by Rebecca Rubinstein
A great Rabbi finds out that Elijah liked best the simple Seder of a poor man who captured the meaning of Pesach in one heartfelt prayer.
Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev, one of the great Hassidic teachers, looked forward to Seder night every year.
One year, after the Seder was over, Rabbi Levi Yitzhak went to sleep, content. He had conducted a great Seder with all his students round the table.
He fell into a deep sleep and dreamt a strange dream.
In the dream, the prophet Elijah is talking with the angels, giving them an account of the Seder he saw in Jewish homes. He describes the kids' excitement as their eyes are glued to the cup for Elijah to see if he came to visit them this year.
One of the angels asks, "But which was the most important Seder that you visited? Was it Rabbi Levi Yitzhak's?"
"Truth be told," Elijah answers, "Rabbi Levi Yitzhak's Seder was full of interesting discussions on the Haggadah, but it cannot be compared to the Seder of Chaim the water carrier."
At that Rabbi Levi Yitzhak woke up with a start and jumped out of bed. He had ...   more »

Secretive U.S.-backed discussion focuses on West Bank, Jerusalem as Checkpoints removed and Jewish settlements' defenses confiscated
Aaron Klein of WorldNetDaily reports: U.S.-backed negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians are expected to generate an agreement by the end of the year that would set up a Palestinian state in the West Bank and eastern sections of Jerusalem, according to a source who has participated in the talks.
According to the source who has been playing a role in the meetings, the two sides are drafting an agreement, to be signed by the end of the year, requiring Israel to evacuate most of the West Bank and certain eastern sections of Jerusalem.
The source said Israeli community blocks in the zones of Gush Etzion, Maale Adumin and Ariel would remain Israeli while most of the West Bank and parts of Jerusalem will be slated for a Palestinian state.
In contradiction to statements by Olmert, the status of sections of Jerusalem is being negotiated but the specifics of any agreed-upon Israeli withdrawal is as yet unclear, said the source.
"It is understood [Jerusalem] Arab neighborhoods would become part of a Palestinian state," the source said.
The source told WND both sides agreed Israel would ...   more »

As Epicenter Conference opens, The Jerusalem Post provides a sneak peak at an exclusive new Joshua Fund poll of American Christian views of the Jewish State.
By Joel C. Rosenberg
 (Jerusalem, Israel, April 10, 2008) -- At the Epicenter Conference in Jerusalem today, The Joshua Fund released partial results of an exclusive poll of "American Christian Attitudes Towards Israel and the Middle East." Full results will be posted soon on my weblog. What follows is a front-page story in The Jerusalem Post.
U.S. Christians 'morally' support Israel
By Etgar Lefkovitz
More than 80 percent of American Christians say they have a "moral and biblical obligation" to support the State of Israel, and half say Jerusalem should remain its undivided capital, according to a survey released on Thursday.
While evangelical Christians are the strongest supporters of the Jewish state, strong pro-Israel convictions cut across all key Christian denominations in the US, according to the poll carried out on behalf of the Washington-based Joshua Fund, an evangelical organization.
Eight-two percent of respondents said they had a "moral and biblical obligation" to love and support Israel and pray for the peace of Jerusalem," 10% disagreed and 8% did not know.
Eighty-four percent of ...   more »

That was to cut Jerusalem in two.....
O Jerusalem! America drafts plan to cut in 2
Allows Palestinian security control, asks Israel to forfeit Temple Mount
JERUSALEM – The United States, which has been mediating negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority here, has proposed a plan to divide Jerusalem, WND has learned.
The plan, divided into separate phases, among other things calls for Israel eventually to forfeit parts of the Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest site.
According to the first stage of the U.S. plan, which was obtained by WND, Israel would give the PA some municipal and security sovereignty over key Arab neighborhoods in eastern Jerusalem.
The PA would be allowed to open some official institutions in Jerusalem, could elect a mayor for the Palestinian side of the city and would deploy police forces to maintain law and order.
The initial stage also calls for the PA to operate Jerusalem municipal institutions, such as offices to oversee trash collection and maintenance of roads.
After five years, if both sides keep their certain commitments called for in a larger principal agreement, according to the U.S. plan the PA would be given full sovereignty over the eastern Jerusalem neighborhoods and also ...   more »

  "For Aaron's sons, make tunics and sashes. Also make them hats that are both dignified and beautiful. Place these [vestments] on Aaron and his sons. Then anoint them, and install them, sanctifying them to be priests to Me. Also make linen pants to cover their nakedness, reaching from their waists to their thighs. [All these vestments] must be worn by Aaron and his sons whenever they enter the Communion Tent or offer sacrifice on the altar, performing the divine service in the sanctuary; otherwise they will have committed a sin and they will die. This shall be a law for [Aaron] and his descendants after him for all time." (Exodus 28:40-43)
"They made the tunics for Aaron and his sons by weaving them out of fine linen. [They made] the linen turban, the fine linen hats, and the line pants, [all out of] twined linen. [They made] the belt, embroidered out of twined linen, and sky-blue, dark red and crimson wool." (Exodus 39:28-29)
Original ource
 

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Middle-aged men who ate seven or more eggs a week had a higher risk of earlier death, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday.
Men with diabetes who ate any eggs at all raised their risk of death during a 20-year period studied, according to the study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
The study adds to an ever-growing body of evidence, much of it contradictory, about how safe eggs are to eat. It did not examine what about the eggs might affect the risk of death.
Men without diabetes could eat up to six eggs a week with no extra risk of death, Dr. Luc Djousse and Dr. J. Michael Gaziano of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School found.
"Whereas egg consumption of up to six eggs a week was not associated with the risk of all-cause mortality, consumption of (seven or more) eggs a week was associated with a 23 percent greater risk of death," they wrote.
"However, among male physicians with diabetes, any egg consumption is associated with a greater risk of all-cause mortality, and there was suggestive evidence for a greater risk of MI (heart attack) and stroke."They urged more study in the general ...   more »

'The kids were corralled by adults and required to go to assembly for prayer'
A Minnesota teacher who substituted for two fifth-grade classes at a publicly funded school located in the same building as an Islamic mosque says religion appears to be a significant focus of the education.
 Amanda Getz of Bloomington, Minn., told a columnist for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune her duties at Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy in Inver Grove Heights included taking students to the bathroom, four at a time, to perform "their ritual washing."
Then, the teacher told columnist Katherine Kersten, "teachers led the kids into the gym, where a man dressed in white with a white cap, who had been at the school all day," was preparing to lead prayer.
Beside him, another man "was prostrating himself in prayer on a carpet as the students entered," the teacher said.
The Star-Tribune previously documented that the charter high school for kindergarten through eighth-grade students is named after a Muslim warlord, shares the address of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, is led by two imams, is composed almost exclusively (99 percent) of blacks and has as its top goal to preserve "our values."
And it's all funded by ...   more »

In recent months several high profile security breaches have brought the subject of identity theft back into the national spotlight. Most recently, Hannaford Bros., an east coast grocery store chain, said that it was hit by a data breach that exposed more than 4.2 million credit and debit card numbers. So far, more than 1,800 cases of fraud have been reported in connection with the breach.
It is the fastest growing crime in the nation and no one is immune. Anyone can become a victim. Identity theft is when someone obtains your personal information - such as your bank or credit card account numbers, information about your income, your Social Security number (SSN), or your name, address, and phone number - and uses it without your knowledge to commit fraud or theft.
Identity theft is a serious crime. People whose identities have been stolen can spend months or years - and their hard earned money - cleaning up the mess the thieves have made of their good name and credit record. Some victims have lost job opportunities, been refused loans for education, housing or cars, or even been arrested for crimes they didn't commit. According to the Federal Trade Commission, ...   more »

By David R. Sands - Russia next month will stage its first Red Square parade of missiles, tanks and soldiers since the Soviet times, but the country's military faces massive crises in manpower, equipment, training and strategy despite the energy revenue windfall of recent years.
A panel of U.S. and Russian defense experts yesterday painted a deeply pessimistic portrait of the state of Russia's military and defense industries, plagued by collapsing morale, inferior arms, a decaying industrial base, and deep divisions among top-level civilian and career military officials over the future.
"When you read about new deployments or overflights of U.S. ships, I believe there's quite a lot less here than meets the eye," said Eugene B. Rumer, a senior research fellow at the National Defense University's Institute for National Strategic Studies.
"Yes, they are spending more on defense, but it really does not amount to the significant strategic change of Russia's military posture that some have been led to think," he said at a briefing at the Heritage Foundation.
"This is a military in crisis; there's no other way to describe it," said Stephen Blank, a security expert at the U.S. Army War College. "And it's a crisis 17 ...   more »