Heval Hevalim #34

Hevel Hevalim #34

“Hevel Hevalim,” ”Vanity of Vanities” is the Jewish-Israeli blogging carnival consisting of posts from blogs all over the world. It’s hosted by different bloggers each week and coordinated by Soccer Dad. The term “Hevel Hevalim” 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 realized that it was nothing but norishkeit, “hevel” or in English “vanities.”

Let’s start with Parshat Shavua, Torah Portion of the Week from the one and only Velveteen Rabbi.




Extra credit to those who can guess where the two pictures are from and how they connect to this week's HH!

You all must know the saying about what’s reported in the news:
“Everything’s true, except the things you know about personally.” Many people consider blogs an alternative news source, especially since we’re generally personally connected to what we write about. Many of us are very suspicious of what’s written in the papers. Yes, that’s from my husband’s blog, and here’s another of his posts. Strange how the government and media tolerate, or even encourage some protests and not others…

Post-Disengagement

Disengagement won’t leave the national consciousness so quickly. How will we recover? Read Mentalblog’s “pivotal renewal” and me-ander to see how Judaism requires us to discipline our grief.

Jewish Future has a wonderful logo to symbolize how many of us feel. I hope that she’ll send us the code to add to our sidebars.

Cosmic X is still orange.

This is for all of those who miss Moshe Saperstein‘s unique eloquence. And here’s another voice from gush Katif Diary; no matter what your politics, please read it.

And Willow Green reveals where her thoughts have been during these difficult times. My neighbor Yoel Ben Avraham writes Letters from Shilo about winners and losers. I know that I’m politically incorrect, but this got doctor's approval. And here’s a suggestion from israpundit about where the refugees can be resettled. The Upsidedown World weeps at the memory of Zionism. Here are some good questions from the House of Joy. And some of my thoughts on how we ended up in today’s situation.

Smooth Stone reminds us of the fate of all of the synagogues in Gush Katif, and Outside the Blogway writes of the four-legged refugees.

And is murder the result of Disengagement? Read what SerandEz has to say. He also tells the story of a soldier. More post-Disengagement from Destination Jerusalem.

What can an Israeli do to influence politics? Moshe Feiglin has his plan. But we have to pay attention to what the Arabs are doing; Kira Zala takes a look.

Smooth Stone reminds us to check our food labels, because you don’t know who will be making money from the lettuce you buy. Food for thought from The Raphi, but don’t read this immediately before going to bed.

Israel Perspectives writes of the difficulties we have blogging negative things about Israel and also proposes a wonderful slogan: Never forget--together we will rebuild!

…and Now for Aliyah

Israel Perspectives proposes a way for Israeli society to recover from Disengagement and hopes that his criticisms won’t prevent other Jews from coming.

If you remember, the last time I hosted Hevel Hevalim, I mentioned that I’d be traveling to New York and returning home with Nefesh B'Nefesh. I did, and it was very thrilling. Look at the pictures, and there’s more and even more on the blog. Of course there was a blogger on the plane. He’s The Balloon Twister.

And if we’re mentioning aliyah, we shouldn’t forget the “pnimi” type, meaning “internal” or just plain large families. Psycho Toddler may have fewer kids than some of his neighbors, but it’s still nice to hear how his household of six kids functions. And of course when you see how cute they all are, you’ll wish you had such sweet hearts at home. There are other ways of increasing the population, adoption for one.


…and lots of other topics

Mystical Paths takes us to the Temple Mount, where our Holy Temples stood, and he introduces us to a settler.

Soccer Dad memorializes the Arab terror attack at Sbarro’s in Jerusalem four years ago. And the Dead Pool shows how little the world really cares and understands.

Biur Chametz writes about a radio/blogger program. Smooth Stone writes about Michael Graham who was fired because of Arab pressure.

And about a controversy closer to home, wherever you live… Devarim writes about whether or not both parents should be working outside the home.

Emet m’Tsion gives the truth about Jerusalem’s population in recent centuries.Read the book review by Melanie Phillips about "The Oslo Syndrome:
Delusions of a People under Siege." A Very Heavy Stone posts from America.

Many of us forget that there are Jewish soldiers in the United States military, and they have Jewish religious needs, too.

Now, if you want to take your mind off of politics, refugees and thieves, read Moze’s sock saga. Learn how Mirty helped her synagogue make a tough decision.; it’s hard being a Jew in public life, no matter where.

Getting into a “covered head,” Kisui Rosh, I presume that this speaks for some married women who cover their hair, which is a mitzvah based on the visual, since a woman is supposed to “look married.” And speaking about visual images, here are some from Fred; I can’t do an “HH” without him.

For a wide variety of articles on Jewish themes, there’s always the Weekly Megillah. And of course, for more news about Hevel Hevalim, just check in at Soccer Dad.



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