What's New in The Jewish Blog World? 1st Roundup of 5780

Once upon a time there was a weekly Jewish Blog Carnival, Havel Havelim, which featured the latest blog posts from a great variety of Jewish and Israeli blogs. It was hosted by the various bloggers and had a nice international following. If you click on these old HH's and then check out the posts, you'll discover that many of the blogs have been discontinued. Some are still online, but others can't be found at all. My blogs are among the very few old time blogs still being updated, though not daily. Until a few months ago, I blogged on both blogs daily even when it required writing in advance and having the post go up automatically on a later day. But as of late I've become an occasional blogger. Sometimes I think I've said it all, just too many times.

One of the great bonuses of blogging way back when was the community we established. Even though we were in different cities and countries, we became friends. And in some cases our friendships escaped the "confines" of the internet. Yes, quite a few of us have met in person.

According to Oscar Wilde:

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.”

I'm amused and saddened by the fact that all sorts of mainstream journalism, newspapers, news sites etc, have convinced people to "blog" for them. Even I have arrangements with a few, but my condition is always that I can post from my blogs, including the link. All of this free writing has made it much more difficult for people to earn a living as freelance writers.

Back to what I call "independent blogs," there's still blogging going on. And now I occasionally post a blog "carnival" or "roundup" of blog posts. To spark curiosity, I just give a list of titles in no particular order, not mentioning the names of the blogs. Click, read, comment and share. Also, if you have any blogs to recommend, please let me know in the comments. I'd also like to know which blog post you enjoy the most. Of course, I'm not responsible for any opinions in the posts, besides what I've written of course.

Now, it's time to enjoy.

2 Stories for Yom Kippur: Unexpected Bus Magic
Shutting Down, Starting Anew (guest post)
Remembering Ari Fuld z"l and Yehoshua Friedberg z"l
Lessons from a pie
Four beers for the record
The Rabbi and the Mammoth
Parshat Shavua Thoughts, Is "Vayelech" Connected to "Lech Lecha?"
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Is Jewish History Repeating Itself?
"Blue & White," Follow The Money
We Blew It: On The Prohibited Sounding of the Shofar
Are Synagogue Prayers on Rosh HaShannah and Yom Kippur too Long?
The Purpose of Exile: Converts (Haazinu)
Tasty and Simple 21st Century Tzimmes
Have we Learned to Learn Lessons?
The Bible Can’t Be Jewish Because It Doesn’t Mention ‘Tikkun Olam’
Frugal Adventure to Beit Shemesh, Plus: Pishers' Guide to Beit Shemesh #1
G-d Rewards Failure (Derashah, Yom Kippur 5780)

Chag Sameach
Have a Wonderful Holiday