Haveil Havalim #349

Each week, someone does an amazing round up of some great blogs related to Israel, Judaism, related events and more. It’s called Haveil Havalim and it switches hosts each week. This week, I volunteered to do it. Yeah, I know – I’m insane. But to make sure I didn’t miss the deadline, I’ve been stealing a few minutes each day to do something I love doing (and never make the time to do). I’ve been reading blogs!

What a wonderful world of knowledge, of sharing! I knew I would love this – and I was right. It’s a fun opportunity to read some blogs I’ve never visited, get back to ones I’ve missed reading but always know I’ll enjoy, and more. So please join me on a brief trip around the Jewish/Israeli world of blogging. I’ll apologize if I missed – well, I know I missed someone – but here’s a quick view of some great posts over the past week.

About Judaism
In the About Judaism section, a most interesting post by Batya in Shiloh Musings. How many of us think a rainbow portends good things to come and rush to point them out to our children and share them with others. Quite some time ago, I learned that in Judaism, this is not the case. See The Rainbow is a Warning, a Reminder, Not a Comfort  for a fantastic explanation of why this is.

In Kiss a Mezuzah, there’s an interesting post about American atheists targeting religious neighborhoods with signs in Hebrew and English. Click here to see the post.

See The Real Jerusalem Streets‘ latest posting for some wonderful pictures of Israel in winter and more in Our Heritage is to live.


About Israel
If you’ve never been to the Israel21C website, you’re missing an incredible resource for the amazing and innovative things Israel has created and continues to bring to the world. But since this is about blogs, did you know they also have a blog? If you have a second, please check out this post – and Israel in 180 seconds – it’s just stunning: Foto Friday – Time Lapse in Israel.

I love reading my dear friend, Rivkah’s blog, Bat Aliyah. She and her husband and their amazing two daughters (one of which I got to adopt for about a year until Rivkah made aliyah and took her back), came to live in Israel almost two years ago. Her latest blog post, Delights, simply fills you with the joys of living in Israel and some of the things that catch her eye as she goes through her days, finally at home in Israel.

It’s hard to believe it has been one year since the horrible Fogel murders in Itamar. Here’s an amazing post about the children, how they are – and how they remain an inspiration for all of us: A Visit with the Fogel Children on JewishMom.com

Here’s another great post from Shiloh Musings on some of the great reasons to live in Israel! See Happy to Be in Israel All These Years/Decades

Me-Ander gives a wonderful view of one of the uncertainties of our lives when living in some areas in Israel. Waiting for a ride, wondering if the person who stops plans to help or harm. See As the Car Slowly Reversed in My Direction, I Wondered


About Politics
The first time I heard the name Amir Mizroch was during the Gaza War. An Indonesian journalist named Faisal contacted me for an interview and to be safe, I asked him to send his questions in writing. He asked me my son’s full name, his rank, his current location. He asked for his cell phone number, what his responsibilities were, what I’d done the night before Elie went to war [cried], and if Elie had taken anything with him. He also broke copyright laws by taking a picture of Elie to put on his blog (called HamasLovers – no, I won’t give him a link!). I saw Elie’s picture, there on that hateful blog, and I lost it. I threatened to sue him (reasonable), his newspaper (a bit out there, but okay), his city, his country – yeah, I’d pretty well lost it. He tried to tell me he was legitimate and told me I should write to Amir Mizroch to vouch for him. I don’t remember if I did or not. But Amir’s name popped up again and again in the last few years and he’s a name I respect. He’s got a great blog called Forecast Highs and a fantastic post we should all read: The Truth About Our Next War.

Casting the first (and last) stone provides a wonderful commentary on the last few weeks in Israel – but more, a video I had never seen – truth in journalism rarely comes better than this. This is an important clip to see – and share! Thanks to Treppenwitz for this one.

In IsraelSeen, a guest post by Lee Habeeb called Arab Like Me – Needs No Comment, shares his interesting perspectives and the hope that “Maybe, Arabs will come to see Jews not as their enemies, but as their neighbors, and as their trading partners.” – Here’s hoping he’s right!

In the Secular Manifesto Spelled Out, Esser Agaroth comments on an article in YNET – yet another attempt to paint the right as evil, the left as righteous. There are no perfect truths, no 100%, no black and white. This post tries to add balance to a subject sadly lacking it.


About Food
Are there any among us that cannot sympathize with the panic many of us feel this time of year? Check out me-ander and It’s “That” Time of The Year, Again, Food Inventory. As someone who has tremendous anxiety in the weeks before Passover, I can so relate to this.

If you’re looking for a hamantashen recipe in honor of Purim, check out From Miriam’s Kitchen and don’t miss Yocheved’s blog for Have Some Purim Fun.


About Health
One of my favorite photo blogs is Elms in my Yard by an “amateur” photographer in Jerusalem. Unlike Reuters, I’ve used the quotes properly here. Rachel’s photographs are amazing. But beyond that, I wanted to point out this important post about the importance of women taking care of themselves: Big Squeeze/Public Service Announcement. A few years ago, on a scare that thankfully turned out to be nothing, our doctor sent me to the Hala Breast Clinic. There are no words for this place, for the kindness, the efficiency, the humanity they show through every step of the check up. If you should be going on a regular basis – try to get to this place!

Here’s a wonderful blog post by Dave Bender on the amazing work of the medical clowns. See Medical Clowning in Israel – No Kidding.

About Funnies
Since Purim is just days away – I get the fun of posting some Purim and pre-Purim offerings.
See the Muqata’s latest offering of The Fanat in the Hat and other Purim Stories.

By now, you probably need a good laugh and a reward for getting to the end of this long post. So, check out A Time of the Signs – it’s a gem!

General Blogging Ideas and Tips

As bloggers, many of us wrestle with how to handle comments. Some just put them all through, some block them all, some censor. Here’s an interesting post from Beneath the Wings entitled, Promoting Hate vs. Expanding Our Internal Eyesight.

Okay, outta time, outta days – but never outta blogs – so hoping I get a chance to do this again soon…I’ll close this edition of Haveil Havalim. To my regular readers who have never encountered some of these blogs – enjoy them – I know many of the people behind these blogs and they are – every single one of them – amazing people that I respect who care enough to take the time to share their feelings, knowledge, and love of our people, our land, our religion. Enjoy!

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Next week’s Havel Havelim will be hosted on Esser Agaroth; send your links to send to  esseragaroth@gmail.com

5 Comments

  1. Hi Mrs. Stern,

    I am an (recently) avid reader of your blog and your comment about Hamaslovers website peaked my interest. I quickly scanned the site to get the gist of what type of blog it is, and it seems to me that his blog is more pro-Jew/Arab coexistence (I used google translate). I really don’t think the blogger is trying to be hateful, but merely trying to direct attention his way with a controversial name (much like elderofziyon).

    Of course I don’t condone the posting a picture of your son on his blog…I think it was idiotic (and it was obviously removed) But calling the site ‘hateful’ may be misplaced.

  2. I think this is great, kol hakavod! Just sorry I was so slow with the snow blog… too much water means no power erev Shabat.

    Sharon A
    The Real Jerusalem Streets
    www,rjstreets.com

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