(Mr. Phillips is president of the Religious Zionists of America, Philadelphia Chapter; Mr. Korn, the former executive editor of the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent, is chairman of the RZA - Philadelphia /http://www.phillyreligiouszionists.org/)

Why are most Israelis reluctant to create a Palestinian state in the Judea-Samaria (West Bank) territories?  The interception on March 6 of the Iranian weapons ship bound for Gaza answers that question more clearly than any scholar's book or politician’s speech ever could.

Hidden underneath sacks of Iranian-made cement on that ship were dozens of M-302 surface-to-surface rockets with ranges of 50 to 100 miles. Note: the distance from Gaza to Tel Aviv is 43 miles.

Bow to me!

Bow to me now!

It is fun to have fun,

But you have to know how!

With my nose in the air

Hamantaschen

½ c. sugar                                                   

1 large egg

3 c. flour

lekvar (prune butter, or as a substitute, date spread)

walnuts, ground

grated lemon rind and grated orange rind

I will not come before the king

I will not come for anything!

Would you, could you in a coach?

His majesty you must approach.

I would not, could not in a coach,

His majesty I won’t approach!

I will not come before the king.

I will not come for anything!

From the time our children were small up, until bar/bas mitzva age or so, we made it a point to develop Jewish themes for our family’s Purim costumes, where each of us had an essential role.  We felt that, while there is nothing wrong with a child dressing up as, say, Batman or a baseball player, Purim created an opportunity to have fun in a specifically Jewish way. Weeks in advance of Purim each year, we set to work on a Torah-related costume that called for the participation of everyone in our family of four (we, the parents, and our boy and girl twins).

Seeing the shul so packed and the fervent davening, you would have thought it was Yom Kippur!” That’s how someone described the reciting of tehilim on Purim night last year at the Agudah of Park Heights.
It all began the year before, when our guest from Israel received a call from his wife with the thrilling news that their daughter had just given birth to twins – a boy and a girl – after four years of marriage. He then told us how he and his wife had gone to a special minyan in Yerushalayim the previous Purim, at midnight. Each person had said the entire Sefer Tehilim (psalms), and then davened for one thing.Afterwards, when they inquired of one another what they had davened for, they found that they had both davened for a child for their daughter. Almost one year later, both of their prayers were answered. Our guest encouraged us to organize such a minyan here in Baltimore, since many people have seen their tefilos (prayers) answered as a result.