by Rabbi Shraga Simmons
During the holiday of Purim, we read the book of Esther twice - it is a peculiar bible story, the only one where God is not mentioned.
A person is obligated to hear the reading of the Megillah -- once at night and again the next day. (Shulchan Aruch - Code of Jewish Law 687:1)
1) Men, women, and children (who have reached the age of education -- age 6) are required to hear the Megillah.
2) The Megillah is so important that even Torah study is deferred to hear the reading.
3) The Megillah is read twice -- first at night, and again the next day. The time for the night reading is from nightfall (Tzait Hakochavim) until dawn (Alot Hashachar). Some authorities permit, even in the case of a mild illness, to read the Megillah one-and-a-quarter hours before nightfall.
4) The time for the daytime reading is from sunrise to sunset. Post facto, the daytime reading may be read even after sunset (as long as the reading is concluded before nightfall), though the blessings may not be recited.
5) Because of the concept of B'rov Am Hadrat Melech -- "with the multitude of the ...   more »

by Rabbi Shraga Simmons
Summing up the Purim holiday in 10 words or less: They tried to kill us, we won, let's eat.
Purim is Judaism's most dramatic, fun-filled holiday. When else can you dress up like a bunny rabbit and eat doughy triangles filled with prunes and poppy seeds?
Purim occurs on the 14th of Adar. (In certain walled cities like Jerusalem, "Shushan Purim" is celebrated on the 15th of Adar.)
The main event is reading the Book of Esther. Set in Persia 2,300 years ago, the "Megillah" (as it is commonly called) recounts how a seemingly unrelated series of events spun together to save the Jewish people from annihilation. The quickie version is as follows:
When King Achashverosh throws a huge six-month party and the queen refuses to follow orders, she is replaced by a new queen - Esther the Jewess. Esther's uncle Mordechai, the leader of the Jews, uncovers a plot to assassinate the king -- putting him also in a favorable position with the king. All this comes in handy when Haman, the king's top advisor, obtains a decree to have all the Jews destroyed.
In the end, through a complex twist of events, Esther gets ...   more »

In an interview with Palestinian paper, Foreign Minister says clauses on right of return make 2002 plan unacceptable. 'What more does she want?' asks PA chief negotiator
Roee Nahmias
It's impossible for Israel to accept the Arab peace initiative in its current version, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told Palestinian newspaper al-Ayyam in an interview Thursday. She was referring to an initiative agreed upon at an Arab summit in Beirut in 2002.
Diplomatic Activity
 Livni urges EU not to rush to accept Mecca deal  / Attila Somfalvi   
Foreign minister attempts to convince her European counterparts to wait for Palestinian government to meet Quartet conditions by recognizing Israel, renouncing violence and committing to agreements signed so far     
The foreign minister said that the current version of the initiative was primarily problematic due to its references to the right of return.  On the very day the Saudi initiative was reported in the New York Times, I was interviewed by an Israeli radio station and said that this initiative could be a good starting point (for the peace process), said Livni.
Later, they went to Beirut and added new phrases that made the initiative unacceptable from an Israeli standpoint. They added clauses ...   more »

The present-day Sanhedrin Court along with a group of extremist rabbis announced their plans on Wednesday to resume ancient Temple practices of animal sacrifices on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, despite religious bans by Moslems and Jews.
The court purchased herds of sheep for ritual sacrifice, which they have planned for the eve of Passover, depending on the situation at the controversial religious site.
“Regrettably, there are many extremist Israeli groups who want to carry out their plans,” said Jerusalem's senior Islamic cleric, Mohammed Hussein. “Let them say what they want, Al Aksa is a Moslem mosque.”
The 71 members of the Sanhedrin have all the required elements necessary for Temple sacrifice, including the ritual altar, and said they want to begin sacrificing animals again, despite the absence of the Temple. Professor Hillel Weiss, a member of the Sanhedrin, said it is an important step to show that it’s not only talk.
Rabbi Dov Stein, secretary of the new Sanhedrin Court, believes Temple sacrifices won’t happen any time soon.
“We want to do the sacrifice, but we have political problems,” Stein said. “We hope there will come a time when the government will agree. We will push for that to ...   more »

Scientists scanning the deep interior of Earth have found evidence of a vast water reservoir beneath eastern Asia that is at least the volume of the Arctic Ocean.
The discovery marks the first time such a large body of water has found in the planet’s deep mantle.
The finding, made by Michael Wysession, a seismologist at Washington State University in St. Louis, and his former graduate student Jesse Lawrence, now at the University of California, San Diego, will be detailed in a forthcoming monograph to be published by the American Geophysical Union.
Looking down deep
The pair analyzed more than 600,000 seismograms—records of waves generated by earthquakes traveling through the Earth—collected from instruments scattered around the planet.
They noticed a region beneath Asia where seismic waves appeared to dampen, or “attenuate,” and also slow down slightly. “Water slows the speed of waves a little,” Wysession explained. “Lots of damping and a little slowing match the predictions for water very well.”
101 Amazing
Earth Facts
Previous predictions calculated that if a cold slab of the ocean floor were to sink thousands of miles into the Earth’s mantle, the hot temperatures would cause water stored inside the rock to evaporate out.
“That ...   more »

By DPA and Haaretz Service  
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in Sudan late Wednesday that "Zionists are the true manifestation of Satan," state-run IRNA news agency reported.
"The Zionists are the true manifestation of Satan," Ahmadinejad said during the state visit, speaking to a meeting of Sudanese Islamic scholars in the capital Khartoum.
Both Sudan and Iran are accused internationally of supporting radical Islamic movements.
"Many Western governments that claim to be pioneers of democracy and standard bearers of human rights close their eyes over crimes committed by the Zionists and by remaining silent support the Zionists due to their hedonistic and materialistic tendencies," the Iranian leader said.
Both countries do not recognize Israel, and Israeli citizens are barred from entering Sudan.
Ahmadinejad told IRNA before leaving Iran that his meetings with Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir would play an important role in promoting mutual relations and cooperation in political, economic and cultural fields.
Ahmadinejad has made a habit of making virulently anti-Israel comments, calling for the Jewish state to be "wiped off the map," among other verbal attacks.
He also has called the Holocaust a myth and held a conference of revisionist historians on the credibility that six ...   more »

Norwegian anti-immigration politicians in Bergen have promised to chase off Muslims with pigs feet and squealing noises if Bergen's central square is used for prayers.
Torgallmenningen is one of scenic Bergen's many attractions. 
The leader of the Demokratene, an extreme populist party formed by outcasts of the populist Progress Party, Vidar Kleppe, said Wednesday that he backed the remarks of city council representative Kenneth Rasmussen.
Rasmussen reacted with threats of porcine tactics after Labour Party politician Jerad Abdelmajid said that the city's Muslims could take their Friday prayers in Torgallmenningen, Bergen's central square, when they will be without a mosque from March 31. Building of a new mosque is behind schedule.
Abdelmajid's announcement provoked heated public debate.
"I completely agree with Kenneth Rasmussen that Muslims having their Friday prayers with their butts in the air in the city center is no solution. They can find other places," Kleppe told news agency NTB.
Kenneth Rasmussen told newspaper Dagbladet's web site that Bergen residents should hang up pig's feet and play pig squeals over loudspeakers to scare off Muslims, and claimed these tactics worked when he was a soldier for the United Nations in Somalia and Lebanon in the 1990s.
Kleppe was ...   more »

By John-Henry Westen
BELFAST, Northern Ireland, February 27, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A conference on 'Protecting Children Online' which took place in Belfast in November 2005 was initially billed as an event sponsored by the European Union and the Virtual Global Taskforce, an organization made up of law enforcement agencies from around the world.  With the backing of the EU and international law enforcement, Belfast governmental authorities were pleased to host the conference and provide a civic reception.
However once it was revealed that the conference invited the hard core porn industry, local government officials were outraged and demanded an explanation from the EU. 
Northern Ireland Assemblyman, Dr. Esmond Birnie, a leading opponent of the normalization of pornography, said in a press release today, "The abuse of the hospitality of the City of Belfast will be forcefully raised with (US) Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez."
LifeSiteNews.com has learned that the EU is now denying its part in the 2005 conference. "The civic reception at Belfast city Hall was officially for an EU initiative, it may even be the case that the EU conference was not organized by the EU," said Birnie.  "If the European Commission belatedly decided to distance themselves from the ...   more »

Dawn of the GM babies?
Scientists will be able to carry out genetic experiments on human embryos for the first time under controversial Government plans.
Ministers have given the green light to research that some doctors warn raises the disturbing prospect of "genetically modified babies".
Proposed legislation says researchers would be allowed to alter the genetic blueprint of an embryo up to two weeks old. Ethical campaigners fear this could herald an era of eugenics in which couples would engineer their children to be as perfect as possible.
Critics predicted the public would be "horrified" by any steps towards creating GM babies.
The Government has said it will not allow genetic modification of embryos for reproductive purposes.
However, it wants to let scientists alter the genetic structure of the cells of live embryos for research projects. In practice this would mean scientists could take an embryo while it is only a few days old and manipulate its genes to learn more about inherited disorders such as motor neurone disease.
After 14 days the embryo would have to be destroyed so it could never grow into a GM baby.
But Dr David King, director of the campaign group Human Genetics Alert, ...   more »