Last night ex-PM of Australia and current Foreign Minister – Kevin Rudd – dramatically resigned at a 1am Press Conference in Washington: and is now in the process of trying to reclaim his former position as Prime Minister: see Rudd, Gillard in Read More »

R’ Meir of Premishlan or, as he was fondly known, R’ Maer’l, was renowned for his devotion to tzedakah. Any gifts he received from his Chassidim he immediately distributed to the poor. He explained himself in this way: “Meir’l once went up to Heaven in a dream and observed what happened to people as they came to Heaven after they died. Read More »

A very young Israeli family is in need of assistance – their mother died suddenly, the father is trying to adjust to life with two babies and no income. I am collecting on their behalf. If you would like to help out, please donate via the Paypal button in the left column. All monies raised will be used to relocate the family into suitable housing. Read More »

You can read the Eye witness account here Read More »

HT: Joe This program was aired last night on Australian TV: you may find it of interest. Read More »

Rabbi Pinchas Winston, based upon his book, “Redemption to Redemption: The Very Deep and Intricate Connection Between the Holidays of Purim and Pesach,” discusses the connection between Yosef and his brothers, Shechem, and Purim. Read More »

Israel Attack on Iran – What the defense Experts in America And Israel are Saying Read More »

Story by Yaffa Eliach from “Hasidic Tales of the Holocaust”, based on a conversation between the Grand Rabbi of Bluzhov, Rabbi Israel Spira and Baruch Singer: January 3, 1975. It was a dark, cold night in the Janowska Road Camp. Read More »

Unconfirmed rumors from a wellknown and respected mekubal in Israel that the Gog u’Magog war will occur on Purim [yes!] – I will hopefully be able to blog more details about this tomorrow, once I have more information. Meanwhile…. Read More »

By Maariv in the Bracha of Hashkiveinu we ask Hashem, “V’Haser Satan Milfaneinu U’Mei Achoreinu”, to remove the Yetzer Hara from in front of us and from behind us. What does this mean? The seforim answer that when we want to do something good the Satan tells us there is no rush, start “tomorrow”. Read More »

Art: Catherine Nolan There is a special mission given to Jewish women, each of whom is called the ”mainstay of the home” for the conduct of the entire home depends on her. Every Jewish home must be similar to the Sanctuary and Holy Temple in which G-d’s presence resided. It must be pure and holy, so that G-d can say ”I can dwell within them”. Read More »

GERMANY’S finance minister has bowed to pressure to keep Greece afloat despite secretly drawing up plans for the country’s bankruptcy. Wolfgang Schäuble today said Greece was “on the right path” as he publically supported plans to shovel more money at Greek debts. Read More »

from Rabbi M. Glazerson Read More »

“Speak to the Children of Israel and let them take for Me a portion” [Terumah 25: 2] Why does the verse state “take for Me a portion” and not “give Me a portion”? The Torah is showing us the greatness vested in the mitzvah of giving tzedakah. Read More »

Art: Christopher Boffoli This week’s Parsha, Terumah, means ”contribution”, since the Tabernacle [mishkan] was constructed from contributions made by the Jewish people. Read More »

With one and a half million (1.5 million) American children now homeless, reporter Hilary Andersson meets the school pupils who go hungry in the richest country on Earth. Read More »

Inside a despairing Greek nation where families queue at soup kitchens and women threaten to jump to their deaths as job losses mount When Eleni Nikolaidou agreed to help a university research project, she was asked to plough through 6,000 newspapers from World War II. Read More »

US Declares War on Iran And then there’s this: [Reuters] – Belgium-based SWIFT, which provides banks with a system for moving funds around the world, bowed to international pressure on Friday and said it was ready to block Iranian banks from using its network to transfer money. Read More »

The Fear of Setting Yourself FreeBy: Rabbi YY Jacobson Rage TherapyA man visiting a bar each evening, would routinely throw glass cups at the bartender and at the people sitting around and drinking. Yet he always made sure to follow up his violence by pleading for forgiveness. Read More »

BEIRUT: The Beirut River mysteriously turned blood red Wednesday after a stream of unidentified red liquid began pouring from the southern bank of the river in Furn al-Shubbak. The source of the liquid had yet to be determined Wednesday evening, as the river continued to empty the red-colored water into the Mediterranean Sea. Read More »