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Short Passover video from Israel. This was really well done. Worth a look. Click on link.

The ancient question "Why is this night different" may have a different and somewhat unexpected connotation this year. A ruling on April 3 by Local Affairs Court Judge Tamar Bar-Asher-Tsaban limiting the extent of the 1986 Prohibition on the Display of Hametz Law has infuriated religious leaders and lawmakers and threatens to upset the delicate balance between secular and Orthodox in the capital. Last year the municipality filed lawsuits against four non-kosher eateries and a mini-market for failing to pay fines issued for selling hametz (leavened products). Bar-Asher-Tsaban's ruling, however, determined that the allegations in the charge were incorrect and...

Every presidential campaign has to produce a stream of appropriate statements for religious holidays, patriotic commemorations, and the like. Campaigns don’t expect to win votes with these messages. They produce them because there’s a risk of giving offense to some group or other if they don’t. And candidates do it because it looks presidential. After all, a substantial portion of any White House’s output consists of official messages recognizing various national milestones, group anniversaries and dignitaries’ birthdays. So, last week, in the midst of the excitement over the pope’s visit, the Clinton, Obama and McCain campaigns found time to issue...

President Bush spoke this morning at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington. (Transcript) This has been a joyous week. (Applause.) It's been a joyous time for Catholics -- and it wasn't such a bad week for Methodists, either. (Laughter.) The president later called Rush Limbaugh’s radio show. Rush wanted to thank the president personally for the moving ceremony at the White House earlier this week for Pope Benedict XVI. (Transcript) Rush: We're in a presidential campaign … candidates are telling us what's wrong with the country, and that day, you and the Pope brought God to Washington on public...

Just in time for Passover, the Jewish Music Group (a division of Shout Factory) has released "Exodus: An Oratorio in Three Parts," performed by the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. It is conducted by David Itkin, who created and composed the Oratorio, sung by baritone Paul Rowe and includes dramatic readings from the Bible and from the haggadah, spoken by none other than Shatner... (there is an excerpt at the site)

Happy and Kosher Passover to all FReepers from Alouette & family. May Israel enjoy a blessed and peaceful holiday. Please post your holiday greetings here.

Greeting of the Jewish Community in Washington, D.C. and Message for Pesah     My dear friends, I extend special greetings of peace to the Jewish community in the United States and throughout the world as you prepare to celebrate the annual feast of Pesah. My visit to this country has coincided with this feast, allowing me to meet with you personally and to assure you of my prayers as you recall the signs and wonders God performed in liberating his chosen people. Motivated by our common spiritual heritage, I am pleased to entrust to you this message as a testimony...

MOSCOW, Russia – In the lead-up to Passover, the recently-opened 'Shaarei Tsedek' Charity Center is teeming with activity. "It was only just a month ago that we last got a call, telling us that we have the opportunity to pick up another care package," explained one the Center's beneficiaries contentedly. "These are really good packages. We each received one for Purim and thank G-d we got the call again". This holiday campaign aims to distribute 15,000 packages to Moscow Jews, each of which bears a special mark indicating that the food products are 'kosher for Passover'. All items have been...

Why Should Christians Keep the Passover? Do you really know why Jesus had to suffer and die? What should the Passover mean for Christians today? by Allen Stout Only 3 1/2 years after He began His ministry, Jesus of Nazareth was apprehended by the religious authorities at the time of the Passover feast (Matthew 26:2; Mark 14:1). After a brief trial-while mocking Him, spitting on Him and beating Him-they took Him before the Roman authorities and accused Him of "perverting the nation, . . . saying that He Himself is Christ, a King" (Luke 23:2; Matthew 26:59-68).Pontius Pilate, the Roman...

Pope Benedict XVI will visit a synagogue led by a rabbi who survived the Holocaust during his first papal trip to the United States, the nation's bishops said Thursday. Benedict's visit will be just the third visit by any pope to a synagogue in the 2,000 year history of the Roman Catholic Church. It is his second visit to a synagogue as pontiff. On his first papal trip abroad in 2005, Benedict visited a synagogue in Cologne, Germany. Pope John Paul II was the first pope to visit a synagogue. The pontiff will make a brief stop April 18 at...

Concluding the Passover Seder half an hour after it began was almost a family tradition for the Sifens. Larry and Pam Sifen, together with their children and parents, would sit around the table in their Norfolk, Va., home as the aroma of holiday foods warming in the neighboring kitchen competed with the text of the Haggadah for attention. In recent years, however, the Sifens have taken a new approach to the annual Passover ceremony and feast, ditching the house altogether to embark on an inspirational holiday learning experience away from home. The experiences of other families suggest the Sifens are...

When army forces arrived at his house, 57-year-old Omar Jaber, the leader of the group's Tulkarem branch, tried to escape through a backdoor, but was caught by the soldiers. A military source told the radio station that Jaber's capture so close to Passover was symbolic and brought the issue full circle for the attack's victims and for the IDF. The bombing, carried out during the first night of Passover, killed 29 Israelis and wounded more than 150.

Counter Terrorism Bureau warns against possible abductions, cautions Israelis to refrain from gathering in large groups ynet Published: 03.24.08, 18:53 / Israel News Just a little over three weeks remain until Passover Eve, and on Monday the Counter Terrorism Bureau issued travel warnings and published a statement giving a general overview of the situation abroad. The Bureau emphasized that there was nothing new in these warnings, but in light of the new circumstances brought on by the 40-day anniversary of Hizbullah commander Imad Mugniyah’s assassination in Damascus, Israelis abroad must be more alert. First and most importantly, the Bureau recommends...

"Easter, Passover and the KJV"By Fred Butler There exist in American Christianity a rather vocal group of advocates who defend the King James Version as being the only true, infallible English translation.  Their contention is that it contains absolutely no transcribal or translational errors and can rightly be called the pure, inerrant Word of God.  Donald A. Waite, the director of Bible For Today ministries sums up the KJV only position when he writes:“If we really want to know what the Hebrew in the Old Testament says and what the Greek in the New Testament says in the English language...

Biblical Liberation from Liberalism By Michael Medved Wednesday, April 11, 2007 With the arrival of the eight day Passover Festival on Monday night, I was preparing some material for our family-reunion Seder meal (Diane and I will be together with all three of our children, plus my visiting father from Jerusalem) when I stumbled across one of the most important of all verses in the Hebrew Scriptures. Leviticus 19:15 declares: "You shall not commit a perversion of justice: you shall not favor the poor and you shall not honor the great, with righteousness shall you judge your fellow." About fifteen...

Due to circumstances which are not yet known, a massive Hamas terror attack intended to take place in the Tel Aviv area during the Passover Seder was averted. A similar attack five years ago killed 30 people in Netanya and triggered the IDF's Operation Defensive Shield. The General Security Service (Shabak) has acknowledged that a Hamas terrorist successfully entered the Greater Tel Aviv area in a car laden with 100 kg. (220 lbs.) of explosives before Passover. Besides the explosives, it contained large amounts of shrapnel material, intended to maximize carnage. For reasons that are not yet known, the attack...

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 6, 2007 (Zenit.org).- It is likely that Jesus followed the calendar of the Essenes of Qumran, possibly explaining some contradictions within the Gospel accounts of the Passover, says Benedict XVI. The Pope made this observation Holy Thursday in his homily during the Mass of the Lord's Supper at the Basilica of St. John Lateran. In his address, the theologian commented on the historical investigations on the manuscripts of Qumran, found in the Dead Sea in 1947. "In the narrations of the Evangelists, there is an apparent contradiction between the Gospel of John, on one hand, and what,...

“The Meal, Christ’s Suffering, and the Coming of the Kingdom” (Luke 22:7-20)Our text is the Holy Gospel, from Luke 22, the account of our Lord’s institution of his Holy Supper. Specifically we want to look at these words from our Lord which Luke records, where Jesus says to his disciples: “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” Likewise Jesus says to them, “For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the...

Court nixes Passover lamb sacrifice at Temple Mount By Nadav Shargai and Amiram Barkat In their efforts to sacrifice a live animal at the Temple Mount, the New Sanhedrin Council adopted an almost underground modus operandi. Rabbis Adin Steinsaltz, Israel Ariel, Yishai Baved and their associates secretly located a butcher, found a Cohen hailing from a lineage 1,000 years old and worked out a plan to quickly erect an alter on the Temple Mount. They tried to revive the customs of the ancient Sanhedrin tribunal, which was the highest judicial body for the Jewish people in Israel some 1,600 years...

Christians Who Don't Celebrate Easter: What Do They Know? Easter is the most important holiday for hundreds of millions of believers around the world. Yet thousands of Christians don't observe it. Do they know something that others don't? by Jerold Aust Every spring, the anticipation and excitement of Easter is electrifying for many people. Churches prepare elaborate Easter programs that illustrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Parents take time to color Easter eggs and hide them so their children can hunt for them. It's typical for TV movies this time of year to depict Easter as an enjoyable...

Dear FReepers, Wishing everyone (Jewish and non-Jewish) a joyous Passover. Please post your pictures and greetings here. This year I am celebrating with my family in Moscow, so we are 8 hours ahead of most of the rest of you. My son is hosting a seder for 130 English-speaking expats, and Chabad of Moscow is hosting 7000 guests at other seders throughout the city. In addition there are tens of thousands more attending seders at other congregations and in their own homes. Chabad has distributed 1,000,000 lbs. of matzah throughout the former USSR.

Single Parents - Are You Free On This Passover? By Sara Silber Family Affairs Editor Israel News Agency Jerusalem ---- April 2, 2007..... As the holiday of freedom, Passover or as it is known in Israel as Pesach, approaches, it is desirable to contemplate the themes of this Jewish holiday thereby enhancing your and your family's emotional and spiritual growth. You and your loved ones may want to ponder and discuss the various aspects of freedom – both external and internal. Questions for divorced and single parents to think about: are you free from subjugation of others, from abuse and...

MOSCOW, Russia (JTA) — If all goes according to plan for Russia's largest Jewish organization, it won't be long before Israel-baked matzah becomes a luxury item in the former Soviet Union — nice to look at but not really necessary. With its new matzah bakery ramping up for this Passover season, the Chabad-led Federation of Jewish Communities is hoping to gradually replace imported Israeli matzah with a domestic product. "Some people will always want matzah from Israel because they think it's somehow holier," said Rabbi Avraham Berkowitz, the FJC's executive director. The group's effort to distribute more than 500,000 one-kilo...

What Really Happened at ''Easter''? Most reasonably informed Christians are well aware that many of the traditions that surround the Christmas holidays have pagan origins and very little correlation with the actual events as recorded in the Bible. However, most of us are surprised when we discover that some of what we have been taught about “Easter” is not only in error, but deliberately so! Many, of course, are aware that the name “Easter” actually originates with the pagan worship of Ishtar (or Astarte) that was traditionally observed at the time of the vernal equinox, nominally about March 21 or...

Marijuana is not kosher for Passover, a pro-cannabis advocacy group says, advising Jews who observe the week-long holiday's special dietary laws to take a break from smoking the weed.

To keep her perfect attendance record, Tahera Ali's 13-year-old daughter used to go to school for only a couple of hours on the Islamic Day of Ashurah, getting out just in time to attend prayers for what is a holy day of sorrow. "We wear all black on that date, and she would have to change in the car on the way" to the mosque, said the Bridgewater mother. This year it will be different. Using a little-known process that intertwines education and religion, Ali petitioned her district and this year the day was placed on New Jersey's approved list...

"It's not a question of 'maybe' or 'if'," says the Temple Institute's Rabbi Yisrael Ariel. "Bringing the Paschal sacrifice is a Torah obligation incumbent upon the People of Israel these very days." Speaking with Yoel Yaakobi of the weekly B'Sheva newspaper, Rabbi Ariel said that though there are some grave Halakhic [Jewish legal] problems associated with bringing the Paschal sacrifice, "we have found the solutions, and the obligation is as strong as ever. This is one of the only two positive Biblical commandments that those who forsake it are liable to receive the ultimate karet [cutting off] punishment. From the...

Although I doubt anyone will believe what I have to say, I nonetheless feel compelled to present my Passover, 2006 analysis of the US and world situation. People familiar with me know that I believe the Russians covertly control many leftist organizations throughout the world. I have partially detailed my thinking on this in previous posts and will not reiterate much background here. I have been puzzled for quite some time about many events occurring over the past year. Most puzzling perhaps is the behavior of Iran. First, let me give a little background about Iran and nuclear weapons. Iran...

Since he was critically wounded in last week's suicide bombing at Tel Aviv's old Central Bus Station, the 16-year-old patient hospitalized in intensive care at the city's Ichilov Hospital has been identified in Israel only as the "American" victim. Yet in the seven days that have passed since he was hurt when a bomb exploded at a shwarma eatery where he was seated, thousands of people around the world have reportedly been praying for Haim Meir Naftali, son of Sara and Yekutiel - the Hebrew name of Daniel Wultz. A resident of Weston, Florida, Wultz came to Israel with his...

HEBRON-Tens of thousands flocked here yesterday to the biblical town of Hebron to celebrate Passover festivities alongside the Tomb of the Patriarchs-the second holiest site to Judaism-amid fears the neighborhood would soon be evacuated as part of Acting Prime MInister Ehud Olmert's planned withdrawel from most of the West Bank.

(CBS) A new CBS News poll shows that almost all Americans believe in God or some higher power and more than half pray often and consider religion an important component of their daily lives. Eighty-two percent of poll respondents said they believe in God, with nine percent saying they had faith in some sort of higher power or spirit. Doubt about the existence of God was highest in the "young" demographic as well that of political independents, those living in the West, people who live in big cities and men. Fifty-nine percent of Americans indicated that they pray often and...

A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up outside a fast-food restaurant in a bustling area of Tel Aviv during the Passover holiday Monday, killing eight other people and wounding at least 49 in the deadliest Palestinian attack in more than a year. The Palestinians' new Hamas leaders called the attack a legitimate response to Israeli "aggression." Israel said it held Hamas ultimately responsible — even though a different militant group, Islamic Jihad, claimed responsibility — and would respond "as necessary." "We shall, of course, continue to use all means at our disposal to prevent every other attempt," Israeli Prime Minister-designate...

On this Easter weekend I reflected on the events taking place around the world and the role that religion plays in them. This weekend Christians around the world celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the sins of man. The Jewish community is celebrating Passover and the deliverance by God of the Jews from their slavery in Egypt. The Left in this country is always trying to take religion out of society and strives for a completely secular existence, and the Islamo fascist terrorists are planning their next suicide bombing in the name of their perverted interpretation of...

Katmandu hosts world's largest Passover meal; hoards of Israelis ignore travel warning Despite the political turbulence and travel warnings issued by the Foreign Ministry before Passover, about 1,500 Israelis celebrated the Seder in Katmandu, Nepal. Many of the Israelis chose to participate in the Chabad sponsored Seder held in the Chabad house and considered the largest Seder in the world. Twenty years ago, the Israeli embassy in Katmandu started the tradition of holding a Seder for Israeli travelers and seven years ago members of Chabad took over the task. Israeli Ambassador in Katmandu Dan Stav noted that "when Israeli tourists...

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UNITED NATIONS - When the American ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, asked the members of the Security Council yesterday whether they thought it appropriate on Passover, a major Jewish holy day, to debate a motion denouncing Israel, most of the 15 ambassadors failed to grasp what was wrong, according to diplomats present at the meeting, held behind closed doors. The council scheduled yesterday's meeting after a few days of consultations, hoping to reach an agreement on a statement regarding Israel and the Palestinian Arab territories. No agreement was reached because, according to Mr. Bolton, the text proposed by...

A provocative $4-million documentary by Toronto filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici claims to have found archeological evidence verifying the story of the biblical Exodus from Egypt, 3,500 years ago. Religious Jews consider the biblical account incontrovertible — the foundation story of the creation of the nation of Israel. Indeed, they celebrated the Exodus Wednesday night and last night with the annual Passover recitation of the Haggadah. But among scholars, the question of if and when Moses led an estimated two million Israelite slaves out of pharaonic Egypt, miraculously crossed the Red Sea ahead of the pursuing Egyptian army and received the Ten...

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - As Jews around the world observe the weeklong festival of Passover, a solitary pair in Shanghai are believed to be all that's left of a tide of Jewish immigrants that once filled the bustling Chinese city. The streets of Shanghai teemed with 20,000 or more European Jews in the first half of the 20th century, many fleeing persecution in Russia or Nazi Germany. Sara Imas and her son, Jerry, the last remnants of that era, both live in Shanghai today with their Chinese spouses. But only Sara is celebrating Passover this year -- 28-year-old Jerry is not...

Some hundred haredim were demonstrating outside the Jerusalem police headquarters on Passover eve against the arrest of Yisrael Asher Valis, who was accused of beating his three-month-old son to death. According to the demonstrators, Valis is innocent and has been "humiliated" by the police and the press. The death of the baby on Monday led a leading haredi rabbi to accuse the police and the justice authorities of concocting a Pessah eve blood libel. Rabbi Yitzhak Weiss, halachic authority and spiritual leader for Jerusalem's virulently anti-Zionist Eda Haredit community, said the indictment of the yeshiva student was "identical to the...

The IDF on Wednesday killed two Palestinian gunmen spotted approaching the Kissufim crossing in the southern Gaza Strip. Fatah’s military wing, the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, said the killed men were members of its ranks. The group said the two gunmen exchanged fire with soldiers before being killed. Military officials said the cell had planned to ambush an IDF patrol in the area or cross the security barrier to carry out a terror attack in one of the communities in the area. IDF soldiers in watchtowers spotted the gunmen crawling in the direction of the security barrier and alarmed their commanders....

Following is a letter written by a Jewish Confederate soldier, Isaac J. Levy (pictured at left) of the 46th Virginia Infantry, from camp in Adams Run South Carolina, describing to his sister how he and his brother Ezekiel ("Zeke") observed Passover during the Civil War Passover: A Reminiscence of the Warby J.A. Joel, "The Jewish Messenger", April 1866 In the commencement of the war of 1861, I enlisted from Cleveland, Ohio, in the Union cause, to sustain intact the Government of the United States, and became attached to the 23rd Regiment, one of the first sent from the "Buckeye State."

Apr. 11, 2006 23:57 | Updated Apr. 12, 2006 2:51 Pessah teddy bears plagued by taxman By HILARY LEILA KRIEGER An American 12-year-old who helped collect 7,000 teddy bears for sick children in Israel for Pessah had no idea that the stuffed animals would be temporarily barred from entering the Promised Land. Shira Goldstein's family spent the first half of this week begging the Customs Authority to let her teddy bears go. But the authorities only agreed to release them after NIS 8,900 in import taxes and duties were paid on Tuesday. "My heart could break. Everybody has stepped to...

You know that Passover is coming when the Arab workers in the supermarket start cleaning up the crumbs from the bread aisle, and marking the shelves Hametz. You can see the special matzah lining the shelves: organic whole wheat, wheat bran, egg, chocolate-covered. People take this holiday very seriously here in Israel. Everyone is buying gifts for their Seder evening hosts. Or they are stocking up on food for the groups that will descend on them to be hosted. And although forty rockets were fired from Gaza (gee, that unilateral pull-out was such a brilliant move, saving so many lives),...

What Are the Real Origins of Easter? Millions assume that Easter, one of the world's major religious holidays, is found in the Bible. But is it? Have you ever looked into Easter's origins and customs and compared them with the Bible? by Jerold Aust Easter is one of the most popular religious celebrations in the world. But is it biblical? The word Easter appears only once in the King James Version of the Bible (and not at all in most others). In the one place it does appear, the King James translators mistranslated the Greek word for Passover as...

Howard Perl, 48, a Fort Lauderdale lawyer, never saw himself as much of a worship leader. Then again, he never thought he would be shipped to Iraq after 30 uneventful years in the Army reserve, spend Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New year, under a rain of mortar fire, or lead Friday night worship in Camp Taji, an Army post 12 miles north of Baghdad, when there wasn't a rabbi around to do the job. In a year full of bizarre firsts, Perl says one stands out. ''It will be pretty cool to be able to celebrate Passover in Baghdad,'' said...

  by Thomas J. Nash Other Articles by Thomas J. Nash Worthy Is the Lamb? 08/16/05 Even among animals, a lamb is not a likely “leading man” for a Hollywood action-adventure. Mighty Mouse or Underdog could save the day, but not a lamb; lambs are known for needing help in times of trouble. Recall the wandering lamb that had to be rescued (Mt 18:12-13), or other lambs that needed protection from a menacing wolf (Jn 10:11-12). In This Article...An Untimely and Humiliating DeathFollow the LeaderThe Lambs Win in the End An Untimely and Humiliating Death What was God thinking when He...

Tevi Troy, author of Intellectuals and the American Presidency, is an observant Jew who has held a number of positions in the Bush White House. He began his career in government working as an aide to then-Governor John Ashcroft of Missouri. He told me that when the Shavuot holiday approached, he cringed at the prospect of asking for the day off. Most secularized Jews don't observe it, so how could he expect his non-Jewish boss to give him the time? Sure enough, the initial reaction was puzzlement; the name of the holiday was unfamiliar. Tevi plunged on, explaining that it...

The Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement Encircled the Temple Mount in Jerusalem at Pesach 5765 (2005) Blowing Trumpets Like Joshua in Jericho. An Exciting Pilgrimage to the Temple Mount With the Omer Offering In the year 2489 after the creation of the Universe, 40 years after the exodus of the Children of Israel from Egypt, and after they had crossed the Jordan River in a miraculous way, on the 14th Nissan they made the Pesach Sacrifice and celebrated Pesach and ate matzah as G–d had commanded them as a memorial of the exodus. At the same time,...

MOSCOW, Russia – Hundreds of thousands of Jews across the Former Soviet Union are on the verge of celebrating Passover in great festive tradition thanks to a mass campaign carried out by the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS. A total of 437 FJC member communities across fifteen former Soviet republics will mark this week-long holiday both at home and at mass public Seders. Dozens of communities have conducted seminars to help Jewish community Chairmen to lead public Passover Seders, the first of which has peculiarities since it coincides with Shabbat, as well as offering training and instruction for...

My father, a psychologist, once attended a public lecture by a student of Freud named Dr. Reich. The presentation was to grapple with the peculiar fact that every major culture has in its historical record a facsimile of the Biblical Flood story. All recount a deluge that shrunk the Earth's inhabitants into a very small cadre of survivors who then rebuilt. Reich hypothesized that there is a deep-seated fear of global annihilation that undermines humanity's confidence in its own existence. People then project backwards to fashion a mythology mirroring their insecurity. Dad raised his hand and offered an alternative solution...