By Rebbetzin Tzipporah Heller
The commandment to count teaches us mindfulness, and it re-opens our hearts to hearing stories.
The commandment to count the omer is one of the more curious prescriptions of the Torah. We are told to count the 49 days between Passover and Shavuot even though, of course, the number of days never changes. Therefore, it is very much an effort in which the process is in and of itself a value.
The word for "number" in Hebrew is mispar. Its root is closely related to the word for "story" -- sipur. What is the relationship between the two?
A collection of events becomes a story -- as opposed to a random anthology of events -- when there is a beginning in which the characters are introduced, a middle in which conflict takes place, and an end in which there is resolution.
Our lives flow by so quickly that we frequently lose awareness of the awesome power of our own stories. The metamorphosis of today into tomorrow is subtle enough for us to lose consciousness of beginnings and ends.
The commandment to count teaches us mindfulness. It re-opens our hearts to hearing stories. And what story is ...   more »

JERUSALEM – A 60-year-old orthodox Jewish Jerusalem resident was violently assaulted while carrying an Israeli flag last week during the country's annual Memorial Day for fallen soldiers.
The attack took place as commemorative sirens were sounding throughout the biblical Promised Land, prompting most citizens to stand at attention in remembrance of the over 22,000 soldiers who have fallen during the past six decades, most of them in one of Israel's many wars (if we include the two violent Palestinian revolts, as we should, the number is now up to eight wars, not including Saddam's wonderful Scud attacks in early 1991).
So who assaulted the observant man that dared to hoist the blue and white Israeli flag during the memorial siren? No, not enraged Palestinian Hamas terrorists or some Arab Muslim woman hiding a knife underneath her chador. The attackers were ultra-orthodox Jews who oppose the existence of the Jewish-run state of Israel on purely religious grounds. These extremely pious folks prefer to wait for the Messiah to come and set up a strictly orthodox state, considering any loyalty to the current largely secular country a desecration of God's holy name.
This is just one small example of the many peculiarities ...   more »

JPost.com Staff
15 people were wounded Wednesday evening, including a mother and her three-year-old daughter, when a Grad rocket fired from Gaza hit the Hutzot Shopping Center in Ashkelon.
The rocket ripped through the roof of the mall, causing a large chunk of the roof to collapse in a huge pile of rubble and twisted metal. Four windows were blown out of the side of the building. The top floor of the building, which bore the brunt of the attack, is where offices and clinics are located.
A hospital official said a woman and her young daughter were seriously wounded, along with another child. Another woman was seriously wounded, and several other people were lightly wounded, said the official, Leah Malul of Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon.
MDA reported 15 people wounded - four seriously, two moderately and nine lightly, adding that all the casualties had been evacuated from the site of the attack, including four people who were briefly trapped under the rubble.
Witnesses said an early warning siren meant to give a few seconds for people to take cover did not sound before the rocket slammed into the mall.
Two terror groups, the Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance ...   more »

Aaron London
A few weeks ago, I wrote here: “In a few years…either through arms or through the polls, Muslim Shiites will complete their takeover of Lebanon.” I am no expert on Lebanese affairs, but I did not need to be too daring to make this prediction. 
I based my assessment on lessons learned back in the first Lebanon War, where we were surprised by the weakness and corruption of Lebanon’s Christian community. To that I added the lessons of the Second Lebanon War, as well as demographic figures and other facts that are clear to all. 
Renewed fighting erupts in Lebanon  
Clashes break out again in port city of Tripoli between supporters of Western-backed government, militants loyal to Hizbullah-led opposition. Six days of fighting leave at least 59 people dead, nearly 200 wounded 
The essence of it is that the Shiites comprise the largest ethnic group in Lebanon and its members are stimulated by a justified sense of discrimination intermixed with religious zealotry. The Shiites face many ethnic groups with contradictory interests. And most of all: The Shiites are willing to sacrifice themselves for the sake of their aspirations, while the other groups are unwilling to do so. 
The ...   more »

Israel's UN ambassador breaks Israeli silence on Beirut clashes, states 'weapons are being funneled to Hizbullah, while Lebanon is torn and bleeding. The international community must act, for the sake of Lebanon and the entire region'
Roni Sofer
Iran has reached Israel's northern border, as well as its southern border, Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Dan Gillerman said Wednesday, several hours before US President George W. Bush's arrival in the Jewish state.
"The situation in Lebanon, between the Syrians and the Iranians, seems very bad. Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the Second Lebanon War, is not being implemented. What is extremely alarming is that Iran is on our northern border, and in a sense on our southern border as well," he said. 
The ambassador essentially expressed what Israeli government ministers have been thinking, despite their failure to react. Some of them view the recent clashes in Lebanon between the opposition and government supporters as a Hizbullah takeover of the land of cedars.
The Israeli stance, however, is to keep quiet in a bid to allow the world to deal with the situation created in the north.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud ...   more »

President meets with PM Olmert in Jerusalem, pledges US will support Israel in face of Iranian nuclear threat, struggle against Hamas in Gaza
Roni Sofer
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert held a two-hour meeting on Wednesday afternoon with US President George W. Bush in Jerusalem. 
Bush vowed the United States would aid Israel in its stand against the Iranian nuclear threat and the rocket barrages from terror groups in Gaza.
Bush remarked that these were "interesting times," saying that Israel, along with other democracies, were currently facing difficult challenges from extremists.
"We will stand with democratic nations against terrorism, we will stand with Israel against the nuclear threat, and with the Sinoira government in Lebanon against Hizbullah, which has turned its weapons against its own people," said Bush.
The President denounced the rocket attacks from Gaza and the wounding of Israeli and Palestinian civilians.
Hamas is adamant in its quest to destroy Israel, said Bush, adding that the US will support not only Israel against the Islamist group, but also those Palestinians who wish to live side-by-side with Israel in peace.
Olmert also addressed the Iranian threat, calling it "a danger to global stability."
Also in attendance at the meeting were ...   more »

On April 30, the Senate's subcommittee on the Constitution held a vitally important hearing on "Secret Law and the Threat to Democratic and Accountable Government," chaired by Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis. At issue, ignored by the presidential contenders, is a profound change in the very core of our laws. Said witness Steven Aftergood, secrecy expert at the Federation of American Scientists:
Growing use of secret law "is implicated in fundamental political controversies over domestic surveillance, torture and many other issues directly affecting the lives and interests of Americans. ... Secret law excludes the public from the deliberative process, promotes arbitrary and deviant government behavior, and shields official malefactors from accountability."
At this very Senate hearing, John R. Elwood, the Office of Legal Counsel's deputy assistant attorney general, provided a startling example of the Bush administration's justification for the imperious essence of secret law. As reported in the May 1 New York Times, Elwood "disclosed a previously unpublicized method to cloak government activities."
The Bush administration believes, he said, "that the president could ignore or modify existing executive orders that he and other presidents have issued without disclosing the new interpretation."
Vladimir Putin would agree with that – but is this ...   more »