We're Back from Camp!

We're back from camp but I'm just too worn out to get a real post up here. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow and might get around to sharing some of the great pictures I took...and some of the great stories from camp. It's such a wonderful experience to share with all those kids, I have to decompress a little bit before I can write anything down...Last year I was able to blog during camp. For some reason that didn't happen much this year. So I'll have a wrapup post probably on Tuesday...

For now, go check out this week's Haveil Havalim, which is full of interesting things to read. It will tide you over....

Haveil Havalim #171: The Packing for Camp Edition

Whew, it's been a crazy week here at Beit Ima...we are packing up for 2 weeks at Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute, the Reform movement's camp in our region. I was a camper at OSRUI (as it's fondly known) as a kid and now I love going back as a rabbi...of course, I bring the whole family, which requires quite a lot of packing and prepping. So, of course, why not host Haveil Havalim at the same time, right?!

Without further ado....Haveil Havalim #171, the Packing For Camp Edition!

Read more about it:
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.'
Please please please publicize HH on your own blog and share the news about it!

Bring Your Flashlights...Illuminating Jewish Life

Lion of Zion shares this story of A Pasul Sefer Torah...sad but preventable.

Daf Yomi presents Angels, Aramaic and Language of Tefillah.

A Simple Jew presents a guest post from A Bas Noach Learning Tehillim.

Ben-Yehudah shares his Shabbath In Tapu'ah With Dov Shurin! posted at Esser Agaroth.

Dan Illouz presents Question of the Week - Parashat Korach posted at Tzipiyah.com. The answer had to be in before Shabbat, but do you know? I would guess we could all stay tuned for more questions and prizes! Also at Tzipiyah.com this week, 10 Questions with Dov Lerner of CAMERA, ZOA and Kedma, and also Parshat Korach: Korach's Mistake, and The All-Spiritual Afterlife, the Torah, and Me. Part One.

If you haven't heard, the Reform Movement just founded its own blog. A few interesting posts from this week's RJ.org blog...Does Judaism Go on Vacation in the Summer? and a discussion on Reform wearing Tallitot.

Bar Kochba explains what Moshiach will really look like at The Truth About Moshiach, and he reminds us of our responsibility as a generation that will live without Holocaust Survivors at For Zion's Sake.

Cosmic X presents Rabbi Druckman, Rabbi Sherman and the Conversion Crisis (Part 11), George Carlin, Seven Dirty Words and Our Living Soul, and Windows of Opportunity.

Here's a sweet view from a mom of a binding mitzvah posted at In the Pink.

Ilana-Davita, Leora, and Frumhouse are studying Pirke Avot together this summer. Cool use of blogland for an international chevruta study! Check out Leora's list of books, Frumhouse's explanation of Chapter 1, and Ilana-Davita's explanation of some of Pirke Avot's peculiarities.

Pack the Sheets and Towels...Wrapping up Israel & The World This Week

Yisrael Medad makes us giggle and cringe with Ehud Olmert: Between Gaza and Iran.... And he also takes on some erroneous reporting with Can You Believe This? And he made the Society Page!

Soccer Dad takes on Nicholas Kristof of the NYTimes in Anthony lewis ii.

Batya reports on Olmert's doings...The Higher He Goes, The Harder He'll Fall at Shiloh Musings. She also wants us to come visit for Rosh Chodesh Tammuz. Batya also shares this guest post...Expellees and Illness by Hadassa DeYoung.

With more about Olmert, Esser Agaroth encourages his resignation...and he also shares this post about doings in Yitzhar: Curiouser And Curiouser....

Shira0607 thinks about the need for safe rooms and building walls.

A Conversation I Once Had recounts Eric's conversation with an African Muslim.

Aliza from Tzipiyah.com shares these thoughts ...To Define and to Defend...on Jewish life in Israel. Also from Tzipiyah.com comes

Read this interesting post: The BBC's Take on Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries: posted at The Volokh Conspiracy. Judeopundit talks about the same topic in MPAC-UK reacts to the suggestion that we should remember Jews expelled from Arab countries.

BritishYosef reminds us that Gilad, we miss you. (how many of you changed your profile pics this week? It was pretty amazing to see them all change on Facebook.) Gila isn't so sure about the trend: Am I Waiting for Gilad Shalit?.

Gila also presents Alyn Wheels of Love is Hitting the Road, and Collect the Whole Set.

Back on the subject of Gilad Shalit (maybe this should have been the Waiting for Gilad Shalit Edition?), Daled Amos shares that Gilad Shalit’s Book is now on YouTube.

Golan Heights 6: The White Falls from Planet Israel has gorgeous shots of waterfalls and reminds me how nice it would be to hike there again soon! And hey, Leora is in Israel!

Unfortunately, Seraphic Secret reports on recent violence against Jews in France: The Jew-Hating Savages of Paris.

On the upside, Ilana-Davita shares good news about the French-Jewish community. Are there any other French-Jewish bloggers out there?

Harry presents a Jerusalem pizza smackdown at the Jerusalemite blog. My 2 shekels: I like Pizza Sababa myself. Maybe it's just the name. But I remember it as being pretty yummy.

And don't forget the Toys and Games....Culture, Politics, Interesting Posts, and Other Fun Stuff

JackB shares his adventure with the Sprinklers.

Writes Like She Talks has seen this around town: Jews not confused on Obama. She wonders if this were in Arabic, what would the message be? Hmmm....interesting question.

Yid with Lid presents The Official Secret Political CODE to Make People Afraid of OBAMA, and also Joe Klein. Your Grandma Would Be Ashamed of You.

Here's a conversation with Raz Hartman, musician and spiritual leader - Jerusalemite.net from the Jerusalemite Blog.

The Rebbetzin's Husband rants a little in The Condescending Tzedakah Collector, and he also shares this lesson on how To Coach a Committee.

Batya muses about politics with Sung To The Tune Of... and she wants us all to know her Big News.

The Babysitter expounds on Communication and Fear.

Here's a short story from Mottel: The Sky's Tears, and also these pictures of Brooklyn -By Night and Day.

Happy Birthday, Treppenwitz! A great list of things to do before....

Heshy makes us laugh with his take on the Shidduch Resume at Jewish Comedy. For more funny stuff, check out this post from Child Ish Behavior: Bai’Iss Kosher©.

Raizy presents Info for Special Children posted at SuperRaizy.

What *does* a rabbi do at camp? My colleague Paul Kipnes shares what he does. (Stay tuned for what I do!)

Leah Koenig of the Jew and the Carrot wants to know why the food world is obsessed with lobster and bacon. And, as though she intuited my camp theme here, she posted this piece on the ethics of camp food.

The Parve Baker talks about eggs and Torah.

Mother in Israel is still thinking about Modeling for our Children. (It's a continuation of an infrequent series that started with Trusting our Children.)

Robin reviewed a great book called I Will Not Be Broken. Check it out. (my review is coming soon too of this great book)

Check out this nice roundup of food blogs in J-blog-land from Chaviva.

Miriam muses about finding a community and neighborhood for her family.

Please send your posts for the next edition of the Haveil Havalim Blog Carnival via the Blog Carnival Submission Form. 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!

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming...

Haveil Havalim #170 is up

Go see Haveil Havalim over at Soccer Dad.

Tell him I sent you cuz I'm the host next week!

Haveil Havalim is up!....and 5 places I've Been This Week

It's in 2 parts, Haveil Havalim Part 1 here and Haveil Havalim Part 2 here....and as usual, it's chock-full of the best of the Jewish blogosphere. Go check it out and learn something new!


Five Places I've Been This Week

Hypermiling

Crock-Pot Felafel ?!

Winter-Share CSA, count me in!

How to back up a blogger blog (I asked my twitter friends but had to google for the answer!)

Can Jews go Lox-Free?

from my del.icio.us
Where have you been?

Memes & Five Places....

Meme #1: From Auntie Liz...(she sent it on email)
You can only use one word and it's not as easy as you might think. Now copy or forward, change the answers to suit you and pass it on. It's really hard to only use one word answers.
1. Where is your cell phone? Counter
2. Where is your significant other? Here
3. Your hair? Curly
4. Your mother? Wise
5. Your father? Pal
6. Your favorite thing? Blog
7. Your dream last night? good
8. Your dream/goal? joy
9. The room you're in? playroom
10. Your fear? loss
11. Where do you want to be in 6 years? here
12. Where were you last night? Ravinia
13. What you're not? Patient
14. Muffins? Yep.
15. One of your wish list items? DSLR (is that really one word?)
16. Where you grew up? Wisconsin
17. The last thing you did? Cook
18. What are you wearing? Comfy
19. Your TV? Nice.
20. Your pet? Children
21. Your computer? Laptop
22 Your life? Rockin'
23. Your mood? Calm
24. Missing someone? Harry
25. Your car? Hedwig
26. Something you're not wearing? Makeup
27. Your summer? Great.
28. Your favorite color? Purple
29. When is the last time you laughed? Lunch
30. Last time you cried? Movies
31. Who will resend this? Anyone!

(Feel free to play along....Consider yourself tagged!)

Meme #2: From Jendeis

This meme originated over an idea that was prompted by the book written by Larry Smith & Rachel Fershleiser, Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure. It's a compilation based on the story that Hemingway once bet ten dollars that he could sum up his life in six words. His words were, "For Sale: Baby Shoes, Never Worn."

The Rules
1. Write your own six word memoir.
2. Post it to your blog including a visual illustration if you would like.
3. Link to the person who tagged you in your post and to this original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere.

My six word memoir: "Blessings abound, it's not over yet!"

(Feel free to play along....Consider yourself tagged!)

----

Five Places I've Been This Week

Sarah Silverman's Sister is a Rabbi!?

The Resume of the Future

Sustainable Shavuot Menu

ALA Recommended Reading List

Salmon and Feta Pasta...yum!

from my del.icio.us -- where have you been?

AND! Haveil Havalim is up over by Jack. It's wonderful, as usual...a great roundup of the week's Jewish blogosphere.

Chag Sameach!!!!!
(That means, Happy Shavuot!)

Haveil Havalim is UP!

FrumeSarah did her thing and let me tell you, it's great.

Go check it out. So much to read, so little time!

Haveil Havalim WINNER

As promised, one lucky commenter on this week's Haveil Havalim post will win a signed CD by The Josh Nelson Project, the new release Lift.

And the winner (thanks to random.org) is commenter #12, Marci B!!!!!! (I'll be in touch.)

Here are your random numbers:

12 

Timestamp: 2008-05-22 04:00:27 UTC

Thanks for playing along.
Submit your posts for FrumeSarah's version of Haveil Havalim here.

Haveil Havailm #166: The MommyBlogger Edition

Welcome to Haveil Havalim #166, the MommyBlogger Edition.

Thanks to FrumeSarah (I'm sure it's her fault) and Jack (for jumping on my innocent little comment!), I agreed to play hostess to the Haveil Havalim Jewish Blog Carnival.

Read more about it:
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 must admit that it was fun putting it all together, albeit a little nerve-wracking to get it all done around Shabbat and the the last day of Religious School today!

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

So without further ado, here goes...

Jewish Life & Times...aka Sammy's Picks


ProfK asks some serious questions about the role of parents vs schools. Are Jewish charter schools the answer? Daled Amos explores this idea.

Jewish Sandwich wrote Losing our Religion, reminding us to be respectful of both Ashkenazi and Sephardi customs.

Strong Jewish Women presents Mirror, Mirror, on the Tabernacle......, an interesting take on the gifts of the Israelite women.

Schvach shares a potentially-davenning Jewish pigeon.

Velveteen Rabbi offers a poetic rendering of Parashat Behar. So do I, with my weekly parasha haiku. The Rebbetzin's Husband gives an excellent drash about heroes, shmitah, and the Nazir.

Did you know that observing one-day Yom Tov can actually be more stringent than two-days? Read BZ's post for much more.

Can we be unaffected by traumatic events? A Simple Jew poses the question.

Life-of-Rubin compares Crown Heights to Israel, for the good and for the bad.

In and On Israel...aka Yael's Picks


We turn our prayers to those injured in the attack on Ashkelon this week and ask...what now? George Bush was in Israel this week, and he had this to say, as analyzed by Yid with Lid.

60Bloggers has played host to some great posts this week. Jameel give us Israel's Youngest Fallen Soldier, Rabbi Daniel Brenner (fellow Badger!) gave us Eretz Yisrael, Gila Weiss chipped in with ?האם תרצו, Leah Jones gave us Postcards to Israel, Leah Koenig was Eating My Way Through Israel. If you haven't been reading 60bloggers, go check it out from start to finish. It's such an interesting conglomeration of various Jewish writers and bloggers from all parts of the Jewish world.

Jameel breaks the gag-order on the Olmert scandal here and gives an examination of The Laundry Man that adds another layer to the news. Batya looks at the NY Post on the same subject.

Batya shared a bit of politics along with the winner of the World Bible Contest as well as thoughts about a Muslim's words.

Think the Israel conversion issue doesn't affect you? Read this from On the Fringe's Shira Salamone. A Rebbetzin's Husband offers an English transcript of the court rulings.

Dr Savta wrote birthday wishes for Israel (so young!).

Ilana-Davita gave us a description of Yom Ha'atzmaut in France....

Me-ander shows us the newest Israel coin - the shnekel!

A fighting spirit is what it takes, says British Yosef.

Eric dissects an article on Israel from the LA Times. He is awaiting their response.

Post-Yom Haatzmaut Thoughts from Dan at Tzipyah remind us criticism is just as much a part of our celebration as the celebration itself.

Soccer Dad investigates the propagandizing of the term Nakba. Yid with Lid discusses the myth of the term Palestinian, and he attended the UN Nakba Rally and shared his thoughts.

For Toby at A Time of the Signs, strangely translated packaging abounds!

Robin invites us to know hope.

Treppenwitz, whose son Yonah had his tonsils out this week, live-blogged and got a chuckle out of the experience. Glad he's home and doing well!

FrumeSarah brings a musical twinge to her musings on Israel.

Israel is getting on the anti-plastic-bag bandwagon, says the Green Prophet.

Yisrael wonders whose hat is burning now, which mikveh he's really in, and what George Bush is doing with that pushke.

JC@Simply Jews tries to explain some Israeli logic. Is it logical? You decide!

Work-related thoughts from Israel definitely offer a giggle from Benji Lovitt. I'm hooked!

More Interesting Posts...Jewish Culture and the Like...aka David's Picks


Jewish bloggers are lurking everywhere, Schvach thinks. Are we?

Robert Avrech examines the story of a Jewish kid who made it big in Hollywood...not the one you're thinking of, I'm sure.

Miriam takes a personal approach to defending human rights.

Did you know that we have our own Wikipedia entry? I didn't!

The growth and change of our life dreams was the topic for Tuesday Torah by FrumeSarah.

Marci participated in a Rabbis for Human Rights gathering and posted about it.

Jena@BullseyeBaby (subject of this wonderful interview here, btw) writes about the power of seeing the sun.

In case you missed it, The Jew and the Carrot shared this story about Masbia, a soup kitchen serving steaks.

Leora does some beautiful artwork and she shared it with her daughter's kindergarten class.

What can we trust in our children to learn? A Mother in Israel explores this question.

A bonus if you read this far: One lucky commenter on this week's Haveil Havalim post will win a signed CD by The Josh Nelson Project, the new release Lift. His music is really wonderful. Make sure you leave me an email address to get in touch with you. In honor of my hostess-ing, I'll even ship it to Israel or wherever you're from! (Comments will close on Wednesday at 10am Central Time and winner notified shortly afterwards)

From Josh's song L'dor VaDor...
We are words and we are stories, we are pictures of the past
We are carriers of wisdom, not the first and not the last...

May we all be carriers of wisdom...

Please send your posts for the next edition of the Haveil Havalim Blog Carnival via the Blog Carnival Submission Form. If you're interested in hosting or receiving more information about the carnival, please contact Jack at talktojacknow-at-sbcglobal-dot-net

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming...