Well, no, it’s not an extravaganza at all. It’s me being a day late and probably also a dollar short, but there it is and here we are with my monthly (but it happens weekly!) roundup of All Things Good in the Jewish blog world.
What is HH?
It’s a weekly roundup of what’s new and great in the Jewish / Israel blogging world. I host once a month to give you a taste of what other great blogs are out there that you might enjoy. Hopefully, you’ll find some new favourites.
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Last week’s was hosted by Batya over at Shiloh Musings
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Next week’s carnival host is TBD
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For more details, a complete schedule of future issues or to host an upcoming issue, please join the HH facebook group.
Don’t forget – the point of social media is… SOCIAL. Stop by and visit some of the other blogs listed here. Leave a comment to let them know you came from HH!
It’s actually been kind of a busy week, as Jewish bloggers around the world start waking up again after Pesach. Shavuot is not the same kind of scary spectre… a quick 1-day (or, here in Israel this year, 2-day) experience rather than the full 8 days, and no significant cleaning or kashering to be done.
And, of course – spring. Spring is here, for however long it decides to stick around. Despite the mournful overtones of sefirah, I really do enjoy this time of year. Hope you’ll enjoy this bloggish roundup!
This and That
Shoshana Shear shares an erev Pesach kitten story at Welcoming Olim, saying “All children need to learn the beauty of nature and our creation and how to treat animals and our environment with kindness and respect.” Read more in Treating Animals Kindly.
Ester at It’s All From Hashem is hesitant about hopping in the car with an Israeli cabbie… with good reason, as it turns out, as he shares an emotional family story and then proceeds to rip her off. “Next time I think I’ll stick with the bus.” Read more in Taken for a Ride .
Leora Wenger over at Sketching Out shares the best of Jewish photographers capturing life here in Israel and around the Jewish world: “Today’s edition visits New York City; Jerusalem; the Negev; Edison, NJ; Crimea; the Galil; Washington, DC and more.” Read more in JPiX Jewish Photo Blogger Carnival 2015.
Allison Josephs of Jew in the City shares her moment of panic when she realized that as a Baalat Teshuvah, she had no idea how she was going to have “the talk” with her own children. “I grew up, became an Orthodox Jew, got married, started a family and realized that I had no idea how I was going to handle this topic. How did Orthodox Jews discuss the facts of life with their kids anyway?” Read more in How One Orthodox Jewish Mom Told Her Kids About Birds & Bees.
What do Will & Kate have to do with Bibi Netanyahu? The connection may not be clear, but something’s definitely going on in both cases. “There's a pretty good chance that either Netanyahu's next government won't last long or may even not get off the ground at all,” writes Batya at Shiloh Musings. Read more in Overdue: Kate and Will's New Baby and Bibi's Government Coalition .
Living Jewish
Batya at me-ander received an exciting new machzor to review: it’s for Yom HaAtzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim, “the first-ever English-Hebrew prayer book for Israel’s national holidays.” She usually gives away her review books when she’s done, but this is one she’ll be keeping. Read more in Jewish Israeli Holiday Special!
HaDassah Sabo Milner writes, painfully but honestly, about her son who is no longer religious. “I now have to accept that it is not meant to be at this time for all of them. And I have to be OK with that.” Read more in Losing His Religion – Trying to be a Supportive Parent.
Does being a good Jew mean putting other people down? Some New Yorkers think so and tried to put together an anti-Islam smear campaign on public buses and subways, but according to larry at the Jewlicious blog, “the MTA’s board voted 9-2, this week, to ban all political and religious ads from the transit system. Only public service messages, paid commercial advertising, and government communications will be allowed.” Read more in Comedians Try To Dull Bigoted NYC Subway Ads With Jokes.
Allison Josephs of Jew in the City shares moments when she feels most disappointed, and most proud of her fellow Orthodox Jews. She writes, “As Hillel told the would be convert who asked him to sum up the entire Torah on one foot “What is hurtful to you do not do to another. The rest is commentary.” Read more in I Feel Disappointed in Orthodox Jews When They…
Food and More
We all have our pre-Pesach rituals. For Doug Greener of Israel Brews and Views, one of those important rituals is the Last Beer Before Pesach. Finding himself in the States this year, he got to sample some local craft beers. Could they hold their own against his Israeli favourites? Find out in Last beers before Passover -- Florida 2015.
I know I usually keep food posts for the Kosher Cooking Carnival, but it just went out last week, and a month seems an awfully long time to wait to share this great post about making marshmallows at home (they were mind-blowingly delicious, with a light, fluffy texture you just can’t buy in a package). Read all about it in Homemade “No Corn Syrup!” Kosher Marshmallows (without all the patchke).
Hebrew and Israel
KochavaYocheved shares her “Word of the Day” (it’s “ulpan”) over at You’re not Crazy for Converting to Judaism, saying “…five hours a day, 5 days a week, of Hebrew for five months? Your brain might melt. Talk about a bonding experience.” Read more in Word of the Day: Ulpan.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention me. I put together this great post of Seven Questions You Must Ask when Renting an Apartment in Israel. And also mused about how sometimes, Making aliyah is the easiest thing in the world (hint: like at Pesach time).
Batya at me-ander finds an unknown relative who happened to be at the Kotel with a March of the Living group. “My family isn't one of those that visits Israel a lot. It's a headline day or year when I hear of someone coming to Israel.” Read more in Finding Relative on "March of the Living.”
When it comes to disasters around the world, there’s no country like Israel for coming to the rescue. Now, Batya at Shiloh Musings asks, “Israelis take this for granted and even attempt to send rescue crews to countries that are far from being our allies and are best described as enemies. Are we crazy?” Make up your own mind in Is There any Country in the World Like Israel with the best emergency rescue services?
More about Nepal over at First One Through: “By April 28, Israel had deployed 260 people to Nepal. The entire rest of the world deployed 276 people.” Read more in Israel Lends a Hand, Again.
Also at First One Through, a rubric for discovering media bias in the photos used to accompany articles: “Natan Sharansky, a famous Jewish refusenik who was jailed in Russia for trying to move to Israel, developed a three part “3D test” to determine anti-Semitism.” Find out more in Every Picture Tells a Story- Whitewashing the World (except Israel).
Jacob Richman is back with a new section of his online Hebrew dictionary, this time dealing with finding employment. Check it out before you start looking for a job in Israel over at New English-Hebrew Employment Vocabulary.
I have also just realized… although Parashat Emor was LAST week here in Israel, it’s next Shabbat outside of Israel. Which means that in some sense, this Haveil Havalim isn’t late at all. In fact, it’s a few days early. So there you go!
If you’re included, leave a comment, visit others. Much thankfulness and have a great week!
Thanks for including JPiX (thanks to Batya for the submission). Please note my name is "Leora" - Leah is one of the participants.
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