katif community.  
In front of international camera crews, the Palestinians ripped off aluminum window frames and metal ceiling fixtures from the Neve Dekalim synagogues, which were situation close to each other in the center of town. Militants flew the Palestinian and Hamas flags from the structures before mobs burned down the synagogues.  
Speaking to ...   more »