by Chana (Jenny) Weisberg

It doesn't take a war for a country to unite and feel like family. There's always Sukkot. By the time I woke up, the snow was already piled high above my head. Because of the blizzard, Baltimore city snowplows would not arrive for a few days. So early in the morning, my father started shoveling the street on his own. Over the course of that morning, all of our neighbors came out with their shovels. There were the parents of my third grade classmates, the Levys, the Blumners, and the Hymans. There were also the neighbors that I had never seen before, a gray-haired man from the house behind the high bushes, a middle-aged couple from the house with the blue shutters, a man with a woolen hat from the house with the beautiful garden.Early that afternoon, the road cleared of snow, the couple from the house with the blue shutters opened their doors, and all of the residents of Arden Road celebrated the clearing of the snow with a feast of rice with chicken and gravy. While my childhood was marked by dozens of Thanksgiving dinners, and birthday lunches, and Passover seders, the excitement that ...   more »

by Joel Padowitz The Sukkah generates such intense spiritual energy that the souls of the seven shepherds of Israel leave Gan Eden to partake in the divine light of the earthly Sukkot. What is the Garden of Eden? This is the place where worthy souls, having passed from this world, enjoy the light of the divine presence as they await entrance to the World to Come -- i.e. the post-Messianic age (Talmud - Shabbat 152b; Derech Hashem 1:3:11). The Zohar, the foremost book of Jewish mysticism, explains that the Sukkah generates such an intense concentration of spiritual energy, that the divine presence actually manifests itself there in a similar way to Eden. During Sukkot the souls of the seven shepherds of Israel -- Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph, and King David -- actually leave Gan Eden to partake in the divine light of the earthly Sukkot (Zohar - Emor 103a). Each day of Sukkot, all seven souls are present, but each takes his turn to lead the other six. Collectively these transcendent guests are known as Ushpizin, the Aramaic word meaning "guests." To welcome these illustrious souls, many have the custom to recite a lengthy mystical invitation upon ...   more »

The Russian air force held a massive exercise that involved strategic bombers flying across the North Pole and approaching Alaska, the Aleutian Islands and Japan, a top general said Friday. Lt. Gen. Igor Khvorov, the commander of Russian long-range aviation, said the exercise that began Tuesday and finished Friday had nothing to do with heightening tensions between Russia and Georgia, Russian news reports said. Khvorov said the exercise involved 70 Tu-160, Tu-95 and Tu-22M3 bombers, which test-fired 18 cruise missiles, the RIA Novosti news agency reported. He said some bombers crossed the Arctic Ocean, flew over the North Pole and also reached Alaska, the Aleutian Islands and Japan's western coast without entering any country's airspace. "All the aircraft involved flew over neutral waters, and none of them came closer than 12 nautical miles (25 km) to the maritime borders of any country," Khvorov said, according to RIA Novosti.

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By Jan Willem van der Hoeven   October 3, 2006
You want an apology? I and many, many with me are waiting for an apology, finally, from you!
You want Pope Benedict to apologize for having quoted a Byzantine Emperor for saying there is something inherently evil in the teachings of ISLAM in regard to Jihad and Violence. You feel hurt and incensed; that these words are an attack upon your faith and prophet. But what about you again and again attacking the West and Israel, calling the U.S. the big Satan and Israel, small Satan, daring to call -- and openly basing yourself on the teachings of the Quran -- Jews and Christians pigs and monkeys!
And you want the West to apologize for a Danish cartoon or a quote from the Pope when we have to suffer, not only your violent words but, what is far more serious, your violent acts of war and terror. It is not enough that Mohammed in his comparatively short lifetime waged more than forty wars -- sanctified Jihad and violence -- and butchered thousands of Christians and Christian communities and Jews in order to spread the teachings of ISLAM.
Do you now have ...   more »

THE followers of Moqtada al-Sadr believe that the US invaded Iraq to prevent the return to Earth of their sect’s messiah-like figure, the Mahdi, or 12th imam.
Hojatoleslam al-Sadr claims that his militia is preparing for the day when the Mahdi, the last direct descendent of the revered Shia figure Ali, reappears. Shia believe that the Mahdi, who disappeared in 868, will bring justice to Earth.  
At a prayer service in the central Iraqi city of Kufa on September 15, the cleric told a crowd of thousands that the Americans were collecting a dossier on the Mahdi to prevent his return. “Did you ever ask yourself about why all of this, the bloodshed and the prisons? Why are the brothers fighting each other for a political game planned by the Americans? This all happened because they (the Americans) are waiting for the Mahdi. This planning started ten years ago. They have a big file for Imam Mahdi and they just need his picture to complete it.”
Hojatoleslam al-Sadr and his advisers are convinced that the Americans want to destroy Islam and stop the Mahdi. “The Americans are trying to hijack Islamic movements. They think that these are serving the ...   more »

North Korea is to conduct a nuclear test "in the future", the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The move would "bolster" the country's self-defence in the face of US military hostility, official agency KCNA said.
Pyongyang has faced mounting international pressure over its nuclear programme, and in July was condemned by the UN for test-launching missiles.
The news has been condemned by the US, Japan, South Korea and Russia - all members of the six-nation talks.
The US state department said any nuclear test would further isolate the North Korean regime and said the US would work with allies to discourage "such a reckless action".
North Korea gave no time-frame for a test, but correspondents say a successful nuclear trial would signal the end of international negotiations on the North's nuclear ambitions, and threaten a dangerous arms race in East Asia.
 It would be a threat to peace that is absolutely unforgivable. Our response will be severe
Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso  
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the nuclear test plans were unacceptable and would be responded to "harshly".
South Korea's government went into emergency security talks, while Yang Chang-Seok, a spokesman for the country's unification ministry, ...   more »

French president Jacques Chirac paid no heed to Turkish sensitivities on his first-ever visit to Armenia this weekend, calling on Turkey to own up to genocide before joining the EU and comparing the killings to Nazi Germany's holocaust.
"Should Turkey recognise the genocide of Armenia to join the EU?" Mr Chirac asked, AP reports. "I believe so. Each country grows by acknowledging the dramas and errors of its past...Can one say that Germany, which has deeply acknowledged the holocaust, has as a result lost credit? It has grown."
The French leader made the remarks in Yerevan on Saturday (30 September) at a wreath-laying ceremony beside the country's Genocide Monument, before visiting the Genocide Museum and writing the solitary word "remember" in the visitors' book.
Armenia says Turkish forces slaughtered 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1917 but the Turkish government and Turkish history books claim that 300,000 Armenians and 300,000 Turks died in a 'civil war' in the region.
Fifteen countries, including France, Switzerland, Russia and Argentina, have previously classified the killings as genocide - defined by the UN as "harmful acts...committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group."
In Turkey, ...   more »