Presenting HH #217!

The Discount Havel Havelim
HH #217

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.

When I announced to the jblog world that I'd be hosting this HH edition, I mentioned that, like Jack last week, it's a way of celebrating my birthday. The first post to arrive was from RivkA and on a birthday theme, about what she wanted for hers. Thanks, RivkA!

And does anyone know why this is called the "The Discount Havel Havelim?"




Israel
A Mother In Israel sent an illustrated post about the watermelon horse. It reminded me of "Mr. Heck The Eggman," who sold eggs from a giant baby carriage in Bell Park Gardens, Bayside, NY in the 1950's. I hadn't thought about him for a long time.

Ya'aqov reports who's banned from Britain. By the way, they didn't let Menachem Begin in until he was Israel's Prime Minister.

The Occidental Israeli posted about the terrible human price of traffic accidents here in Israel. Just before I sat down to work on HH, there was news about a family, almost totally wiped out in a traffic accident.

An Israeli Soldier explains why he's waiting for Churchill. Considering all the Neville Chamberlains in our government, media etc, we could use a good Churchill.

Maya is definitely becoming Israeli. Here's how to make Israeli pickles.

Mrs. S lets us in to the secrets of Israeli Lag B'Omer.

Jessica writes about a very Israeli wedding. Believe me that all the money in the world can't surpass one of these.

Israel chronicles medurot in her neighborhood. (I hope you don't mind the pun.)

Dave presents Nonie Darwish.

Elder of Ziyon presents Casualties of Truth about the Israel-Gaza war of a few months ago.

From Joel Katz Religion and State in Israel - May 11, 2009, Section 1 and Section 2.

Cosmic X saw Israel's National Bird, the Hoopoe.

Read about the road between Latrun and Jerusalem in My Romance With Israel.

There's a new site, Jewish Israel, which may interest some of you. It has information and news you won't get elsewhere.

My husband blogged about the pope on Har HaBayit.

It's bad enough that we've been having a drought here in the HolyLand, but why waste so much water, especially with those high-powered cleaning hoses?

Sammy Benoit asks if Obama and Netanyahu are "Frenemies?'."
Anti-Semitism
Simply Jews posts about the anti-Semitism in UC Irvine, simply awful. You must see the poster, so anti-Israel.

Bar Kochba rightly rants about the Papal Bull heard this week in Israel.

Rutimizrachi tells us what is going on 10pm Lag B'Omer in Israel.

Life in Israel posted a picture of what the Chief Sfardi Rabbi wore to his meeting with the pope. He didn't need it when he visited Shiloh.

Double Tapper blogged about Obama's friends in Iran.

My husband wrote about the indoctrination of Arab children.

Seraphic Secret writes about today's anti-Semitism.

Keli Ata points out the anti-Semitism in American political life.

Eric suggested "Israel" as the category for this excellent post about J Jonathan Pollard, but I hope he doesn't mind that I've put in under Anti-Semitism.

Judeopundit posts an example of how Israel is blamed for all sorts of things.

The Occidental Israeli criticizes the pope's attitude towards Arab terrorism.

Isramom writes about a better way to bring Gilad Shalit home.

History
Sammy explains how 70 Years Ago Great Britain Sentenced the Jewish People to DEATH.

I learned a lot about Romanian Jewry from Ilana-Davita's post.

Geography Lessons from Dry Bones are the best. Too bad he's not put in charge of the school curriculum.

Judaism
Check out Ya'aqov's list of: "The Most Un-Jewish Things Of All" What would you add?

Israel Chronicles writes about wills and intermarriage.

Prof K posted a beautiful piece to remind us to connect with the Jews who are alone.

There's a new site called Torah and Israel, which is worth checking out.

Technically, this article about Machon Shiloh (no relation to my home town) isn’t on a blog, but I think it belongs on Havel Havelim.

I think that one of the beauties of the Bible is how it relates to current events.

Joel Katz presents an unofficial translation of Guma Aguiar lawyer's warning letter.

Read about Cosmic X's common sense concerning the pope's visit.

True, that Shnat Shemitta just ended recently, but it's never too soon to start preparing for the next one. Yechezkel posted about Heter Mechira.

Mail Jewish is back! On it, I read about a new Torah-Learning site.

The Rebbetzin's Husband posted an extremely informative article about local Kashrut supervision and its importance.

Yechezkel's post about the birthrate ends with a very disturbing piece of information. Food for thought.

Mottel writes about the halachot of waiting between eating meat and milk.

Here's a real important post from the Real Shaliach about middos/t. (Sorry, for the t, that's how I pronounce it.)

You may want to bookmark this for next fall's Parshat Shavua, comparing Abraham with Lot in terms of "hachnasat orchim," welcoming guests.

Home Shuling writes how the words of Parshat Emor speak to her.

Parashablog writes about halachot of eating in public.

Just a reminder that HH isn't a psak, halachik guideline and one of the first mishnayot in Pirkei Avot is to choose your own Rabbi.

Holidays (As requested by Leora)
Leora posted lots of pictures of the "Blue and White Parade" in Edison, New Jersey.

Personal
Rickismom, one of my all time favorite bloggers, has written a must-read about parenting.

Check out this new jblogger, goddess xrebbetzin, who delves into life as she sees it.

Chaviva reports, as only Chaviva can, on her visit to Monsey. I've never been there and hate to think that my perfectly tsniusly me would be considered risqué there.

LB has spent too much time on the road.

Here's something serious from NY's Funniest Rabbi.

A Simple Jew listens to his soul.

Yechezkel leaves us in suspense. Will the hat come back?

The OU is promoting staying in North America. Isn't it time to promote aliyah instead?

Lady-Light's hubby has joined the unemployed. They're hoping that he'll get a job offer in the HolyLand, even Tel Aviv.

My husband criticizes the wording of a letter Seymour Reich had in the New York Times.

This may be "lo relevanti" (not relevant) before I even post this Havel Havelim, but it gives you a view of Benji's inner sanctum. He needs to sublet his room for the first half of the summer. Hey, Benji, if you get your renter via this HH, I expect a commission!

What could be more Jewish than a bubby bragging about her grandchildren, even if one of them didn't set any world record in early walking?

Jack's taking his "new k'domet" very seriously and reflecting quite a bit on his life.

The Bible Belt Baleboosteh is looking for a way for her daughter to "trade" some undesirable (for her at least) Bat Mitzvah gifts. When we got married there was a great store called "The This For That Shop," and we traded away all sorts of "not quite us" gifts. That's how I got my late, lamented and already broken, pyrex mixing bowl set and my classic pyrex measuring cup. BBB, please don't forget to remind your daughter that she won't remain Bat Mitzvah age forever, and some of the gifts will suit her then. Remember that you can always repackage them and send them off as gifts to other "lucky" kids. Maybe these presents are on a long journey…

Humor
This isn't a joke, but it's a great way of explaining the truth behind the allegations of alleged Israeli brutality.



Jew in The City tries to explain to a neighbor that not all of us religious Jews are the same.

This time Toby's sign is from a candy. I hope it tastes better than its English.

I must admit that I'm one of Frum Satire's commenters. We're not all that an exclusive group.

Benji found some instructional signs for those needing to toilet train kids, one for him and one for her. "NO," did you say? That's what they look like to me.

Harry-er explains "shidduch dating" in baseball terms. This can cause some major misunderstandings when people who define the terms differently don't realize that they're not speaking the same lingo.

Culture
Israelity mourns Mendi Rodan.



It's very possible that Rodan knew Bobby Danziger who played the bassoon in the Gallil and Haifa Symphonies (and sometimes for the Jerusalem Symphony) in the late 1970s. He also passed away very recently. I couldn't find a youtube of Bobby, so here's his daughter Raquy.



Fred introduces us to Ursula the sculptor.

This was a tough one to put in a category. I chose culture, because it reminded me of the Dead Poets Society's "Seize the Day." The Rebbitzin's Husband explains it better, L'Chaim!

Ya'aqov sent in a link to his post about Depeche Mode. OK… I feel pretty stupid not knowing who they are. I figured out from the post that it's a band. (I'm not all that stupid.) Ya'aqov, I love your blog. Why couldn't you send me a post I could relate to?

Miscellaneous
The Israel Situation posts about the New Ramallah News Station which Tries to Be Balanced. I wish that the Israeli media would make an effort.

Read Rahel's 100 word story.

And now for a few reminders:
Every blogger who submitted a post is included here. If you didn't submit any, then there's no guarantee that the host will surf and search your blog. Even though I really enjoyed putting this Havel Havelim together, it doesn't negate the fact that it involved many, many hours of my time. Please send around the link and blog about it. The more exposure Havel Havelim gets the more hits the individual posts will receive. I'm double-posting this on both Shiloh Musings and me-ander.

This appears in the UberCarnival.

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 Leora, blog@leoraw.com . To get an idea of how to put together blog carnivals, read 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.If there are any foul-ups/mistakes, please let me know, thanks.

Shavua Tov U'Mevorach!

May You Have A Good and Blessed Week!