Ahhh….do you smell it, people? Either spring is in the air or there’s some old schnitzel rotting in my fridge. Whether or not I need to do some spring cleaning in the kitchen (don’t ask), let’s all enjoy Haveil Havalim #209, the first of the new season. Haveil Havalim is the weekly “blog carnival” of the Jewish/Israeli blogosphere, created by Soccer Dad and currently maintained by our friend Jack. I was planning to kick off this carnival with some cotton candy and clowns but due to the economic crisis, we’re forced to make some financial cutbacks. Fortunately, I was able to find a clown nearby who’s in need of work.

(Ech omrim “doodyhead”? Israelis, help me out here.)
Unfortunately, it’s no joke that the world does find itself in the midst of the largest financial crisis since the Great Depression. Despite this, we Israelis have a way of rolling with the punches and taking things in stride. Just take Bank Leumi* for example. You’d think banks around the world would be a little nervous these days, but not this bank. There ain’t nothing that can’t be fixed by a little optimism, right, my loyal readers?
Oh no…you know where we’re going…they didn’t say it, did they? A BANK said it? On their WEBSITE??? Oh, dear G-d….

And don’t worry….if you still don’t get it….yiyeh b’seder.)
To the bloggers and readers around the world, enjoy the beginning of spring. Especially to everyone in Tel Aviv, where the weather this weekend was apparently….what?!?
Ok, let’s get this wrap-up started. To What War Zone??? newcomers, welcome and feel free to take a look around. Enjoy, everybody, and have a good week!
Anti-Semitism
Batya of Shiloh Musings pleads for the death penalty for Arab terrorists.
WHOO-HOO! Good times in Haveil Havalim! I do these categories alphabetically….maybe we shouldn’t start with something as fun as Anti-Semitism. How about antifreeze?

(If you didn’t get it, ask somebody else.)
Culture
Home Shuling talks about a day that happens only every 28 years! (Shmulik’s Comet?)
Mordechai Torczyner of The Rebbetzin’s Husband shares a new perspective on life and aging called “amortality.” (In Hebrew, amortalatzia. I’m kidding yet there’s a 54% chance that it’s true.)
History
Shmuel Sokol of Torat Yisrael tells us about the Tiberius Crusader Castle.
Humor
Benji Lovitt of some old blog has another confusing Hebrew moment at work. At least he didn’t find a hair in his chumus. (Oh yeah. He did.)
Batya of Me-ander smiles as she starts to prepare for Pesach cleaning.
Toby Curwin of A Time of the Signs gives you a reason to sign up for Ulpan. (Ulpan is hilarious, everyone should do it.)
Heshy of Frum Satire tells us why frum girls should not go on Jdate.
Trip’n Mommy gives us a laugh in honor of the Passover season.
Maya of How to be Israeli tells us when to (and when to not) bargain. Oy, I think I just split an infinitive. (Yiyeh b’seder. Ech omrim “split infinitive”?)
Batya of Shiloh Musings says Olmert just passed this tragic “hot potato” to Bibi.
Harry of Israelity and the brand new Jerusalem.com reports on Helen Mirren’s visit to Tel Aviv to shoot a movie. (As if we need more shooting in the Middle East. Yuk yuk yuk….let’s move on.)
More Israelity reporting: Tel Aviv is a fashionable place as evidenced by not only clothes, but also the gourmet coffee and delicassies popping up everywhere.
Mordechai Torczyner of The Rebbetzin’s Husband reveals the anti-Israel bias of a CNN reporter.
Eric from The Israel Situation takes a look at Bibi and Lieberman and what their relationship means for the next government. Anthony Reich writes on the same blog why he wants his son to serve in the army.
Have you seen the ad for the Israeli missle company yet? Yourish.com features it here.
Yisrael Medad of My Right Word saw the ancient city of Shiloh on American TV. Sort of… He’s also upset at the chosen language of opponents of Jewish residency across the Green Line as he writes on his Jerusalem Post blog.
Shira Salamone of On the Fringe-Al Tzitzit responds to a recent column and questions what will happen in the Conservative movement and in their communities.
Esther Kustanowitz of My Urban Kvetch asks: “Is this poster real?”
Alto Artist of On Chanting wonders how Twitter will fit into the Middle East.
Mominisrael of A Mother in Israel jokingly explains why the “average” Haredi family goes to a hotel for Pesach.
LB of Occidental Israeli tells you to look closely at what your JCC is promoting and addresses the issue of a boycott on Israel.
Leora of Here in Highland Park is getting into the Twitter thing…here she tweets about the parsha.
A Simple Jew reveals a strategy for dealing with tayvos achila (desire to overeat.)
What do Barnes and Noble and Christian evangelists have to do with one another? Schvach tells us here.
Yisrael Medad of My Right Word posts a video clip of Rabbi Moshe Tendler’s visit to the Temple Mount with explanations. He also tells us about his connection to the new Eldad Hagaddah.
Ashi and Rami’s blog thanks those who take care of their kids while they’re leading Shabbat at OSU Hillel (Ashi and Rami, not the kids….or “those”. Wow, a doubly ambiguous pronoun. That was crazy. Wild times in Haveil Havalim this week.)
Mrs. S. of Our Shiputzim: A Work in Progress makes up a tremendous language and tells us about it.
Rahel Jaskow of Elms in the Yard shares a story about finding someone over the internet after many years.
Treppenwitz shares a story called “Man plans and G-d laughs….A multi-generational story.”
Ricki’s Mom of Beneath the Wings describes sending her child to the grocery store. What’s so special about that? (tension building) Click here and see.
What does it feel like to be 40? Jack of Random Thoughts tells us. Don’t worry, Jack, I’ll be writing this post in a handful of years myself (if blogging still exists then. I’m sure we’ll have moved on to something even more ridiculous than Facebook and Twitter like micromini-blogging.
Welcome to our new site, bah.com! “What are you doing in one syllable?”
Jon: BAH!
Melissa: WHEEE!
Dave: RUFF!
If you want to follow me on Twitter, by the way, you can do so here.)
Shtetl Fabulous describes a recent visit to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
Politics
Batya of Shiloh Musings asks what the role in the Israeli government should be for Ichud Leumi.
Soccer Dad takes issue with a recent Roger Cohen NYTimes editorial defending Iran (Roger Cohen defends Iran, not Soccer Dad. English can be confusing. Soccer Dad, the explanation at the top of your site made me chuckle.)
Eli of My Panim attends a community meeting and discusses raising kids with a Jewish identity.
Torah
Batya of Shiloh Musings asks who’s really to blame for the sin of the Golden Calf.
The Real Shliach talks about our belief system and uses at least ten words that I’m not familiar with. Could somebody please dumb it down for me?
That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Haveil Havalim using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.
Technorati tags: haveil havalim, blog carnival.
The next issue will be hosted by Jack at Random Thoughts.
*Thanks for the tip, Yehoshua and his school furniture. (No easy way to work “school furniture” into a Jewish blog.)
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