Arab rioters torched a car in the Wolfson neighborhood of Akko early Sunday morning in the fifth day of violence in the mixed city. Firefighters immediately extinguished the blaze.

The incident occurred despite police vows to adopt a "zero-tolerance" policy for anyone disturbing the peace, including Arab clerics preaching inflammatory messages from the mosques.

Although a tense quiet immediately followed, it remained to be seen how long the peace would hold.

Jewish National Front movement leader Baruch Marzel and fellow activist Itamar Ben-Gvir said Sunday morning they planned to arrive with a group of followers later in the day to demonstrate against the Arab rioters.

Police managed to quell riots Saturday night after three Jews were wounded by rocks hurled at them by Arabs, one of them a baby. An empty Arab-owned apartment also sustained heavy damage in a firebomb attack by Jews.

Friction in Meeting of Jewish and Arab Leaders

Leaders of the Jewish and Arab communities in Akko met late into the night in an attempt to restore calm following the ongoing violent clashes that began on Yom Kippur. The meeting was attended by Mayor Shimon Lankry, Akko Chief Rabbi Yosef Yashar, MK David Azoulai, MK Abbas Zkoor, senior police commanders, and several others.

Zkoor argued that the heavy damage caused to firebombed Arab apartment was the most serious of the many attacks carried out during the rioting.

The Arab MK's words angered Rabbi Yashar, who responded, “The Arab community desecrated Judaism's most holy day, intentionally and with planning beforehand destroyed stores and cars, and defiled a synagogue. We have no interest in meeting with the Arab community, in light of the behavior of the community and its leaders in recent days.”

Since the riots began, 54 rioters have been arrested and at least 14 people were wounded, all of them Jews. Two of the injured were trampled by police horses, according to Ynet, which reported that the Nahariya Hospital Emergency Room has declared a state of emergency.

Mayor Flip-Flops on Arab Condemnation Statement

Zkoor had announced earlier that the Arab leadership would issue a statement saying it didn't matter whether the Arab driver whose actions set off the riots had really intended to cause harm or not, but that he should have found another way to reach his relatives' home.

Mayor Lankry initially rejected the statement as ineffective, but later reversed his stand as clashes renewed, announcing that he was "happy the Arab leadership is condemning the incident. It was a very grave occurrence that had never before taken place in this city, and so it indeed demanded their denouncement."

MK Ariel to File Ethics Complaint Against MK Zkoor

National Union-National Religious Party Knesset Member Uri Ariel announced Sunday he plans to file a complaint with the Knesset Ethics Committee against Zkoor, charging him with inciting the city's Arabs to riot against the Jewish residents.

Ariel accused Zkoor of being present during an incident when a fire was ignited, and rather than call the police, he instead invited dozens of young Arabs from the Old City to come to the scene.

Newly-elected Kadima party chairwoman Tzipi Livni appears to be closing in on a coalition agreement with the Labor party following a midnight meeting at which major progress in negotiations was reported by both sides.

Kadima Knesset Member Tzachi HaNegbi, Labor party chairman Ehud Barak and Histadrut Labor Federation head Ofer Eini met together at Barak's house until the wee hours of Sunday morning.

Eini is expected to continue the talks later in the day with Kadima Cabinet Secretary Yisrael Maimon. 

Among the issues on the table are the possibility of Barak's leading the negotiating team in talks with Syria, economic issues such as benefits for college students and senior citizens, and a demand that Livni move Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann to another post.

Although Kadima sources were optimistic that an agreement might be signed as early as this week, Labor officials said that Livni may still have to ask President Shimon Peres for a 14-day time extension, especially with the approach of the Sukkot holiday on Tuesday.

Labor expressed concern that Livni might not be able to persuade the Sephardic religious Shas party to join the government, and said it had no desire to be part of a narrow coalition. However, said Kadima sources, only after Kadima closes the deal with Labor can Livni begin to focus her efforts on Shas, the Gil Pensioners Party, Meretz and United Torah Judaism.

Coalition negotiations between Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and the Labor party are stuck over Labor's demand that Livni, who heads the ruling Kadima party, get rid of Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann.

Labor head and Defense Minister Ehud Barak reportedly told Livni, "Look, I will feel very uncomfortable being sworn in as a minister in your government alongside Daniel Friedmann." Barak was also quoted in a report published by the Hebrew-language daily Haaretz as saying, "I am not demanding that you fire Friedmann, but just make it work out."

Ramon threatening
Barak suggested that the coalition agreement include a clause which says that the Minister of Justice will not be allowed to advance or bring to a vote any law, regulation or initiative without the consent of the Labor party. Livni rejected this idea.

According to earlier reports, Vice Prime Minister Chaim Ramon is pressuring Livni from the other side, and threatening that he will "take personally" any attempt to get rid of Friedmann.

Ramon, who was Justice Minister before Friedmann, is one of the founders of Kadima and a central figure in its power structure. His departure could lead to a split in Kadima and damage Livni's potential to govern.

Barak adamant
Barak, on the other hand, is still adamant that Friedmann must not continue in his post. Friedmann is seen by parts of the judicial and political system – as well as the media – as a threat, because his initiatives regulate and curtail some of the power of the Supreme Court.

Friedmann – who is a highly respected law professor with no previous political background – has been very critical of the Supreme Court, hinting that it was involved in trumping up charges against Ramon in order to prevent him from serving as Minister of Justice.

Friedmann's opponents say that nothing less than his departure will satisfy them. They describe him as a schemer and predict that any solution which leaves him in the government will fail.

Livni's time running out
The 28-day period which Livni was allotted to form a coalition will run out on the day after Simchat Torah, less than two weeks from Friday. She will still have the option of asking the President for an extension of 14 days in which to try and finalize the negotiations, but if she fails to reach an agreement after that time, the President must either hand the task to someone else, or call for new elections.

Analysts estimate that negotiations with Shas hinge on the success of Livni's talks with Labor. Shas chairman Eli Yishai is said to prefer elections and the creation of a new coalition with Likud at the helm. However, if Livni succeeds in creating a partnership with Labor and then threatens Shas with the possibility that she will form a coalition with Meretz and without them, they will become pliable.

The financial crisis sweeping the United States is Divine Punishment for the war in Iraq and other "sins," an American member of Al Qaeda charged. Adam Gadahn, a California native now living in Pakistan who has been indicted in a Los Angeles court for treason, said in a half-hour video speech that the economic woes serve as evidence of punishment to the "enemies of Islam."

"A crisis whose primary cause, in addition to the abortive and unsustainable crusades they are waging in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq, is their turning their backs on Allah's revealed laws," he stated.

Arab and Muslim leaders also expressed joy over the American crisis. Gaza de facto prime minister Ismail Haniyeh told Muslims at a Gazed mosque Friday, "We are witnessing the collapse of the American Empire. What's going on in America is a result of the violation of the rights of people in Palestine, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Muslims around the world."
What's going on in America is a result of the violation of the rights of people in Palestine, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Muslims around the world.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad earlier this week joined the Arab world's delight over the American economic crisis and said that Americans are "oppressors...Systems based on oppression and unrighteous positions will not endure."

An Iranian senior cleric, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, declared, "We are happy that the U.S. economy is in anarchy and the anarchy is reaching Europe."

However, Iran and oil-rich Arab countries also are feeling the repercussions of the impending recession accompanying the crash of American banks and stock markets around the world. The price of oil has plunged in the past several weeks from a record high of more than $140 a barrel to less than $80.

Following years of archaeological digs in the area, the Ohel Yitzhak (Tent of Isaac) synagogue was rededicated on Sunday, just 80 meters from the Temple Mount in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City. The synagogue was last open 72 years ago and was connected to the Temple Tunnel half a year ago.

A video webcast of the rededication ceremony is now being broadcast live on the player below.
[video:123523]

Financed by the Moskowitz family, building and reconstruction work on Ohel Yitzchak was carefully executed by Israel's Antiquities Authority to retain the synagogue's past appearance. In recent years there have been a number of finds made in a series of spaces below the synagogue, one of the most important synagogues built in the Old City, including a steam bath from the Mameluke period of the 14th century.

The property, located between the Cotton Merchants Gate and the Heavy Chain Gate – not far from the Western Wall of the Temple, was purchased by the Hungarian Jewish community in 1867. The structure was erected by the Kollel Shomrei HaHomot (Guardians of the Walls Study House) in 1917 and blown up by Jordanian shelling in 1948.

Aerial photographs from the War of Independence show that the building was intact until then, even though it was abandoned following the Arab riots of 1936. However, when the Old City was liberated in 1967, soldiers found only remains of the synagogue's three-story walls.

The American Friends of Everest Fund bought the grounds from the Kollel 15 years ago and started the rehabilitation of the synagogue a few years later.

Slated to take part in the rededication ceremonies are Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski, Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovich, Migdal HaEmek Rabbi Yitzchak David Grossman and relatives of billionaire Irwin Moscowitch. Israel Police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby told News 1 that intelligence sources have not indicated the potential for an outbreak of violence that would dictate any special security precautions for the ceremony.

Members of the security team in Yitzhar, in Samaria, spotted a group of Arab men entering an Arab olive grove near the Lehava neighborhood of the community Saturday morning. IDF soldiers were notified and arrived at the scene to question the men and ensure that they did not pose a danger to residents of Yitzhar. The soldiers were surprised to see that the group was busy cutting down olive trees.

The men were cutting the trees in a "violent manner," soldiers said, explaining that they tried to show that there was damage to the trees instead of simply pruning them.  They were apparently planning to accuse Jewish residents of Yitzhar of cutting down the Arab-owned trees, repeating accusations that have been made in recent years. The owner of the trees was not present and had not notified the army that he was planning to prune his grove, which Palestinian Authority farmers near Jewish towns are required to do.

Residents of Yitzhar said that Arabs and Israeli leftists had framed Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria for destroying olive trees many times in recent years. In one case, leftist activist Yoel Marshak was caught in an Arab olive grove holding a saw, they said.

Despite the proof that the alleged attacks on olive trees were faked, and despite the fact that no Jewish resident of Judea and Samaria has been convicted of such an attack, the media continues to accept Arab claims and blame Jews for damage done to Arab-owned trees, residents of Yitzhar said. They called on the media to avoid blind acceptance of the claims made by local Arabs.

Following Saturday's incident, Arab residents of the village of Burin near Yitzhar accused residents of Yitzhar of attacking them as they attempted to harvest olives.

Infiltration Foiled near Har Bracha

In the nearby town of Har Bracha, three Arab men were spotted trying to infiltrate the town on Saturday afternoon. The three had arrived in the area with a group of Arabs who told soldiers they were villagers who had come to harvest olives.

Soldiers chased the would-be infiltrators to the village of Khalil, south of Shechem, where they caught two men suspected of involvement in the incident. The two were arrested and taken to security services for questioning.

A powerful trend has been noted at the Beit El Yeshiva website: Dozens of teenagers tenaciously overcoming family and other obstacles to become religiously observant.

The decade-old Beit El Yeshiva website provides thousands of Torah classes in various formats by leading rabbis, and features a popular "Ask the Rabbi" section. Among the 100,000 monthly visitors are those who are not religiously observant, but who want to learn more about Judaism. The website's response team replies with initial answers and explanations, and then matches up those who wish with a local rabbinical advisor who can provide more hands-on help.
The problem is that my whole family mocks religion... I try to keep kosher and the like, but it is very hard to do so in such a secular environment.

In recent months, the website administrators say, "the wave of requests for spiritual direction - particularly from young readers who have not been formally exposed to Judaism - has been increasingly strong. We sense an undercurrent of a tremendous process of awakening and desire to return to authentic Judaism among young teenagers."

The yeshiva website provides 16 pages (!) of letters from mostly young readers indicating this phenomenon. Several translated samples were provided here, and a second collection follows:

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Shalom.
I have a story and a question that are very important, I feel. I am a 14-year-old boy, living in a totally secular home and community. I have always believed in G-d and have always been interested in becoming religious and going to synagogue. As I grow older, I feel closer and closer to religion, and I am sure that when I grow up I will be religious. But the problem is that my whole family mocks religion; it is very exasperating that they always say there is no G-d. I try to keep kosher and the like, but it is very hard to do so in such a secular environment. I never had a Bar Mitzvah... When I get older, am I going to have to convert or something like that? Because I don't know how to pray or to read the Bible, and I don't know any basic concepts. What should I do? How does one learn about this and get close to this? I feel so close to religion, but I am so far, far away. What should I do??? Thank you and please answer.

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Dear Rabbi [Melamed],
First of all, I want to thank you. A year ago, I asked you a question when I was right at the beginning of my return to Judaism. I asked you how to deal with my difficulties, and you helped me greatly with your answer. I merited to return fully to observant Judaism, to switch schools, to change my name and environment, to overcome my problems with my mother... I am now in a religious school and a religious seminary at the same time, I have a tzaddik [righteous] rabbi, and of course most of all I have the blessed G-d, Who has shown me many personal miracles.

Life is truly amazing, and I have really seen that every time one falls or stumbles, it leads to an even higher climb! Thank you very much!
...My father is secular and doesn't allow me to observe the Sabbath... Can you please explain the concept of 'concentration and intent' in prayer. Thank you.

****
Hello!
I greatly enjoyed reading your responses to me; they strengthened me greatly! Regarding finding someone who might be able to change my father's opinion - I don't think I'm ready for that yet; maybe when I get older, I will be more open to such ideas... But I wanted to know if you know of any women in my area that I could speak with, or Jewish Law classes that I could learn in... Sorry if I took up too much of your time!

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Shalom, Honored Rabbi!
I am a 12-and-a-half year old girl, in the process of becoming stronger religiously. I come from a non-observant home; I try to observe the Sabbath, but my father is secular and does not allow it... I have a question about blessings: What are the different blessings on foods, for which amounts, etc. Also, please explain the concept of 'concentration, intent, and meaning' of prayer. Thank you.

****
... I want to thank you for your very nice responses, and for listening to me and trying to formulate answers in a way that I will understand. Thanks a real lot. Sincerely, Oz [a not-religious boy who has been in contact with the yeshiva website]

"There is some kind of bug in the air, a bug of spirituality and holiness, and it attracts itself to those who are even a little bit sensitive to it. It is going around, and this generation is particularly prone to catching it, and we have to recognize it and encourage it and realize that we are taking part in a critical cultural battle for the religious character of the State of Israel. This is a special moment; all of us gathered here, as if to receive our special instructions and take on our special assignments in this battle. Everyone should try to increase helping others spiritually and materially, as well as Torah study and good deeds, and with G-d's help we will emerge victorious!"