HH is Up: The Cold of Tevet

The newest installment of Haveil Havalim -- the Jewish blog "carnival" -- is live over at Letters of Thought, the thoughtful (bada ching!) blog of my good friend @Mottel. Head over and give him some love and enjoy the variety that the Jewish blogosphere has to offer.

And, of course, don't forget to submit for next week's blog carnival. If anything, it's the best way to get your blog's name and content out there in an easy format. I've found some of my favorite blogs that way, and the traffic it's driven here has been great. Another great way to drive people to your blog? Offer to HOST a Haveil Havalim installment! They're always looking for hosts.

Which reminds me ... I should probably volunteer again.

Sunday Notes

Just a few short Sunday notes for your information.

• My father, who was diagnosed with large B-cell Lymphoma, a very fast growing cancer, in December, is in REMISSION! We found out this past week, late in the week, and it's really good news. Remission doesn't mean the cancer is gone, but it does mean that it's disappearing. Your prayers and kind words over the past several months have meant so much to me. Todah rabah!
• The newest edition of Haveil Havalim is up over on Shiloh Musings. Seriously, give it a read. You'll find some of my favorite blogs, and there are some new blogs thrown up there in the list, too. If you want to reread my Monsey post, well, it's posted there, too. 

In completely unrelated "of note" notes, and on a pretty personal level, I experienced my recurring dream while napping today. I haven't had my adult recurring dream in months, but for some reason, while napping today, it made an appearance. I had a recurring dream as a child of a skeleton in my children's rocking chair chasing me around my house, but I haven't had that since I was maybe 12 or 13. In my adult years, ever since I was probably 17 or 18, I've had a horrible public bathroom recurring dream. I know the implications of the dream -- you feel exposed, naked, and like your entire personal life is at the whim and fancy of outsiders. My dreams tend to be me using a public bathroom, the stall door disappears, and there are people walking by, talking to me, chatting casually, as if I'm *not* sitting on a toilet attempting to use the facilities. Inevitably, the dream ends with the toilet clogging, a mess being made and everyone laughing or pointing or scolding me for having broken the toilet. This one was a horrible, long, agonizing version of this dream. I'd like to think that it's the result of a previous post this week, but who knows what made my subconscious choose to defragment my mind's thoughts in this way.

Do you have any disturbing or frustrating recurring dreams? 

HH #208: The Lingering Post-Purim Hangover Edition!

Welcome, one and all, to Haveil Havelim #208, The Lingering Post-Purim Hangover Edition! This is my first time hosting HH, and I couldn't be more excited!

Founded by Soccer Dad, Haveil Havalim is a carnival of Jewish blogs — a weekly collection of Jewish & Israeli blog highlights, tidbits and points of interest collected from blogs all around the world. It’s hosted by different bloggers each week and coordinated by Jack. The term "Haveil Havalim," which means “Vanity of Vanities,” is from Qoheleth, (Ecclesiastes) which was written by King Solomon. King Solomon built the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and later on got all bogged down in materialism and other "excesses" and realized that it was nothing but "hevel," or in English, "vanity."

I'm pretty sure this edition title applies to many of you, but unfortunately it doesn't apply to me! I was in transit from Chicago this Purim, so I missed a lot of the stellar parties and nifty outfits. Luckily, plenty of bloggers out there offered up pictures of themselves in their RIDICULOUS outfits, so I'm going to pepper this HH with those dashing photos. There were a LOT of submissions, including a lot of folks who, well, sent me more than double the suggested (demanded?) submission amount, so if you don't see something you sent here? Well, I'm anti-Spam and all about brevity. ENJOY!

I can't even begin this edition of HH officially without devoting some space to a hearty MAZEL TOV to the one, the only Mottel of the Letters of Thought Blog. Yes, folks, Mottel is officially engaged and his kallah, Chana Langman, is a beautiful, intelligent gal from Chicago. I had the pleasure of schlepping down to Crown Heights to attend the L'Chaim, and several other bloggers were there. Many have written about the whole announcement, and Mottel did us well to do a round-up! Everyone head on over and give him your mazels, mmk?

Now for Purim! I hope everyone took time during Purim to boycott Starbucks. According to an Egyptian Cleric (and thanks to Aliza Hausman for filling us in), Queen Esther is in the logo! The Basement Bloggers, blogging on the Crown Heights underground, filled us in with a PSA for Purim, while The Real Shliach took time to share his Purim experiences in West Hartford, Connecticut (though he couldn't take a moment to stop by and say hello!? He was in my stomping ground!). Meanwhile, Esser Agaroth let's us know about Purim in Hevron, and thanks to the Rebbetzin's Husband, I now know way more than I wanted to about the Vatican celebrating Purim (who knew?!), and Our Shiputzim gives us another installment of the Heblish-English Dictionary -- I might have to start saying "dress up to," just to be down! And speaking of dressing up ... My Right Word shares a posted flier in Israel of an invitation to a Purim Drag Party. Sounds interesting ...


Susanne gives us a couple of videos that ran during the digital shorts portion of the Purim Spiel at her shul in Washington Heights. One even stars her hubby! Batya poses a question to her readers, who dutifully respond, in an effort to figure out the real point of Purim. I'm on par with Lady Light, who points out that it's a little curious that we celebrate our deliverance from an evil Persian, while Israel discovers that modern-day Persia (Iran) has nuclear capabilities. It is with this that we get a Purim Demise, a Purim Reprise! Rahel over at Elms in the Yard shares the Jewish/Purim connection in the old American folk song "The Cat Came Back," and Sign of the Times posits that the nutrition-label makers of a certain product might have sat down to write it up on Purim. Oy, the editing mistakes! This reminds me of when I was in Israel ... I wonder if the government needs a full-time English editor? I'm prime for the job! Finally, Lionden Landing shares with us some menu planning and mishlach manos goodies and Baila talks about hamantaschen (yum!) and mothering (fun!).

Moving along to Anti-Semitism (with a humorous twist), Barbara's Tchatzkahs gives us some Salty Anti-Semitism, which, for those who haven't heard, features the brand new, holier-than-thou Christian Salt! It hit the market recently. Get your's today! Lady Light shares with us the popular video on how to boycott Israel (I've watched this a dozen times and it STILL makes me giggle with utter delight).

For those in the mood for some Culture, Seraphic Secret gives us Hollywood is Burning, Part I: Trapped, while Barbara discusses the ongoing rape charges with former Israeli president Moshe Katsav. Finally, Lady Light over on Tikkun Olam gives us part four in a continuation of the Zola Levitt Interview of Ms. Joan Peters on her book, "From Time Immemorial," and Mark over at SportsYids shares his thoughts about the first Orthodox woman to play NCAA Division I basketball.

Although a lot of the Humor posts got eaten up by Purim, there are still a few worth mentioning in the "general" humor category! Benji over at What War Zone??? tries to explain American slang to an Israeli, while also musing at American's dealing with the concept of the roundabout. Though, I have to say, this isn't new. Roundabouts have been in the U.S. FOREVER -- just look at Boston and D.C. Moving on, though, we have The Talmudist with a fictional account of two 20-something former yeshiva guys who accidentally rendezvous in a gay bar. Yes, you read that right.

And now we plod along to Israel, everyone's favorite Jewish state! We begin with Jacob, who reports on a salary survey for computer jobs in Eretz Yisrael. Rickismom of Beneath the Wings shares an unfortunate story about the intellectually impaired, as well as a cute quip in "Mommy, You're Different." Over on Religion and State in Israel, we have not one, but two roundups of media coverage on issues involving religion and the state in Israel. The Judeopundit goes all out with foreign policy disasters, progressive insights into the Zionist entity and more! Quite the accomplished blogger, Yisrael Medad's post on "The Green Line" coming and going has landed him among the Jerusalem Post blogs, but he also has a pretty interesting conversation (assault!) with Hillary Clinton on My Right Word. Finally, I throw some money at Friends of the Israeli Defense Forces as I begin my crusade effort to give tzedakah every day.

Judaism. It's the bee's knees, the big kahuna, the big cheese, the next area of the feature! Cynthia at Don't Gel Too Soon writes about attending a party for the presentation of a youngun's first siddur -- a truly moving event, while The Rebbetzin's Husband writes "Rabbi, give me a berachah (blessing)." Meanwhile, the Recovery Rabbi writes about unmasking ourselves from the darkness around us, a really beautiful idea.  The Chabad.org Insider gives up a heads-up on Chabad's new mobile simulator to help acquaint users to the mobile interface, which, as a Blackberry user, I'm pretty stoked about! One of my favorite blogs, A Simple Jew, posted a conversation based on emails between "The Vegetarian Activist & The Vegetarian Chassid," but it's just part one, so stay tuned? The one and only Schvach takes us back to the favorite argument (or not?) on Darwin vs. G-d, while Bar Kochba gives the harrowing numbers on the Vanishing Diaspora Jew. Shiloh Musings reflects on Shabbat Zachor and remembering ...

More of subcategory of Judaism than anything, we now have our Torah posts! Any regular readers of the blog will note my obsession with this week's parshah, Ki Tisa, so I can't help but start off with some d'varim! The Velveteen Rabbi leads us with "Re-Entry," a nice poem about the Golden Calf narrative, while I give some thoughts on my recent paper on Exodus 32, not to mention some thoughts about Tzedakah.

Of course there has to be at least one Politics posts, so why not get it out there now, eh? MyPanim writes about Australia and Nazis in "Atonement for Past Injustices." Well, that was uneventful and brief. Where are all the politics posts!?

Personal posts are always fun, but there aren't that many of them. Luckily, we have some saving graces! Shorty parallels the renewal of the covenant in this week's parshah to her own renewal with HaShem, and Batya writes about her ADHD rearing its ugly head during Megillah readings (darn those toy guns!). Tuvia over at Following My Judaism talks about his first time in Chicago for Shabbat, but also his first time being Shomer Shabbos while traveling. Lastly, the ever-hilarious FrumSatire talks about the toils and fun of having stalkers on Facebook (if only I were so lucky?).

I hate to conclude this week's HH with anything foreboding, but I just can't help it! People are already in full-swing with Pesach blogging, so I have to include Mrs. S's Our Shiputzim "Theory of Pesach Cleaning." I'm *this close* to blogging on Passover, especially after my schlep out to Waldbaum's in West Hartford motzei Shabbos. This place is seriously stacked with Kosher l'Pesach goods. It was hard to walk out without buying up the whole place, but rumor has it I might be heading to Monsey next weekend for some Pesach shopping. Now THAT will be an experience.

So, until then, folks, be sure to check out last week's Haveil Havalim at The Real Shliach, stay tuned for next week's over at What War Zone??? and be sure to stick around my blog and, you know, become a friend and reader! I promise in the next day or so to give you a fun and exciting view of the Shabbos table at my rabbi's place. I've always found it amusing when Jews sit down and talk finances at the Shabbos dinner ... investment advice, anyone!?

Oh, and in case you missed the stellar How Do You Say Shabbat Shalom video put together by the National Jewish Outreach Project, give it a go here. How many bloggers and e-people do YOU know? 

Haveil Havalim is up! The weather is down!

I can't help but make my titles something with "Haveil Havalim is up, ______ is down!" Why? Well, the first time it was an unconscious nod to the rabbi who uses this play on words with the eruv and a current event (this week the eruv was up, Tzipi Livni was down).

But the newest edition, Number 205: From Down Under , is up over on Sarah's blog. I've never been to Sarah's blog, so it's nice to see someone unfamiliar doing this week's blog carnival. In a few weeks, it'll be my turn as the Blog Carnival Compiler. Look out!

Like the eruv on Shabbos, Haveil Havalim is up!

Esser Agaroth is hosting this week's Haveil Havalim -- the Jewish blog carnival -- which is in its 203rd incarnation. I'll be hosting HH in all its splendor in about a month, when I have some Spring Break time at the beginning of March.

So go, read up, and me? I'm going to take a nap.

Just a few Fellow Blogger notes.

D'var Torah? Alas, no. I heard many great d'vars on Friday at the rabbi's house and afterwards at the "pickles and vodka" that some of the students do on occasion, but I'm up to the challenge of iterating their brilliance. What I am up to right now -- amid attempting Hebrew and boatloads of reading -- is noting a few websites I think you should take a gander at. The Jewish blog-o-sphere is about a lot of things, but one of them is connections, making these connections, and supporting the atmosphere we've built and continue to build here on the intertubes. As a funny aside, I mentioned at Shabbos dinner on Friday that I was a blogger and one of the guests says "No, no, no ... you can't just say 'I'm a blogger' and leave it at that. What kind of blogger are you!?" to which I replied, "A Jewish blogger?" This pleased him, and it got me thinking about blogs and how big the Jewish blogging community is. It's quite a community -- made up of secular Jews, ultra-Orthodox Jews, Humanist Jews, Reconstructionist Jews, and Bu-Jews. The variety is endless, from Jewish food blogs to Jewish mom blogs to halakhic and d'var Torah blogs. It's a beautiful thing, and I love watching it grow.

+ Tuvia has started up a blog, and to be honest, he definitely has a really interesting perspective. He grew up going to Jewish day school, suffered the classic "force-fed" view on things, and he has now learned to appreciate what an upbringing like that can do, especially as he returns to his Judaism religiously. He just started up, and we all know how hard it is to get started. Go say hello over at FollowingMyJudaism.com.

+ Menachem Mendel posted a link to the University at Albany's Guide to Resources in Rabbinic Literature, and it's a pretty comprehensive and useful list. There are links to websites with study materials and Talmudic texts, too.

+ The newest edition of Haveil Havalim is up over on SuperRaizy. Appropriately, it's the Superhero Edition!

Haveil Havalim and a Viral Video!

I know, I know -- I'm late to the party. The carnival party, that is! This week's edition of Haveil Havelim, everyone's favorite Jewish blog fete, is out and proud. That is, it's up and over on Jack's blog , which, might I add, is sporting a new handle: "Life is a tale told by an idiot: Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." Hopefully, sometime in the not-so-distant future I'll be hosting the carnival, so stay tuned for details!

I have plenty to say, but it's late and I have much to do and laundry to start, because, well, in three nights I'm going to be floating over an ocean somewhere, hopefully asleep (I neglected to visit the clinic to get an in-flight drug, unfortunately). So in the meantime (that is, until tomorrow afternoon), I leave you with this awesome pre-Chanukah Chanukah delight. Be sure to look out for one of my favorite bloggers, the always eloquent Esther K (she's in front of the HOLLYWOOD sign!).

Haveil Havalim #191: GO READ!

In case you missed it, the newest edition of the web's most awesome Blog Carnival -- Haveil Havalim -- is up over on West Bank Mama's blog. It's the "Mama Rachel" edition, and it's jampacked with awesome posts from some of my favorite bloggers.

So check it out! 

It's Haveil Havalim Day!

Every Sunday is like a gift waiting to explode. Why?

Because Hey Hey Hey Haveil Havalim! The newest edition -- #188 to be precise -- is up over on the What War Zone blog.

Do yer Laundry, and Getcher Blog on!

 

Photo by Kevin O'Donnell at Kevino.net.

Yes, it's that time again. Haveil Havalim #176-- The Dirty Laundry Edition -- is up over at Frumhouse. Give it a go and check out the delicious tastings of the Jewish blogosphere.

Haveil Havalim -- Check it Out!

The glorificous Frume Sarah is hosting this week's Haveil Havalim, and it is now up and live on her blog. What is HH? It's a carnival of Jewish blogs, that's what it is. There is some extra info about this snazzy little blog carnival up below and here.

Founded by Soccer Dad, Haveil Havalim is a carnival of Jewish blogs — a weekly collection of Jewish & Israeli blog highlights, tidbits and points of interest collected from blogs all around the world. It’s hosted by different bloggers each week and coordinated by Jack. The term ‘Haveil Havalim,’ which means “Vanity of Vanities,” is from Qoheleth, (Ecclesiastes) which was written by King Solomon. King Solomon built the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and later on got all bogged down in materialism and other ‘excesses’ and realized that it was nothing but ‘hevel,’ or in English, ‘vanity.’

Haveil Havalim -- I made it!

I feel like I've finally hit the "big time" in the J-blogosphere, having ended up in this week's edition of Haveil Havalim! You can see this week's post over on Ima's blog by clicking HERE. For those not keen on what Haveil Havalim is all about, here's a little spiel for you:

Founded by Soccer Dad, Haveil Havalim is a carnival of Jewish blogs -- a weekly collection of Jewish and Israeli blog highlights, tidbits and points of interest collected from blogs all around the world. It's hosted by different bloggers each week and coordinated by Jack. The term 'Haveil Havalim,' which means "Vanity of Vanities," is from Qoheleth, (Ecclesiastes) which was written by King Solomon. King Solomon built the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and later on got all bogged down in materialism and other 'excesses' and realized that it was nothing but 'hevel,' or in English, 'vanity.'

So be sure to check it out, there's a lot of good reads on there. And don't forget to toss your own hat into the ring as well to appear in the HH weekly.