Haveil Havalim #203: Did You Love Leah?

Welcome to the Loving (or Not Loving) Leah Edition of Haveil Havalim....

What's going on here today?
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.'

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What was really important in the J-blogosphere this week?
Loving...or not Loving....Leah, of course!
Yes, Sunday night's Hallmark movie was definitely a topic in the Jewish blogosphere this week.
Some of the posts I found:
Midianite Manna's Take
Frum Satire's Thoughts
Idol Chatter
#lovingleah on Twitter
Boston.com "Loving Leah is hard to do"
JewWishes has this to say
MyJewishLearning's blog thoughts
DovBear weighs in
BangItOut's thoughts
Mottel is Loving Lubavitchers in Hollywood.

(It's not available on DVD yet but I'm sure it will be...in case you missed it. Or, like me, only saw the last hour. Which, by the way, was enough to get the whole story!)

Okay, onto the submissions!

Israel....

The world is, of course, ignoring the ceasefire as Muqata puts it.

Ricki's Mom shares her Journey from a Pacifist to the Mother of a Soldier. All mothers share her pain, I think. She also shares this story: Yalah, B’nee! (Oh G-d, My SON!) from her son's army induction.

Shiloh Musings shares Yes, Barack Hussein Obama is U.S. President, wondering what the impact will be on Israel. Also, Muse contemplates what might be a Fundamental Flaw in Israeli thinking. What do you think? It Had Seemed So Much Longer, And Very Forboding is more musing on life in Israel. Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome in the Negev is a guest post and looks at life in the South.

Israel Chronicles talks about Israeli/Hebrew names in A Rose By Any Other Name.

My Right Word thinks about Mitchell's idea to prevent Gaza smuggling: Tell Me This Isn't A Silly (Stupid?) Thought Process and also begs to differ with Israel's NY Consul General. He also explains what HAMAS really means.

Lady-Light presents From Time Immemorial, Part I and From Time Immemorial, Part II, planning a 6-part series featuring an interview of Joan Peters, author of From Time Immemorial.

Benji Lovitt always makes me laugh...this time it's with: Sorry If I Offended You, Nice Religious Lady and Take a Left at Beersheva and Walk Ten Paces.

Therapy Doc offers her thoughts on Gaza and Israel in the context of her own relation to her nephew, the IDF poster child.

Joel Katz gives his weekly overview of the state of Religion and State in Israel - January 26, 2009.

Ben-Yehudah offers this informational piece, Don't Know Where To Vote? and invites you to a Candle Light March: Don't Free Terrorists! - Free Gilad Schalit!

Elms in the Yard has pictures of her local Electronics Graveyard, which I think is pretty cool.

Soccer Dad, like so many, wonders how we're getting to "no" the new US Administration and what it will mean for Israel.

Judeopundit tells us that the Iranian audience is primed for war-crimes trials of Israeli officials. Hmm...

Robin has become quite a photo-blogger, check out this beautiful sunset over the Mediterranean (and her cool new design!).

Mah Rabu is hosting February Madness....who do you think will win the elections???

Judaism and Torah

Torat HaRav Aviner (shared by Dan Illouz) gives us More on Rachel Imenu. Did she reveal herself during the war?

Shtetl Fabulous reminds us that every Jew is a Jew by Choice.

Ilana-Davita talks about a book that is Soon To Be Released.

The Real Shliach posted Asiri Yehieh Kadosh: The Schapiro Farbrengen.

A Simple Jew realizes that If You Have To Ask You Are Not Ready Yet.

Child Ish Behavior presents  posted at Not Just Typical.

Frum Satire wonders about how people handle Coming out of the closet in the frum community.

Ahava Ariel, new and thoughtful on the Jblog scene, asks Does Pediatric Judaism Make Us An Orphan People?

muse presents Such Timing... posted at Shiloh Musings, saying, "actually, Haftara"

Rachel Barenblat presents This week's portion: offering posted at Velveteen Rabbi, saying, "This week's parsha poem delves into an intriguing line from parashat Bo, exploring the nature of service and sacrifice."

The Reform Shuckle is exploring some questions about Rethinking Reform. Read the comments, they're very interesting.

Jewish Life, Culture, and Everything Else...

me-ander offers this Sunday Update: Moshe Avitan (Moshe Rafael ben Aliza A'isha) and thinks about how she associates personal experiences with trauma. She also explains that It's Not The Season For Goat's Milk.

The Rebbetzin's Husband muses on being Uncomfortably numb (this is a problem/issue that I think all rabbis face at times...) and Funeral Tchotchkes.

Not Just Typical tells us about God's Teffilin. I never really considered it before.... He also says that Sometimes the skeptics can get too skeptical.

Schvach Yid presents Madeline Kahn, Wo Bist Du? and responds to Nameless Faceless here.

Frum Satire makes fun of the Sephardim along with everyone else. That's what I like to see...equal opportunity fun-making!

Blog d'Elisson explains A Little Known Fact...Robbie Burns was Jewish.

Seraphic Secret considers how There Are Cults and There Are Cults.

Here in HP explains how there can be Healthy Anger. (She also posts fun challenges like this one.)

Abba's Rantings is ranting...Stupid Teachers in My Son's School.

SuperRaizy is asking about summer camp. Can ya help her out?

I am reminding you to double-check things.

That's all for this week!

Please send your posts for the next edition of the Haveil Havalim Blog Carnival via the Blog Carnival Submission Form. Dare I say it will probably be Tu B'Shevat-themed? Let's go GREEN!
If you're interested in hosting or receiving more information about the carnival,
please contact Jack at talktojacknow-at-sbcglobal-dot-net
(and please, for the sake of our hosts,
try not to submit more than 3 posts a week!)

Please please please publicize HH on
your own blog and share the news about it!

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A very nice edition of Haveil Havalim, the Jewish Blog Carnival,
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P.S. I know many of you have posted "best practices" for putting together Haveil Havalim. May I suggest Google Docs, which is very interchangeable with Blogger (for those who use it) and works very nicely. Plus it's accessible from all over town, and saves itself regularly.