Haveil Havalim #233

Welcome to the 233rd edition of Havel Havalim, the official carnival of the Jewish blogosphere.I'm honored to host it for the first time.

The entries were wonderful, and I was able to fix it so I could use pretty much all of them. I also took the liberty as host to invite a few guests to the party, and I hope many of you will likewise find them interesting, entertaining and informative. Any deficiencies are of course mine, and I apologize in advance to any of you I might have offended inadvertently.

For those of us who live in America, the number 233 is significant because it also represents the years our Republic, which has been uniquely blessed and hospitable to the Jewish people has been in existence.Indeed, outside of Israel America remains the largest Jewish community in the world.

This weeks' parsha Ki Savo deals with the instructions Moses gave the Israelites if they hoped to be successful in claiming their birthright in the Holy Land. Rabbi Berel Wein provides some fascinating perspective on the matter, showing us that this birthright is not something easy to achieve or to be taken for granted.

In view of recent events, I definitely see a connectionbut being a good host I'll leave it to your own interpretation.

Have a wonderful holiday weekend, and again, welcome to Haveil Havelim.

Torah And Parsha

Cosmic X In Jerusalem presents 100 Years Since the Passing of the "Ben Ish Chai"

The Real Shliach ponders shallow waters.

Parshablog asks the question Why is the krei/ketiv of yishgalena/yishkavena not a problem of reading not from the ktav?

Culture

Sheyna Galyan at By The Numbers welcomes a new author at Yaldah Publishing.

Lady-Light from Tikkun Olam is talking Madonna, specifically about the Material Girl's involvement in the spiritual world of Kaballah

David at Jewschool writes about a show called Nice Jewish Girls Gone Bad and says: "Did I watch a self described "Nice Jewish Girl Gone Bad" strip and throw bacon into the audience? Yes. Did I enjoy myself? Yes. Was it edgy for the sake of being edgy? Probably." He's a braver man than me.

Artzeinu relates a tale of driving through Mea Shearim on Shabbos..

Antisemitism

via Soccer Dad Norman Podhoretz reviews the life of Jewish activist William Korey, 1922-2009. Soccer Dad also examines how reporter Donald Bostrom's hideous blood libel against Israel in Sweden was likely a good career move.

Speaking of Jew haters, over at Joshuapundit you can read about Pat Buchanan, Hitler's American apologist and his latest drivel.Why this this bitter old fossil continues to be received politely in a number circles amazes me..but then, so does Jimmy Carter.

Politics

Bookworm over at American Thinker reflects on the dangers of teaching American kids compassion for deadly enemies.

Cosmic X In Jerusalem gives us Lightning Strikes Cosmic X, the story of what happened when Yahoo linked to him and caused a surge in traffic.

Shtetl Fabulous presents his own health care plan in To Your Health .

SnoopyTheGoon fisks al-Guardian's Seth Freedman on the organ harvesting affair. Amazing how they can always find some Jew to write these articles and provide a beard for their anti-Semitism.

Omri at Mere Rhetoric reports on President Obama's obsequious Ramadan speech, congratulating a Muslim girl on her 'fight for the right to wear a hijab' in public schools. As Omri reminds us, when Obama speaks to evangelicals, do you think he congratulates them on fighting for voluntary school prayer?

Israel

A Simple Jew wants to have A Conversation About Zionism & Anti-Zionism.

Cosmic X tells us about Moshe Plesser, The Amazing Private M., an off-duty Golani soldier who stopped a terrorist attack in Jerusalem in 2008.

Confessions of a Startup Wife looks at the Petach Tikva School Scandal: Abject Racism or Media Lynch? while A mother in Israel looks at Ethiopian Integration in Petach Tikva Religious Schools..two sides of a story I personally was very interested in.

Tzedek-Tzedek asks So How Common IS Child Sexual Abuse in Ramat Bet Shemesh?

Eric at The Israel Situation asks Can a State Really Be Built on Lies?

Via Soccer Dad, Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations invites us to fly with the best

Tzedek-Tzedek looks at My Daughter + Daniel vs. Obama + Netanyahu and tells us why why smoking kills 10,000 Israelis a year.

Ben-Yehudah lets us know that Hello?! There Already Is A Ban On Land Sales To Arabs! and also shares Jewish Cover-Up from Esser Agaroth.

Good News From Israel gives us Good News from Israel: 25 Years in Israel, a historical overview.

A Mother in Israel treats us to a book review of Daniel Gordis 'Saving Israel'. I just recently read this and a review of this fascinating book of my own will beforthcoming shortly.

Harry at Israelity tells us howIsraeli vaccine may work against swine flu too, talks about the Jerusalem opening of the Gap Department store and the efforts to save the famous Smadar theater.

Carl at Israel Matsav reveals how The Arab League is threatening Arab Countries who take any steps to normalize ties with Israel until every one of their outrageous demands are met. And how American support for Israel has jumped since Obama's Cairo Speech.

On a related note, Joshuapundit examines Obama's Mideast strategy and why it's a disaster in the making.

Judeopundit examines Libyan dictator Kadhafi's latest nonsense, that Africa's woes stem from Israel.It's always the Joooos, no?

Religion and State in Israel presents an overview of Religion and State in Israel - August 31, 2009 (Section 1) and Section 2.

Yisrael Medad at My Right Word shows how the BBC can't even get a 3700 year old story right, provides us with some great pictures of the Temple Mount and examines what he sees as a double standard in Israel on how laws are applied towards Arab 'civil disobedience'.

Judaism

My pal Soccer Dad examines the new, improved Promise Keepers 2.0. He also forwards us a photo from the New York Post via Michael Goldfarb at The Weekly Standard. He submitted it as humor, but I took the liberty of moving it to the Judaism section. If you read the actual article, it's about Rabbis taking certain extremely justifiable precautions during High Holy Days that reflect reality in today's America. I fully concur and hope that many of their congregants emulate them.

The Velveteen Rabbi explores a Hasidic text by the Bnai Yissaschar as a path in to looking at Elul imagery ofmikvah, womb, and teshuvah.

Rabbi Fink at Pacific Jewish Center uses his insight as a law student to compare how murder is treated in Jewish Law and United States law. He also turns us on to DovBear's review of RustyBrick Jewish iPhone and iPod Touch Apps!

Harry-er than them all gives us an interesting take on the Shadchanim Crisis


Good News From Israel gives us a Trivia Quiz, Educational Resources and Cool Videos for the Jewish New Year.

Mottel at lubavitch.com notes how Chabad is Marking the birthdate of its founder

Tzedek-Tzedek asks What Makes Smart-Chesed so Smart?


Schvach - פני דל gives us a few points to consider for All converts and would-be converts to Judaism

Batya at Shiloh Musings runs through her take on the male female thing in Judaism and let's us know that Harry's Still With Us , Harry being Harry Hurwitz, the main force behind the creation of the Menachem Begin Heritage Center.

The Real Shliach wonders Pray for what?

Meanwhile In the Pink wants us to be quiets for G-d's sake!


On The Fringe—Al Tzitzit considers the rules of tzniut (modesty) and their ultimate purpose.

Yechezkel wonders where the homosexuals would sit on the Mehadrin buses

The Rebbetzin's Husband ponders How do you choose a minyan?

Personal

Those of you who enjoy Sammy at Yid With Lid may be interested to know he's doing a fundraiser and might want to hit his tip jar to help him continue.

Letters of Thought writes about a return to his Grandfather's garden

The Rebbetzin's Husband talks about educating our children with mixed messages

JackB at Random Thoughts presents If You Died, Who Would Take Care of Your Children?

My friend Robert J. Avrech at Seraphic Secret writes that evil is easy to understand, but goodness is an eternal mystery in The Eternal Mystery of Goodness.

Chaviva wonders..is it Cosmic Connection? Happenstance? Or HaShem?and lets us in on a specialRosh Hashanah Giveaway.

Elianah-Sharon at Irresistably Me celebrates her return to the blogosphere and tells us how she loves this time of year.

Humor

SnoopyTheGoon tells us all about how the Mossad's heist of the Arctic Sea leads to an explosive discovery

Benji at What War Zone? shares another hilarious Israeli sign with us.Apparently "Supersize Me" Never Made It to the Middle East! He also gives us a funny Israeli movie translation... and his own unique take on Madonna's trip to Israel.

Meanwhile Heshy at Frum Satire lets us all know why Communal cup sharing on shabbat is gross and dangerous!

Enjoy...