Haveil Havalim #72- Handed Down From the Mountaintop

Howdy folks and welcome to the post Shavuout Haveil Havalim, appropriately subtitled Handed Down From the Mountain Top. Haveil Havalim is the weekly roundup of posts from the Jewish/Israeli blogosphere.

Now that many of us feel like we have overdosed on dairy products it is high time to get back to business.

As I know that there are new additions to our crowd I offer you the opportunity to learn more about how people developed the name for their blogs on What Do You Call Your Blog?. If you haven't entered your own story there I highly encourage you to do so.

My apologies for some of the technical difficulties with this post.

And now on to the roundup:

Israel

Meryl explains that Hezbullah is committing war crimes in Lebanon.
Akira reports that Hezbollah Sleeper Cells Are Forming In The United States. Elder of Ziyon offers this post Israel develops a second active protection system.

Meanwhile The Volokh Conspiracy reports on a television show in Israel about life in Israeli prisons and how some failed suicide bombers are being given conjugal visits.

Carl reports on a Palestinian cartoon of a boy urinating on the Statue of Liberty and also includes a nice piece on the 25th anniversary of the Osirak Miracle. Not to mention this little ditty.

Our old pal Snoopy The Goon blogged about Making Joseph Happy and the Blissful Detachment that some people and organizations seem to operate under.

You can ask Batya about the Best Made Plans. Ask Saus if there is a new Sheriff in town. Seraphic Secret offers more information on secret divestment tactics. Yisrael says So It's Realignment. Sometimes the terms came fast and furious such as Disnevergence.

Gaza's Culture of Violence was a focal point of Secular Blasphemy. Tel-Chai Nation reports that some Israeli media will offer an apology to some families in Hebron. Speaking of Hebron, sashay on over to Treppenwitz and read about the Palestinian girl from Hebron who was taken to an Israeli hospital for medical treatment.

More on the Palestinian front this post decries the lifetime allowance Suha Arafat is being given in the middle of a financial crisis. Sometimes all you can do is Hope For The Best.

Perspectives of a Nomad says Israel: Many Different People One Nation.

Rise up and listen to the aliyah stories of Jerusalem Cop, Westbankmama, Jameel, Purple Parrot, AbbaGav, Emah, Treppenwitz, Snoopy The Goon, Mozemen, Bec, Stillruleall, Rafi, and Batya. Or just click here to see how WestBankMama collected all these posts in one place. Thanks for making life easier for me.

Which do you prefer: Jerusalem or Tel Aviv. Some things leave you seeing red.

I give Aussie Dave a hard time for having a funny Australian accent and a lot of grief for questionable tastes in sports, but he does a fine job of blogging and is a mensch as well. Speaking of menschen Big Dave says that we can say the same thing about Dan Akroyd.

Who knew that Haniyeh was interested in making a music video. Allison says that if you are from Lebanon and you want to freak out your parents you should try. If you think housing is bad where you live try Tel Aviv.

Judeopundit has an update on the Zionist Conspiracy.

Politics

Israel Matzav has an interesting analysis called Deterring those who are already dead. The Jewish Freak says The Religion Is Gone, But The Prejudice Remains. The Volokh Conspiracy has the sad tale of the foolish ramblings of Rep. Pete McCloskey.

Israel Perspectives said that Kissinger was good American but not such a good Jew. Israpundit blogged about the terror bust in Ontario. Willow Tree says that A Minute Meant Life.

Daled Amos says that the British Used to Be Fond of the Jews.

Judaism

Presence offers Conversion, Covenant and Commandments: Maimonides on Joining Yisrael.
Over at Elie's place he shares the story of Yetziv Pisgam Theory. Can a BT With Doubts Remain Frum?

Reb Chaim HaQoton offers a post called Becoming a Jew. Elliott Horowitz, Coffee and Shavuout is the topic of a post at AJ History by Menachem Butler. Said post ties into this one at Seforim.

Should you cut off your internet connection? Read more at Beyond BT. Or perhaps you might be more interested in reading about The Jewish Prince. At the Muqata a guest poster asks Can a Baal Teshuva with doubts remain Frum? As long as you are there you might as well join Jameel on a Fantastic voyage.

Im Haaretz has a nice post about some of the challenges that BTs face. The Godol HaDor says there is no place like home. Continuing on the theme of BTs there is a two part series at Letters of thought called Ba'al Teshuva syndrome explained part one and two.

Seawitch has a nice post about some of her thoughts regarding Shavuot or if you are part of my abba's era Shavuos. TikkunGer has a quote for Shavuot. See Tamara's response here. Judith has a nice post called Stand ing At Sinai. Jerusalem Gypsy has pictures of a Shavuot street festival. The Velveteen Rabbi also blogged about Shavuot here. Elisson says that Shavuot is the Rodney Dangerfield of holidays. Shira has two posts about Shavuot.

Bar Mitzvah Boys and Beer is the title of an excellent piece by Orthomom. Renegade Rebbetzin does a little rambling here. Shifra says that Good Kashrus makes good neighbors.

Miscellaneous

Not everyone was thrilled with the Pope's visit to Auschwitz. Ezzie has a lot of stuff going on right now. Postville is getting attention in a number of places. If these M&Ms melt you are in big trouble. I bet that Daled Amos wished that he would have had his own invisibility cloak on this occasion.

Shiloh is on the Map.

People

Miriam introduced us to Hiram Bingham and explained why he received his own postage stamp.

Maybe I have spent too much time watching The Sopranos but Bernie The Cuban sounds like a mobster to me. Speaking of Hollywood over at Seraphic Secret Robert Avrech has a very fine post entitled My Chaplain.

Yitz has a nice piece about his late Aunt Norma and her orchestra.

Mazal Tov to a Simple Jew on his new addition. New York's Funniest Rabbi says that People Are People. In a separate post he managed to administer a very fine test on the JBlogosphere.

Chaim writes about a play where George Costanza plays Shlomo Carlebach. The Shmata Queen has pictures of the apples of her eye. The Mad Zionist Took a Stroll Through Hell, they probably ate some bad chicken vindaloo.

Mochassid had a raw deal. Faith In Nathan blogged about the Law Of Evolution. Mirty has a good post about the evolution of blogs. Ever wonder about the word Tzimmer. Soccer Dad says that the conniving conman Michael Moore is being sued.

Mirty knows one line in Yiddish, but it was enough to get some attention.

That is it for now. It is quite likely that this post will be updated and or adjusted during the next day or so.

Stay tuned for the next edition of Haveil Havalim #73 - June 11 - Perspectives of a Nomad has volunteered for another go round as host. e-mail him at scottage at rochester dot rr dot com.