City residents hold variety of views on holiest day in Jewish calendar
Yaakov Lappin
Tel Aviv's bustling Dizengoff shopping center showed little signs of the impending arrival of Yom Kippur, Judaism's holiest day.  Come Saturday, however, this sprawling complex of shops and cafes in the heart of the city will come to a silent standstill, along with the rest of the country. Roads will be empty of cars, crowded streets will resemble a ghost town, and even the " non-stop city " will bow its head to Yom Kippur.  
Holiday Ritual  Animal rights activists slam traditional practice of kaparot  / Neta Sela  
Animal rights group calls on Rabbi Ovadia Yosef to annul ritual killing of chickens as part of kaparot ceremony. 'Why should chickens pay for people's sins?' they ask     
So how do Tel Aviv's diverse residents feel about the day? Sophie Levi, an animal rights volunteer, says she has fasted on Yom Kippur every year. "It's a tradition that goes back to my family - we came from Bulgaria," she said. "My grandfather would place his hand on my head and bless me, wishing me many years of life," she added.  
Levi said that ironically, ...   more »

For more than 50 years, a letter containing astonishing information lay in the basement of the Russian communist party. The anti-Semitic tyrant who planned mass purges against the Jews had an affair with a Jewish woman, and also cared for her daughter until she died
Dmitri Prokofiev
The communist tyrant Joseph Stalin was known to be an anti-Semite who planned wide-scale purges against the Jews in his latter days. Yet the fact that the Soviet ruler planned to annihilate the Jews did not prevent him from having an affair with a Jewish woman, and to take care of her daughter until her mother passed away. According to some evidence, Stalin may have even married the woman.  
The affair was disclosed recently thanks to a letter discovered by an historian named Nicolai Nada. The letter, which was placed on the desk of the general secretary of the communist party Georgi Malenkov in 1953, the day Stalin suffered a stroke, was kept in a classified party file for years.  
Just a few months ago those in charge of the file were persuaded to reveal the letter, and this is what it contained:  
Dear Comrade Malenkov!  
I am the ...   more »

US secretary of state meets Palestinian president in attempt to bridge difference with Israel ahead of Mideast peace conference, says meeting will lay 'foundations for serious negotiations'
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday an upcoming US-sponsored Middle East conference must be "substantive," and that the two sides must draft a document before the meeting that lays "foundations for serious negotiations."  
Ahead of Conference  
Time to advance peace process, says Rice / Ronny Sofer  
In meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres, US secretary of state says there are many obstacles to overcome before November conference, but that she felt an atmosphere of peace and sincere will to reach agremeent    
The conference "has to be substantive and advance the cause of a Palestinian state," Rice told a joint news conference with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Participants must not "simply meet for the sake of meeting," she said.  
Rice met Abbas in Ramallah to try to bridge his differences with Israel over what a US-led Middle East peace conference might achieve.  
Rice has found growing interest in “intensifying the dialogue”, a senior aide said, after her talks on Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud ...   more »

Syria said Wednesday that Israel's alleged air sortie over the country earlier this month showed that it was not interested in peace.
The state-run daily Tishrin, which reflects the government's thinking, urged Israeli officials to demonstrate their sincerity about peacemaking by agreeing to resume negotiations from the point they last reached in 2000 before talks broke down.
"Had Israel been interested in peacemaking, it would not have violated Syrian airspace. Israel refuses to talk about the piracy its military jets carried out by violating Syrian airspace, but now its prime minister is talking about peace with Syria without preconditions," the paper said.
"In this way, [Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert puts on the clothes of a peace dove, but he has forgotten to take out the claws and fangs of the war wolf," the paper added.
On Tuesday, Tishrin criticized Washington for failing to condemn the alleged September 6 Israeli incursion, which it called a violation of international law.
Details of the so-called incursion remain unclear. US officials have reportedly said IAF warplanes struck a target.
A senior US non-proliferation official said last week that North Korean personnel were in Syria helping its nuclear program, raising speculation that the Israelis were ...   more »