Norene Gilletz
Reprinted with permission from Arthur Schwartz's Jewish Home Cooking: Yiddish Recipes Revisited by Arthur Schwartz, copyright © 2008. Published by Ten Speed Press.
Photo credit: Ben Fink © 2008"Food can connect us to our past. In fact, food is often our very last and only connection to our pasts, enduring long after the old language has been forgotten and other traditions have died. There’s many a Jew, for instance, who identifies as a Jew mainly through his or her love of pastrami, or potted brisket, or chicken soup with matzo balls."
In his poignant introduction, Arthur Schwartz invites his readers to join him on a wonderful, mouth-watering and sentimental journey through the memory-filled pages of his newest cookbook, Jewish Home Cooking: Yiddish Recipes Revisited (Ten Speed Press, $35, color photographs by Ben Fink).
The book features nearly 100 authentic recipes for appetizers, soups, side dishes, meat main courses, dairy main courses, Passover dishes, baked goods and desserts. Schwartz embellishes simple ingredients with the wonderful stories behind the recipes and the people who have cooked and eaten them. The recipes are primarily Ashkenazic (Eastern-European), with adjustments and updates for how we eat today.
The Passover chapter of Jewish Home ...   more »

By Stan Goodenough
Until now, United States President George W. Bush was ostensibly coming to Israel in May to celebrate with the Jewish people the 60th anniversary of the rebirth of their national homeland.
Late night news reports Tuesday suggested, however, that the American leader hopes to 'seize the moment' and, while here, host a follow-up to last November's Annapolis Summit which he convened to facilitate the creation of an Arab state called Palestine on the historical and biblical Jewish Land called Israel.
The media quoted Oslo-architect and Israeli extreme-leftist Yossi Beilin as saying Bush plans for the next round to be held in Egypt's Sharm e-Sheikh resort, hosted by Egyptian dictator and US-ally Hosni Mubarak.
Senior PLO representatives reportedly confirmed Beilin's assertion, going so far as to say dates were already being looked at, with May 17 or 18 the most likely.
On the Gregorian calendar the 60th anniversary falls on May 15, which would mean that Bush would go from rejoicing with the Jews on the unprecedented resurrection of their national home, to pushing them into risking its continued existence a day or two later.
Not unusually, a Tel-Aviv US Embassy official [Washington refuses to base its embassy ...   more »

by Hillel Fendel Negotiations for Jerusalem continue apace, with a local Jerusalem paper reporting that Foreign Minister Livni has agreed to give away Atarot Airport.  Shas says it's still not leaving the government.
The Kol HaZman (All the Time) paper reports that in ongoing secret talks with top Palestinian Authority negotiator Abu Ala, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has agreed, in the name of Israel, to transfer the Atarot airfield in northern Jerusalem to PA control. The paper states it source as "senior Foreign Ministry elements."
The Goal: Strengthen Fatah
Israel apparently recognizes Hamas control in Gaza as permanent, and therefore wishes to strengthen Fatah - perceived as more moderate - in Judea and Samaria. 
Fatah terrorists, members of the organization's Al Aqsa Brigades, have carried out many murderous attacks against Israeli civilians in recent weeks, months and years.  One of the most active terrorist forces in the area, it has been designated terrorist organization by the U.S., the European Union, Canada, and Japan.
Alternatively, it is not clear that the Hamas-takeover scenario will not repeat itself in Judea and Samaria, thus leaving the Atarot Airport in Hamas hands - if Israel in fact relinquishes it.
Mayor is Against
Jerusalem Mayor ...   more »

Yaakov Katz
Hamas is determined to go through with its threat to forcefully breach the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt in the coming days, a senior Israeli defense official said Wednesday.
Egyptian troops went on high alert near the Rafah crossing after the threat was made. Egypt's Foreign Ministry warned Gazans that any attempts to "infringe upon the Egyptian borders will be met with a serious and firm position."
On January 23, Hamas blew holes in the border wall, allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to stream into Egypt unchecked for 12 days and stock up on food and other goods made scarce due to Israeli sanctions on the flow of supplies into Gaza in the wake of daily Kassam rocket attacks from the Strip.
Hamas smuggled truckloads of explosives and weaponry into Gaza while the border was open, security officials said.
The Israeli defense official said that Hamas might blow up the border wall early on Thursday morning. The official said Hamas's plans might be delayed due to Wednesday's attack at the Nahal Oz fuel depot in which terrorists shot two Israelis dead.
"They have most likely already planted explosives along the border with Egypt," the official ...   more »

Yaakov Katz
Since the 2005 disengagement from the Gaza Strip, Hamas has built up a formidable military numbering 20,000 armed men, many of whom have been trained in Iran and Lebanon, a report by an Israeli think tank revealed on Thursday.
Entitled "Hamas's Military Buildup in the Gaza Strip", the report - compiled by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center - detailed the structure of the Hamas military force in Gaza, naming commanders of its various brigades and the type of weapons it has succeeded in smuggling into Gaza through the Sinai.
According to the think tank that has close ties with the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), which provides most of the information in the report, Hamas's military buildup is currently at its peak although its completion will take another few years.
Hamas's military capabilities are based on the Izzedin al-Kassam Brigades - the group's military wing responsible for the terror attacks against Israel.
In the event of a large-scale Israeli invasion of Gaza, the report claims that Hamas would refrain from fighting against the IDF in open areas but would instead channel the fighting into more densely-populated areas.
"Hizbullah's success in providing an asymmetric response to the IDF's ...   more »