Last May, 8 months ago, I wrote a post suggesting that the residents of Sderot and the surrounding areas build/buy Kassam rockets, financed either by the government or by private donations, and shoot them into Gaza. Every time a rocket is shot into Israel, we should be shooting similar rockets back, right into civilian areas. They should feel what our citizens are feeling and maybe them suffering in a similar fashion will urge them to stop the rocket attacks.

Yesterday, MK Ruby Rivlin, who was recently a serious candidate for the slot of President of Israel, and before that was Speaker of the Knesset, wrote an op-ed piece for the NRG website, affiliated with the Maariv newspaper. In his op-ed piece Rivlin calls for a similar solution to the one I suggested 8 months ago, albeit in a slightly more humanitarian fashion.

Rivlin says Israel, considering the situation we have come to, should assist Gaza financially in building bomb shelters. Simultaneously, Israel should establish artillery and rocket units of similar strength and capacity to the Kassem and Grad rockets being shot from Gaza into Israel.

Then every time they shoot rockets at Israel, we should shoot rockets immediately, one for one, at Gaza. Let them feel what we feel, precisely.

This shabbos is famously known as Shabbos Shira. This is because we read the Shiras Ha'Yam, the song of praise Israel sang after the splitting of the sea, in this week's Torah portion.

There is more happening this shabbos. It was a jam packed week and is a jam packed shabbos.

Not only do we read this week the Shiras Ha'Yam, but we also read the Parshas Ha'Man. That is the portion describing how Hashem began giving the manna to the Jews in the desert. This past Tuesday was considered a special day to read the portion of the Parshas Ha'Man and is, in tradition, considered a segula for one's livelihood.

In actuality, the portion is beneficial to be read every day, but Tuesday of Shabbos SHira is ocnsidered especially "seguladic".

The segula of it is that if you read it and consider what the real source of our sustenance is, from Hashem and not from our own efforts (though those are necessary), than Hashem will, hopefully, reward us with increased sustenance.

So on Tuesday we had the manna, on Shabbos we have the shira, and there is one more.

This shabbos there is the custom of feeding the birds with bread crumbs. The reason for this is two-fold, connected to the manna and connected to the shira.

One reason is because when Hashem first gave the manna, and on Friday the Jews were told to collect double portions as the manna would not fall on shabbos itself. When some decided to make trouble and put manna back out on Friday night so when everyone would wake up shabbos morning and see the manna outside they would think Moshe was wrong and it did fall on shabbos, the birds came to save the day. The birds came and ate the manna and the plot was foiled.

As thanks to them, this shabbos, on the portion of the giving of the manna, we put out bread for the birds.

The second connection is the birds speak in song. Song is considered the realm of birds. Ever hear the phrase "She sings like a bird"? So on this shabbos, when we use the tool of the birds, we sing the praise of Hashem for splitting the sea and saving us, we thank the birds for allowing us their tool, and we put out bread for them.

I remember growing up that we would put out the bread crumbs for the birds on shabbos. Only much later did I learn that many say that one should preferably put the bread out on Friday, as it is prohibited to feed wild birds on shabbos. One can only feed on shabbos pets that are in your own possession.

However, the custom still stands and some people say this is the exception. So some put the bread out on Friday, and some put the bread out on shabbos. If you wish to put out bread as per the custom and are unsure of what to do (Friday or shabbos), ask your local Rabbi for advice as to the best way of dealing with this custom.

Check out Rav Lazer Brody's blog, Lazer Beams, for a great story about Yossi the Cabbie...

And while you are at it, check out Neil's post on a lesson he learned in Walgrees about product placement

The above is a sign that was placed as an advertisement in local (Bet Shemesh) newspapers.

I do not speak much Yiddish, mostly just a few words here and there, and I understand a few more. I do not understand the sign above. it is supposed to be a response to the zealots. The man pictured (named Moshe Friedman) is one of the leading zealots in Bet Shemesh. He is responsible, in one form or another, for many of the violent activities that we all read about in the media, or suffer from if you actually live in Bet Shemesh.

It seems these guys have been trying to appoint a certain Rav in a new neighborhood of Bet Shemesh. The neighborhood in question is the Heftziba neighborhood - the one where the builder went belly up because of misusing the money collected from his buyers.

Other locals are against the appointment of this specific Rav, yet the zealots/fanatics/crazies have made their own appointment and have been trying to force the other residents of the neighborhood to live by their rules.

The response to that was the advertisement above, supposedly put out by local Ger Hassidim who oppose those fanatics and do not want to be dictated to.

It depicts the Friedman fellow as if he is the owner of a contact lens company. The bottom phrase of the ad says "A new outlook, a new life". I think that is what it says. If anyone can give a better translation of the yiddish phrase, please put it in the comments.

I am not sure how this "hits back at them". Is it because it makes it look like the Friedman guy works for a living, which would be disgraceful to him? is it suggesting that he obtain a new perspective and that will change his life?

I am not sure as to the nuance, and am looking for an explanation.

Dov Bear has some more details of who is who and how it is broken down.

Here is [part of] the press conference earlier today in which Avigdor Lieberman announced he is leaving the government coalition..

For further information please see http://devorahhanevia.com

May HaShem reward your efforts in Olam Haba, amen.

So Avigdor Lieberman did not take Olmert's bribe of the raid in Gaza... Good for him. The government still stands, but it is now in a more precarious position. Any one party to leave the coalition now will force new elections as the government would no longer have a majority.

Lieberman's departure leaves the coalition with a majority of 67 MKs. If Labor should leave (as they have promised to do upon the release of the final Winograd Report scheduled for January 30), or if Shas should leave, the government will fall.

This gives both of those parties a tremendous hold on Olmert. Shas already squeezed out of Olmert the Ministry of Religious Affairs, and they are expected to begin trying to squeeze more budget money (child allowances, yeshiva allowances, etc...) from Olmert who now cannot let them leave the government. I do not know what Labor is going to try to squeeze out of Olmert, but there will be something, as Barak has indicated he really does not want to leave the government, though he might have to because of his previous promise.

Shas, for its part, says it will not accept negotiations regarding Jerusalem, and when they happen, Shas will be out of the government within minutes.

What is their response when questioned about the fact that such negotiations are already, openly, taking place? They say these negotiations are not serious. When the negotiations get serious, that is when they will leave.

It is a little early for this post, but I felt like posting now...

Tu B'Shvat is coming. Next week. Next Tuesday to be precise.

I was wondering how Tu B'Shvat would be celebrated this year, due to the "inconvenience" of it being a shmitta year. Tu B'Shvat is the new year for the trees and is generally celebrated by planting new trees. This year that obviously causes a problem, as we are not allowed to plant new trees. So I was wondering what would happen.

I saw this notice on an email list, and it seems to present a nice solution, at leats in the spirit of Tu B'Shvat..:

Join Young Israel's Tu B'Shvat Virtual Tree Planting Campaign

Planting Trees in Israel on Tu B'Shvat During a Shmittah Year? What is one to do???

National Council of Young Israel, Council of Young Israel Rabbis in Israel, and Yisrael Hatzair – the Young Israel Movement in Israel, are pleased to announce a unique Tu B'Shvat campaign for this special Shmittah year - during which we are prohibited from planting trees in Eretz Yisrael.

Young Israel's Tu B'Shvat Virtual Tree Planting Tzedaka Campaign will collect funds for forests and green areas to be planted in the communities populated by Gush Katif Evacuees – immediately after the Shmittah year.

To "plant" a tree online for $18 USD (NIS 72) go to www.youngisraelrabbis.org.il and click on the "Shmittah" logo (or go directly to https://co.clickandpledge.com/sp/d1/default.aspx?
<https://co.clickandpledge.com/sp/d1/default.aspx?>
wid=17716 )

Donations are considered tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law in the United States and Israel. USA (501 (c)3) Tax ID #03-0381957 (Young Israel Programs - CYIR). Israel (Article 46) Tax ID#580162691 (Council of Young Israel Rabbis in Israel).

We are also pleased to announce the compilation of a virtual sourcebook for synagogues and individuals to utilize in their celebrations of Tu B'Shvat. The virtual sourcebook is meant to encourage synagogues and communities in North America and Israel to pay special attention to one of the very important but often overlooked new year's celebrations on the Jewish calendar.

One does not have to be associated with "Young Israel" to benefit from the Virtual Sourcebook. It will be available for download for all – free of charge.

To download the Young Israel Tu B'Shvat Virtual Sourcebook, click the following link: www.youngisraelrabbis.org.il/vsbk.htm

Those who for one reason or another cannot download the sourcebook can order a hard copy for $10 USD (NIS 40 in Israel) by contacting Young Israel: US/Canada: 212.929.1525 ext. 100; Israel: 02.625.4983 ext. 100; email: 15shvat@youngisraelrabbis.org.il <mailto:15shvat%40youngisraelrabbis.org.il>

Tu B'Shvat Sameach from all of us at Young Israel!

Council of Young Israel Rabbis in Israel

58 King George Street, Suite 109, Jerusalem 94262 ISRAEL

Tel: 02-625-4983 Fax: 02-623-0275

Email: info@youngisraelrabbis.org.il

<mailto:info%40youngisraelrabbis.org.il> Web:

www.youngisraelrabbis.org.il

National Council of Young Israel

111 John Street, Suite 450, New York, New York 10038

Tel: 212-929-1525 Fax: 212-727-9526

Email: ncyi@youngisrael.org <mailto:ncyi%40youngisrael.org> Web:

www.youngisrael.org

Yisrael Hatzair - The Young Israel Movement in Israel

58 King George Street, Suite 106, Jerusalem 94262 ISRAEL

Tel: 02-623-1361 Fax: 02-623-1363 Email: young-il@zahav.net.il <mailto:young-il%40zahav.net.il>

Sounds like a good solution to me.....

And because I am posting about Tu B'Shvat's imminent arrival already now, I am also going to post some Tu B'Shvat related entertainment...

Here is the classical Tu B'Shvat song:


Tu B'Shvat has also taken on a celebratory atmosphere in general with all sorts of celebrations and parties happening around Israel. Here is a clip from the party-like atmosphere at the shouk og Mahane Yehudah in Jerusalem:


And here is a clip of Tu B'Shvat rap put out by the JNF. These are the guys responsible for planting almost all the trees in Israel...:

Is Olmert extending his grip on the seat of the Prime Ministership by killing Palestinians?

Just yesterday Olmert announced that he still does not approve any incursion or action in Gaza.

Today Avigdor Lieberman was to meet (I think they are meeting now) with Olmert to discuss the government's diplomatic moves. Olmert and Livni are leading talks with the PA that include negotiations over the core issues of Jerusalem.

Yisrael Beiteinu, led by Avigdor Lieberman, has come out against these talks and announced that when the government begins talks on the "core issues" they will leave the coalition. Lieberman is against negotiating over the core issues, and especially right now - he says there are many things to be discussed before getting to the core issues, so to discuss them now is premature. He announced he would leave the government when such discussions take place.

These discussions are officially taking place now.

Lieberman, in anticipation of a possible announcement that he is leaving the government, is meeting with Olmert to clarify what is exactly being negotiated. Olmert is expected to try to convince Lieberman to stay in the coalition.

With Lieberman expected to announce his decision tonight, suddenly today Olmert approves an offensive in Gaza that has so far killed 17 Palestinians (as long as they continue shooting rockets at Israel, as long as they support a government of terror, as long as they continue to hold Gilad Shalit captive, I will say "phoot phoot phoot", "the more the merrier", "kein yirbu", etc.).

So has Olmert approved this attack in Gaza simply so he could come to Lieberman with something in his hand's? He can now say "Look at how I fight terror", so stay in the government. I will protect Israel's interests even though you are against these negotiations.

Is Olmert buying his stay in power on the blood of the Palestinians? hmmmm

This will, of course, be added to his purchase of power with the Shastitutes. Olmert created a new ministry, the Ministry of Religious Affairs, specifically to give to Shas so they would not abandon the government coalition. This was just approved yesterday.

Yitzchak Cohen, the MK from Shas who has been appointed the Minister of religious Affairs, claims that it was necessary to create the ministry just to give him the authority (that had been handled by him under the auspices of the Prime Minister's Office until now) so he could ensure proper payments of salaries to the Rabbis and mikva attendants and others who have not been paid for months.

Why he could not use the responsibility he had as running the department when it was under the PMO with his management, and only now that it is his ministry, I do not know.

But Olmert bought Shas by giving themthis ministry and all the budgets and jobs that come with it.

So he has now bought an extension of power by bribing Shas, and killing Palestinians for Lieberman.

Whatever it takes.

Kosher cell phones.

A recent study analyzing the penetration of kosher cell phones into the market found that among the Haredi consumer, they had achieved 60% penetration. I am not sure on the source of the numbers (how did they calculate the number of households and people considered Haredi for this study?), but they claim that 60% of Haredi people with cellphones have switched and are using the kosher cell phone rather than the regular phone.

To remind you, "kosher cell phone" is a type of phone that has every feature aside from regular phone calls disabled. There is no internet access, no emails, no sms, no camera, etc. Nothing but talk.

It seems that the success of the Haredi pressure to transferring to a kosher cell phone has encouraged them. They see the success and have now set their sites on increasing the percentage.

The Yated Ne'eman recently reported that an order has come from Rav Elyashiv to school administrators that schools in the Haredi school system should no longer accept any child whose parents use the regular cell phone and refuse to switch to the kosher model. By not switching to the kosher cell phone, "they have removed themselves from the Haredi society that has united in trying to abolish this plague [of regular cell phones]", and that should prevent them from joining our schools. Upon registration of children to schools, parents should be made to sign agreements that they do not use regular cell phones.

Actually I do not know if the decision will be today, but the court hearing for the status of the mehadrin bus lines is going to be today.

To remind you, after a number of instances in which violence was used to "enforce" the status of mehadrin buses, sometimes it was used even on non-mehadrin lines, a group of women led by Naomi Ragen and Miriam Shear filed suit to declare the mehadrin bus lines illegal as being discriminatory and promoting inequality among the sexes.

The hearing is set for today. I think they will come to a settlement of some sort, as the state will do everything in its power to not get involved in what many will call anti-religious activities, by canceling all mehadrin lines, which is really the only legal decision the courts can take.

If they get canceled, I will shed no tears. I have no problem with communities that so desire to establish such lines. The problem is when they over step their boundaries and try to force it on other people. They used violence and in the process shot themselves in the foot. So, they made their beds and now might have to end up sleeping in them.

We are waiting to see what the courts do...

I remember growing up in Chicago what the cold was like. On the really cold days, and especially when it was really windy, the ice cold chill would rip right through your bones. It did not matter how many layers of clothing you were wearing. If you were caught outside on one of those really cold days, such as the 10 below zero days with it being 20 below with the windchill factor, or the coldest day I remember when it hit -40 and was something like -80 with the windchill factor (I just did a google search and found the coldest day in Chicago history to be January 20 1985 when it hit -27 and was -93 with the windchill factor), you would feel it like ice running through your veins. People would die of hypothermia and lose fingers and toes to frostbite.

For the first time I can remember in the 17+ years I have lived in Israel I felt that Chicago cold in Israel. This weekend, from Thursday night through Shabbos, and it will continue through about Tuesday (though not quite as bad), Israel experienced sub-zero temperatures. It was really cold.

And if you think it was really cold in Bet Shemesh or Jerusalem, you should have been out trekking through the hills of the Shomron with me on Thursday night!! That was really cold! The Shomron is always cold at night. It is a high area and gets windy and cold. But in these sub-zero temperatures, it was like the old days in Chicago with the wind ripping through your bones, no matter how bundled up you were!

So what was I doing in the hills of the Shomron in sub-zero weather?

That leads us to the review of my latest Adventure in Eretz Yisrael..

At about 8:30 PM on Thursday night, Jameel calls me up on the phone. Whenever Jameel calls, you know something is up. He tells me that he just got word they are opening the village of [I could not catch the name of the village], and this is a place they only open to Jews once a year. In this village are the grave sites of Elazar and Isamar, 2 of the sons of Aharon Ha'Kohen, and the gravesite of the 70 elders. The buses would be leaving from "Bat Shalosh" at about 12 am and there was no need to pre-register.

We went over the directions quickly, and hung up. I called Jameel about 10:15 to go over the directions again, as I am not as familiar with the roads of the Shomron as he is. He tells me that he probably would not be going, but we went over the directions again.

So I head out to the Shomron. The trip was pretty smooth. Driving through the Shomron at night is a bit spooky, if you are not familiar with the roads. You drive through some Arab villages that straddle the "highway". You know that if you make a wrong turn you will end up on the morning news as the victim of a lynching. The signs "could be better", the lighting of the roads "could be better".

So I pass the Tapuach Junction, and Bat Shalosh is supposed to be a minute or two after that. I see two hassidic men hitchhiking on the side of the road. I figured they are probably going to the same place I am going, so I pulled over and offered them a ride.

They look at me and ask, in pure ivris, "Ata Misnachel?" - are you a settler? I said I am not but do they need a ride. They ask where I am going and I said to Shchem, to the kevarim (I said shchem just because it is the general area, but these graves are not in shchem, rather in a neighboring village). Their eyes get real wide and they say, Really? You are going to Shchem??"

So I explained that I am going near Shchem to the graves of Elazar, etc. They said forget it. They are tryign to get into Shchem and go to Kever Yosef. I said that is not open tonight, but these other ones are. they said they know but are trying to get in anyways. I said goodbye as I am not going there. I only go when it is open and secured.

So I get to Bat Shalosh and board the bus.

I still had no idea where I was going, so I asked someone on the bus. He told me the name of the village, and said that tradition, as brought in the midrash and the shulchan aruch, is that this shabbos would be the yahrtzeit of the zkeinim (elders) that are buried there. I do not know if it is the yahrtzeit of all 70, or just some of them. I also do not know if all 70 are buried there or just some of them.

So after some minor delays, we are finally off in the armored bus to the village of Avarta. Avarta is a village on the outskirts of Shchem (or Nablus in English). When I later told my brother (the mercenary soldier) where I was, he knew of the village and said "that is part of Balata". According to the map below, it is not really part of Balata, but the borders of these villages sometimes are unclear and Avarta is next to Balata, so at least in spirit it is part of Balata, even if in terms of municipal services it might not be.

Balata is known to be a hornet's nest for terrorists, and Avarta is no different. I think even most terrorists are afraid to go there!


The bus brings us in to the village and we arrive at the grave marker of Isamar ben Aharon Ha'Kohen.

They handed out sheets that had special prayers that were written to be said by these graves. Eveyone davened, from the sheets, general tehillim, personal prayers... After I davened, I was snapping some photos. It was dark and I was just snapping without really looking for something specific. One funny resulting photograph is the one below where it looks like this one guy smashed his face into a cream pie which splattered all over the grave marker. In reality he had simply just positioned himself there, over some grafitti, to daven...

From there we were told that the site of the elders is a just a few minutes walk away. So we start to head out in that direction. The soldiers stop us asking us where we are going. When we tell them we are walking to the zkeinim, they say we have to wait and we cannot go anywhere on our own. So, despite the fact that they had already secured the whole area, they sent a patrol of soldiers further down the street to make sure it was still clear, and then they escorted us. BTW, the soldiers were heavily, and I mean heavily, armed.
The site of the zkeinim was next to a small Arab cemetery. Their site was a structure, not a marker. I guess they were buried underneath it somewhere. We went in to the structure, which contained 2 small rooms and everyone davened. It was nice and warm in there, compared to the freezing cold outside, so people were reluctant to leave this one.. The walls were covered in soot, probably from having been burned by the locals. The soot though must have been old because it was hard on the walls, and was not coming off.

As I made my way towards the front of the rooms, towards where people were davening, I noticed some people were taking turns to bend down near the floor to lean on the entrance to what seemed like a cave. I took my turn and davened there for a moment, assuming that cave must be where the zkeinim were buried. I also snapped a couple of shots... (it looks like some remnants of a beer bottle are in there if you enlarge the photo)When they cleared us out of that area, they sent us on our way to the last site - the site of Elazar ben Aharon Ha'Kohen. This site was on the other side of the village and they made us go by bus. It took some time for the bus to weave through the small roads of the village. The bus could only go so far and we had to continue by foot. It was an unusual situation - we had to walk up the side of a mountain in the pitch black (and still freezing cold). We literally had to climb up gripping to rocks in the field, as this was near the top of the hill.


After davening for a bit, I noticed some people with steaming hot plates of food. I went to see what was happening and saw that someone had brought a big pot of cholent to warm up the visitors! I have no idea how he got this big pot of cholent there, but he did. He put it on some stones and lit a fire to keep it hot. he dished out hundreds of plates of cholent and gave people the energy to continue on for a bit longer.

Haveil Havalim 149.

George Bush visits Israel for the first time since becoming president, despite his being declared a "great friend of Israel".
George Bush (and Condoleeza Rice) have been pressuring Israel to make tremendous concessions to the Palestinians by way of releasing terrorists, providing guns, ammo, armored vehicles, dividing Jerusalem, freezing settlement construction even from natural growth, destroying settlements, etc. All this despite George Bush being the "greatest friend" Israel ever had in the White House. All this despite the political points we scored by disengaging from Gaza and getting the world on our side, supposedly.

Psalm 149 - "לַעֲשׂוֹת נְקָמָה, בַּגּוֹיִם; תּוֹכֵחוֹת, בַּלְאֻמִּים לֶאְסֹר מַלְכֵיהֶם בְּזִקִּים; וְנִכְבְּדֵיהֶם, בְּכַבְלֵי בַרְזֶל לַעֲשׂוֹת בָּהֶם,
"מִשְׁפָּט כָּתוּב and in English, "To execute vengeance upon the nations, and chastisements upon the peoples, To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron, To execute upon them the judgment written"

Kudos once again to Soccer Dad for founding Haveil Havalim. This is the 149th week running of this blog carnival, and I am pretty sure Soccer Dad has a surprise or two up his sleeve for the future.. It takes a lot of work managing and maintaining Haveil Havalim and the jblog world owes Soccer Dad a big "THANK YOU" for carrying it on his shoulders all this time..so here is a shout out to Soccer Dad!

And now on to the roundup....
Disclaimer: When going through this weeks submissions, I noticed that they are much more bent to the political this time than usual. I guess it makes sense due to the Bush visit and the flurry of diplomatic activity because of it...

Batya points out some Jewish heroines are being ignored...

Sholom, the Anarchist Rabbi, is stumping for Ron Paul. He writes in his typical crass style, but the post is good and well detailed..

The Anti-Racist blog is trying to make the Vilnius Jewish Library into a reality..

muse spent the day wandering around Shiloh and shares some pictures...

Yehuda from Jerusalem Games presents Four Lives and a Death

The Eye of the Storm blog points out that our problems do not begin with Bush...

Rabbi Sears wrote his guest post on A Simple Jews blog about the development of Breslov in America..

Schvach Yid points out who the odd man out is...

Sheyna is looking for a title for her book...

Heichal Hanegina points out the yahrtzeit of Reb Zusia, and brings a fascinating story...

Shira bat Sarah exposes the real Ghandi tradition..

Esser Agaroth talks about some posters welcoming Bush to Israel..

Daled Amos looks at who is funding the PA and what their goals are...

Elder of Ziyon points to all the elephants in the room. I wonder how much more space there can possibly be with so many elephants in one room!

Rubicon3 has a picture of what vandals did in a Jewish cemetery in new Jersey..

In Context is appalled by statements recently made by Condi Rice..

On the Fringe compiles some links on recent articles in her "On the Matzav" series...

Augean Stables gives a talk at the IDC about the Muhammed Dura situation and France2's part in it..

The Israel Satire Lab has this weeks best satirical posts relating to the Middle East...

Be'Er Mayim Chaim has some more stories for Reb Zusha's yahrtzeit...

Ha'azinah Tefillati is seeking a connection..

Yehudi condemns racism in the Orthodox world..

The Wolf was shocked to find out the truth about the ani maamins...

West Bank Mama writes a letter to President Bush..

The Jewish Worker continues his series of posts on the custom of "blei Gissen"...

The Big Felafel blog lets us know what the candidates, or at least some of them, were eating during the New Hampshire primaries...

The Shadchun blog has an old, but funny, joke...

On Her Own condemns racism in the Jewish world after finding out a friend of hers has a racist streak...

Sarah continues her Summer Series of images...

Batya has pictures of the Human Chain protest around Jerusalem..

IsraLuv is already thinking about Pesach and wishing her family did not eat gebrokdts..

RBS A News lets us know about the upcoming melave malka of an important tzedaka organization..

HalfNutCase wonders why women wear shabbos robes in public...

Oleh Musings says the price of patience is getting too high...

Modern Uberdox tries to explain why the yeshiva students of Novardok would humiliate themselves in public...

Akiva from Mystical Paths has recently made aliya. It has been even a greater pleasure to read his blog now than it was before, and it was always pleasurable.. Akiva has some pictures from around Yerushalayim in anticipation of Bush's arrival to the Holy City..

Little Frumhouse on the Prairie has some pictures of shul renovations of a couple of shuls in Chicago..

Miriam points out the similarity in the words used for two different things... hmmmm...

I discussed in Life in Israel a recent psak regarding seeing George Bush..

Lakewood Schmuck gives advice to George Bush...

Jacob DaJew remembers his grandfather upon reaching the 30th day since his passing...

JC from Israel Stories has got a cute story from a trip they took to the Kangaroo Park (Gangaroo) up near Beit She'an..

Getting Lippy suggests that Bush out to take a visit to Sderot for a bit and see their suffering and not be so worried about all the elegance and fanfare of the ceremonial stuff...

Conversations in Klal wonders how together husbands and wives really are...and counts the actual hours..

Circus Tent remembers Rav Shmuel Birenbaum upon his recent passing...

Hochmah and Mussar talks about the rap music he used to listen to...

flatbushgal calls out the people who are "frummer than thou"..

MizEllie has a funny story from a car show..

Bad for Shidduchim describes some of the various methods used in predicting engagements...

Leora describes the experience of going to meet her brother on an arriving Nefesh B'Nefesh flight to Israel...

Cosmic X has a message for President Bush..

Ben-Yehuda is looking for a job... and posts a lot of resources for others looking... you can get his resume from a link there and see if you know anything available for him...

Raizy tells it like it is...

Batya posted Caption Contest #2.. go see a weird picture and caption it... I am still wondering what the prize is for the winner...

JoeSettler sends a letter to Osama Bin Laden on behalf of Israeli diplomacy and peace...

If you were ever wondering who the first meshulah to be sent to the US knocking on doors was, you will want to see Lion of Zion's post with that information...

Am Kshe Oref comments on the USA installing terrorist governments around the world...

Jameel at The Muqata shows himself to be the warrior we all thought he was, as he gets into a confrontation with the enemy...

Lazer Beams has a short video excerpt of a shiur on kiruv with parents...

hubscubs has another sports metaphor for life...

Mr. Bagel's blog has been on vacation for about two months while the Bagel family moved to a new hole. Mr. Bagel is back now. Welcome back Mr. Bagel.

YidWithLid says Bush is back to his pre-9/11 style..

Shira roundsup the comments on Gil's post regarding R' Horowitz's recent article...

Jack's got a collection of the worst album covers ever...

The Jewish Current Issues blog brings Natan Sharansky's speech from under his daughter's huppa last week. Absolutely a must-read.

Israel Matzav has a photo-essay of the IDF raiding Nablus (Shchem) and finding hidden caches of weapons - all this after we were told how the PA Police has taken control and secured Nablus... hmmmmm

DafNotes offers a number of different explanations to the question about how Yaakov could have been intimate with Leah on their wedding night, and that the resulting child (Reuven) should have been born degenerate...

Yid With Lid claims Condi told the Jews to drop dead when she commented on the status of East Jerusalem...

It's Almost Supernatural comments on the phenomenon of black African soccer players going to play in Israel for Israeli teams...

A Simple Jew made some interesting discoveries while exploring Google...

Israel Matzav proves Olmert is a charlatan... in the literal sense of the word..

Snapped Shot brings Reuter's correction to the caption of a photograph with Olmert and Condoleeza Rice. The correction they were quick to publish was having originally captioned it with the location "Jerusalem, Israel", they corrected it by removing the "Israel".

Meryl Yourish talks about Ms. Magazine refusing to publish an ad about 3 powerful Israeli women..

Jack wrote this post to explain to his 94 year old grandfather what a blog is. We are hoping his grandfather actually does start blogging!!

Yisrael Medad caught a recent slip-up made by a CNN reporter when Bush was coming off the plane in Israel. CNN actually got it right for once!! I guess it would be called a Freudian slip!!

Dixie Yid met with the Sudilkover Rebbe and relates a story about being Jewish the Rebbe told over to him at their meeting ...

Yisrael wrote a letter to the NY Times complaining about some editing they did regarding a picture from when Bush came to Israel..

Lion of Zion actually submitted this post - I am not sure he has ever submitted to HH before, though he has been featured a number of times - about his sukkot experience in Teaneck.

Keili Ata talks about an example of Pro Palesitinian hatred...

Barbara says that now is the time for the Prime Minister to be blunt with Bush...

Life of Rubin reviews some of the history and the evolution of Jewish music..

Lemon Lime Moon talks about real love and being kind to other people..

Irina marks the 40th anniversary of the Soviet Jewry movement by going to a reception..

Soccer Dad roundsup the various comments and adds his own on the controversy caused by Arun Gandhi's comments about Israel...

A Mother in Israel has some housekeeping tips for us...

Shifra says (actually her dad said it) the vandalism at the cemetery happened because the dead don't fight back. Cowards!

AidelKnaidel has a shidduch problem because of her father, and she is at a loss what to do about it..

How to Measure the Years just went home for vacation..

Baila used to have a cleaning lady, now she is her own cleaning lady, and doesn't want you to drop in on Wednesdays, because it is not a pretty sight!...

A Soldier's Mother describes her sons week in the army and says she is doing the worrying for him...

The Rabbanut of Israel recently updated their policy about providing kashrus supervision when there are other, unreliable, kashrus organizations being used in the same restaurant...

Rav Elyashiv recently spoke out on the issue of "shmitta l'kula" (or "lenient shmitta observance") a.k.a. reliance on the hetter mechira.

Rav Elyashiv said, "There is no such thing as shmitta l'kula and no such thing as shmitta l'chumroh. Shmitta is halacha. You are either keeping shmitta, or you are not keeping shmitta and transgressing the prohibitions. there is no other option.

Rav Elyashiv said that the fact that shmitta is only rabbinic today is not a reason to be lenient. He compared it to cooking and eating chicken and milk together. That, too, is only rabbinically prohibited, yet would you give a hechsher to a restaurant that was "lenient" and cooked chicken with milk?? would you eat it?

Rav Elyashiv holds the hetter mechira is no longer an issue of debate. It was a hetter that was used and is no longer relevant. It is no longer a hetter and no longer a leniency - it is prohibited.

According to Rav Elyashiv, if you were to cook produce from hetter mechira in your pots, you would have to kasher your pots, as hetter mechira is like chicken and milk and it would render your pots unkosher.