Sunday, June 11, 2006

Haveil Havalim #73

Hey all, welcome to this weeks edition of Haveil Havalim, which is a weekly roundup of the best posts from around the Jewish Blogosphere.  If you happen to question the necessity of examining the best posts from the Jewish Blogosphere, check out a brilliant post on the nature of the J-Blogosphere by Soccer Dad on the subject.  

Inside Israel

Onwards and upwards. I start with a post that brough back great memories, as Irina of the Ignoble Experiment describes her first trip to Israel in the most moving of fashions, continuing here,  West Bank Mama tells us of her contributions to the war in South Lebanon, and the contributions of others.  Israel Perspectives writes that he has not given up on Israel, while others have. And Inside Israel provides an update on the Ein Tzurim caravilla frustrations.

Greetings from French Hill writes an interesting post on a soldier who met an untimely death. Shiloh Musings vents her frustrations at Olmert’s present government and their unwillingness to enforce Israel’s security, and Israel Matzav reports that PA Prime Minister Haniyeh has three sisters living in Israel as full citizens. Plus, Faith in Nathan notes that Elie Wiesel wants Israel to absorb refugees from Darfur, but does not even live in Israel himself.

On a more day-to-day level, Ra’anana Ramblings tells about his experiences with the recent rolling blackouts throughout the country. Israelity writes a post on Sheinkin which really brought me back to my apartment only a block off the amazing rehov.  And SerandEz’ post on Another Large Jewish Riot is definitely worth a read.

On the lighter side, The Muqata has a very funny post on what to name your kids to prevent them making Yerida.

Judaism

On the religious side, Mottel does a brilliantly descriptive post on performing Tahara, the ritual washing of a deceased Jew, in Vilna. Life in Israel wrote an eye opening piece about the trials of survival on a Kollel salary in A Faulty System. Me-Ander talks about studying Torah the night of Shavuot.  And Psycho Toddler talks about the Boal Korehs, or Torah readers, in the post Reading Masters.

On the Fringe talks about halachic decision making and one of her favorite bloggers on the subject. The Velveteen rabbi does a very strong piece on the nature of Transcendence. And Seawitch observes that Jews stand while praying, as opposed to the various prayer positions for other religions.  Not the Godol Hador writes of his determinations for Proof of Judaism, which has stirred up quite a bit of controversy. While the Muqata speaks on the Revenge of the Kannoim, and one poor author that incurs their wrath.

Shiloh Musings gives us An “Up To Date” “Yiddish Curse”, Unenlightenment provides a very enlightening review of the book Unchosen, and A Simple Jew writes of Returning To The World after his wife gave birth to their third child (mazel tov, ASJ!).  And Slightly Mad has a funny post about a death sentence for not-so-polite religious parrot.  Treppenwitz tells a moving story of giving his children the Kohanim blessing.  Alas Git speaks of his first foray into the world of Orthodox online dating.  And A Simple Jew Reports of two recent passings from the Orthodox community.  

Diaspora Judaism

The Colossus of Rhodey produced an excellent piece on the censorship or firing of university professors who give pro-Israel lectures or potentially offend Muslim students.  Revealing the reverse side of the issue, Solomonia does an in-depth post on a high-school physics teacher in Sommerville, MA who teaches his students his pro-Palestine views, and promotes the cause of divestment from Israel.

The Jewish Connection tells the story of a sitcom writer trying to keep Shabbat in Hollywood.  Random Thoughts talks about Religion in Schools and tolerance (or intolerance) in the American educational system.  Letters of Thought contains a very interesting piece on The Eastern European Jew – Today. Shiloh Musings suggests a boycott of Swedish liquors.  And the Life-Of-Rubin speaks on how the world treats Israel’s handling of terrorists.

Islam

Reporting on the state of Palestine and Islam today, Israel Matzav speaks about the inaccurate portrayal by Al-Guardian of a deported worker for Islamic Relief, and confirms the ties of the group to Hamas. Daled Amos provides a thought provoking post comparing Hamas with Lehi, the Israeli terrorists of the 1940s. And Somewhere On A1A speaks about the search for moderate Islam in Islamic Imperialism.

Meryl Yourish examines Hamas’ recent demands for funds from Israel, and Mensa Barbie wonders why Muslim support for Palestine doesn’t include financial support, forcing Hamas to threaten a siege on national banks. And Israel Matzav notes that the Palestinians did have enough money to purchase 111 truckloads of televisions.

AbbaGav takes a humorous look at Palestinian Prime Minister Haniyeh’s new education initiative.  Boker tov, Boulder reports that Jordan’s King Abdullah will not allow the relocation of the Palestinians to Jordanian soil, while Israel Matsav says King Abdullah fears a Palestinian State.  And Elder of Zion talks about AP’s pro-Hamas bias.

Philosophy

The Pragmatician has a thought provoking piece called Pain Hurts that you should definitely check out. Moving On has a heart-wrenching piece called Nechama, Where Are You?. Eteraz wrote a fascinating article on the Myth of the Juedo-Christian West, while SimplyJews defines Post Zionism, and calls out a few writers who ascribe to this philosophy.

Soccer Dad writes a great post on the difference between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, and I guarantee it will get you thinking on your true views of Israel. It got Judeopundit thinking, and he wrote another excellent post on the topic.  And if you want some philosophy from yours truly, try out A Look Into the Future.

Al-Zarqawi

For starters, check out this really funny Dry Bones on al-Zarqawi’s death, and Yaakov Kirschen’s Dry Bones site. Similarly, OrthoMom thinks al-Zarqawi’s corpse has been tastefully framed by the pentagon.  And Israpundit notes that at least he suffered.

The Hashmonean gives us links to the first reports of the killing of al-Zarqawi, while IsraellyCool breaks the story as it comes across the wire in Australia. Secular Blasphemy tells of the intelligence hunt that lead to bagging al-Zarqawi.  Tel Chai nation indicates the terrorist has gone to hell, and lists over 60 other writers who agree. Jewlicious should be added to that list (as should I).

Tikkun Olam asks a very important question: Why Wasn’t al-Zarqawi captured?  DesertPeace writes a very intriguing opinion, asking if al-Zarqawi is the real enemy.  Meryl Yourish has a contest asking for al-Zarqawi’s last words, with 11 hysterical responses so far, while Kesher Talk provided his own 10 comical last words by the Al Qaeda leader.

Other Sites

Finally, there is a new aggregator of Jewish posts.. JBlogosphere automatically produces a link to any posts produced by Jewish bloggers who have registered.  I use it constantly to review posts from other members of the Jewish blogosphere, and while it may not provide the feedback of Haveil Havelim, it most certainly is an excellent resource.  Try it out!

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