Back in The Saddle-- HH Rides Again!

This will also be cross-posted on Shiloh Musings.

Back In The Saddle
Returning To Havel Havelim

It has been a very long time since

I've hosted a Havel Havelim, though I've hosted my share of the Kosher Cooking Carnival, and I'll be hosting the very next JPIX.

They say that you never forget how to ride a bike. Is hosting a Heval Havelim the same? I hope I don't have to go back to "training wheels" for HH #182.




Havel Havelim is the most veteran of the jblogger carnivals and probably one of the longest running blog carnivals there is. Blog carnivals are like "floating" internet magazines. They float from blog to blog, like "floating crap games," l'havdil.

Havel Havelim, the international jblog carnival, was established by Soccer Dad, and is now run by Jack. The term “Havel Havelim” is from Kohelet, Ecclesiastes, which was written by King Solomon, who built the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and later on got all bogged down in materialism and other “excesses” and finally realized that it was nothing but norishkeit, “havel” or in English “vanities.” I think that King Solomon and his father King David were the original "bloggers." The books they wrote, when you take them chapter by chapter, can easily be described as blog posts. The stones they used to write on made them last, so that we can read them now. I doubt if today's technology will preserve our words for so long.

I'm trying to organize this edition in categories. Of course, you may not agree with my filing system, so please check out all the headings or you may miss out on something really great. Enjoy! And please remember to visit the various links and of course to blog about Havel Havelim on your blog to bring more readers to everyone!

I'm opening this edition with Jameel's post about the "most wanted," the men who refuse to give their wives a Gett (Jewish divorce,) in order to "chain them" Without a Gett, those women are considered married to the guys who fled.

And this announcement is second. Hopefully, you'll see it in time. Shira Salamone announces: NYC-area blogger picnic rained, er, in(doors).

Life In Israel

"Tremping," aka hitchhiking, is a very acceptable mode of transportation in my neck (not Great Neck) of the woods. Ya'aqov provides us all with a guide on how to be a good passenger.

Generally after Arab terror attacks, people are amazed at how much personal freedom Arabs have in Israel. Sometimes it's hard to decide whether to hire Arabs or Jews and where to purchase various supplies.

Bar Kochba writes about the desecration of Jewish Holy places in Israel.

Here's a very special illustrated post by Rahel about a Bar Mitzvah she attended.

Israelis think they know English and don't have their signs and labels checked, as Toby Curwin points out sometimes they're just too easy... or too stupid…

Treppenwitz writes of Right wing Arieh Eldad and Left wing Zahava Gal On working together. Can the Moshiach be arriving?
Lots of us were happy to hear that the army/government no longer restricts Jews to bullet-proof vehicles when going to Kever Rachel, but Alex King was disappointed to discover that Kever Rachel is Not For The Two-Wheeler.

Rahel writes about a great victory!! Read about the difference she made, because she filed a complaint.

A Soldier's Mother writes of her driving her son back to his base.




Sarah has conflicting feelings about the results of Disengagement.

Ahuva writes about two major discoveries made last week by a team of (sober) archaeologists, including the remarkably intact remains of a city wall dating back to the Second Temple period, as well as some pretty cool vintage bottles of beer and wine they found in the 120-year-old dig site. She also presents Jerusalem Metro Blog - A conversation with Ayala Sabag, Black Panther, of the Israeli variety.

Mother in Israel presents Young and old in Ramat Gan, yes, Life in Israel. And she also writes about Tolerance in the Religious Zionist Community.

Ahuva Goldstand presents Jerusalem Metro Blog - Israel's best kosher restaurants in Tel Aviv? Uh, no. - Jerusalemite.net.

"Saladness," I've never heard that term before, but Zemer explains here with some great examples.

See these two great signs! G-d willing, life should be good for all.

Life--In General

Schvach doesn't regret throwing out his TV! We've lived without during various points in our married life, most recently for a few months. Actually it was recently fixed, but we only get two channels.

A Living Nadneyda presents The Five-Minute Bedtime Challenge, which is nothing like what I didn with my kids. I'd climb into bed with the youngest and see who'd fall asleep first, me or them.

A Simple Jew quotes simple advice on Shalom Bayit.

A Mother in Israel reminisces about her grandparents' Jewish life in Sacramento, CA.

And Leora gives us some very interesting family history.

Jacob Da Jew shows us his garden!

Chaggim, The Jewish Holidays




Trust Leora to be posting about Rosh Hashannah's "simmanim" already. I'm glad she's organized; I'm not.

From Gail, there's an inspiring Jewel of Elul.

The Rebbetzin's Husband reveals Apples and Honey and Superstition (nichush) for Rosh HaShanah, adding another flavor to the tradition.

Ilana-Davita explains why she supports Meir Panim.

Israeli Politics

There's an interview with Mark Regev on Israeli Girl.

Religion and State in Israel - September 8, 2008 (Section 1) has some very interesting posts and is not affiliated with any organization or movement.

Cosmic X is posting a series called Elul Thoughts, just right for this season. Scroll through his blog for more of them. He also has a dream.

Eric sent in the first in his series of posts about Israeli Prime Ministers. This highlights Ben Gurion's life in the creation of Israel.

Jill Miller Zimon presents Finally, NYT profiles Palestinain-Israeli Arab-Israeli Jew stories of hope.

American Politics



Lady-Light provides us with a very comprehensive view of Sarah Palin in light of history and Golda Meir.

Heshy, of Frum Satire, mulls about Sarah Palin's "Jewishness." Check out the comments, too.

Soccer Dad wrote about how "all of a sudden" everyone wants Jews in their family when they're running for high office in the states, even though you don't have to be Jewish to eat Levi's Rye Bread, nu.



Ellen presents Grasping at Flags and Straws, trying to make some sense out of Sarah Palin and the Christian scene she's part of.

9-11




Smooth writes about young Welles Remy Crowther who was killed seven years ago on 9/11 while heroically helping others survive the World Trade Center terror attack.

Cosmic X remembers what happened that September 11th.

Dan shares his memories of 9-11.

zt at Jewschool remembers 9-11.

World News

My husband points out that resurgent Islam is dangerous for Christians, too. And then he puts down Marty Peretz on the Biden-Begin Confrontation.

Eric asks if there will be a new cold war.

Misc.

ProfK presents What Color Isn't, which is a fascinating post about idoms.

Rebbetzin's Husband tells us about a very special wedding, a Noachide Wedding.

Frum Satire didn't have to work hard writing about the YU professor born male now on female hormones. The straight pshat of the situation is a satirist's dream. As with all of Heshy's posts, the comments are wild.

Eliya presents 17 Tamuz :: Malchut Israel 72: Saturday, a very deep look at things.

Here's an important history post by smooth, The hunt shall always glorify the hunters.

Ya'aqov posts an article by Rabbi Dawidh Bar-Hayim about proper Hebrew pronunciation.

Mrs. S. presents The Heblish-English Dictionary to help those of you linguistically deprived and think our Hebrew is "al hapannim," or full of "shtuyot."

House hunting? Are you interested in moving to the new Dotan or the old?

Daled Amos posting on Soccer Dad asks if all the pc pressure on Israel will cause security laxity in the airport.

It's generally hard to find fiction books which don't conflict with Halacha, so I was glad to read Sondra's Search.

Tikkun Olam muses on that Old "Loyalty" Question Israel vs America...


SuperRaizy presents How To Sanitize Your Little Germ Factory, something we need to know to stay healthy.

Read the Mussar on DovBear.
Is it possible that female Kashrut mashgichot would have prevented the OU meat scandal?

Benji's out of the war zone and in the puffer, and he's also endangered by Ike. And he Hasn't Had Chumus in a Week and is Starting to Shake.

Here's Praise for the Praiseworthy by Schvach Yid.

Does anyone know what happened to JRants? It comes up blank.

Yitz post an interesting post about a great Chassidic Rebbe, his hometown & his grandson. He also has a tribute to Musa Berlin & his 50 years as a professional Klezmer musician.

Rabbi Without a Cause just surfaced with some blogging thoughts for Elul.

Sammy Benoit says: WHOOPI GOLDBERG->PLEASE CHANGE YOUR NAME !! Maybe she's like those politicians who show their Jewish connections?

Read Lethal Politics: Antisemitism as Human Rights on ICJS.

In the Eye of The Storm, we discover that our presumptions are wrong.

Smooth reports that Jewish Tomb of Patriarchs was Desecrated by Muslims.

A disproportionate amount of American Jews were accused of being communist spies during the "cold war." Was Ethel Rosenberg really guilty?


First Jack took over Soccer Dad's Havel Havelim and now Jack writes about being a Soccer Coach! What next?

Par for the course, there have been a bissel foul-ups, electrical stoppages etc, and I may have lost a link or two, so if you sent me a post which you don't see included, please let me know. I posted at least one from each blogger who submitted posts. Thanks

This appears in the UberCarnival.

And now for a few reminders:
Please send in posts for JPIX, Havel Havelim and the Kosher Cooking Carnival.

If you'd like to host a KCC, please let me know, shilohmuse at yahoo dot com And if you'd like to host a Havel Havelim, contact Jack, talktojacknow@sbcglobal.net. For JPIX, contact frumhouse at gmail dot com.

To get an idea of I put together blog carnivals, read my guides on hosting blog carnivals: How To Host a Blog Carnival #1 and How To Host a Blog Carnival #2

And don't forget:

Please put up a blurb on your blog to encourage your fans to visit Havel Havelim.

Shavua Tov U'Mevorach--May You Have A Good and Blessed Week!