MM hearts Haveil Havalim #198

How on earth do I do HH justice if I have to follow Jewlicious' awesome commentary from last week? Luckily, I only have to be on time! (Just kiddding Jewlicious - I promise never to babysit your offspring - ever)

So where do I start?

How about with something female-related? (This is MM after all)
Shorty and her Adventure bring up the whole Kol Isha issue in a post aptly titled "Kol Isha - are you kidding me?". I have to say, she brings up some very good arguments. Why shouldn't a woman be able to be seen and heard if she so chooses? Although, you can't deny that someone like Leona Lewis doesn't make you believe in love. But then, same is true about Robin Thicke (despite the name, he is a guy).

Want to pee in your pants?
You might after reading Schvach's the Top 10 Reasons Why Israeli Men Piss in Public Unfortunately I've seen this with my very own MM eyes - so it was kinda nice to know the reasons behind it!
Schvach also has a post about Ladino singer Sarah Aroeste which is worth a read. Didn't know people still spoke Ladino!

Muse talks about embarassing her children with her fannypack. I think I'm on her kids' side with this one!

Yechezkel talks about the Madoff scandal (well, who isn't) in The Largest Ponzi Scheme in History. He also has a great article entitled The Richest Man in the Cemetery about those who don't give charity.

Chanukah Chanukah Chanukah

Can You Feel It, Baby? IT'S CHANUKKAH! is a pretty funny video of comedian Benji Lovitt talking to people on the streets of Jersualem over at What War Zone???.

I know that by the time you read this, Chanukah will probably already be over!
But to get you in the mood for next year, Rickismom at Beneath the Wings has an inspiring slideshow presentation on Chanukah -Lights of Freedom and Hope.

If you missed out on seeing Matisyahu in concert this Chanukah, check out Mottel's Festival of Light: A Photo Essay posted at Letters of Thought.

See what a McD's Chanukah Happy Meal would look like, brought to you by Soccer Dad.

Elisson espouses the virtues of real Chanukah music, such as Ma-oz Tzur in CHANUKAH ROCK. He may think the Dreidel song doesn't deserve respect - but has he heard the Baron Cohen version?

The Velveteen Rabbi gives a great academic-style dvar torah on Mai Chanukah? - What is Chanukah?.

Dan at Torat HaRav Aviner has a great article about how It is Lucky that Yehudah the Maccabee Did Not Ask... politicians or military advisors or rabbis, etc for help. In those days, if you believed in something, you stood up for it. No questions asked. No need for wasting time - which is the way politics seems to be handled today. He also has a really interesting article on Halachot of the Army for Chanukah in case any of you are planning on making aliyah! (or maybe you're already there? then reading this should come in handy)

And if you want to get really deep, read Chanukah, Plato, and a Bus-ride posted at Tzipiyah.com. The article talks about how seemingly, Chanukah "is most out of place in today’s liberalist, post-modern western society" (according to Rabbi Kahane, z"l). Interesting theory. Definitely worth a read.

Another deep read is at Freedom's Cost, where Chaim writes about The Ongoing Fight Against the Hellenists. When will it be over?

Want more?

At Tikkun Olam, Lady Light wishes they had latkes in Israel. Are you sure there are no latkes in Israel? Maybe she should read Cooking with Ricky, or the Inexact Recipe posted at Beneath the Wings and make her own!

Over at Manely Montana you can get a recipe for sweet potato latkes and read a pretty good list of 'light humor' - funny life laws of Jewish Theology. You know you're in for a treat when the list starts off with "Never take a front-row seat at a bris." Get it all at Lightening up Channukah .

We all probably know about the version that mentions a partridge in a pear tree, but The Real Shliach changes it up with his version of the Twelve nights of Chanuka.

X-mas
(I know, THIS gets its own category on a Jewish blog carnival?? But I didn't want to group these with the Chanukah posts, so here goes!)

JackB at Random Thoughts- Do They Have Meaning? makes the following anti-goy remark: I Hate Christmas.

Heshy at Frum Satire presents his thoughts on Christmas in a post titled "Christmas Thoughts". Like always, Heshy delivers.

Israel Israel Israel

Batya of Shiloh Musings sent me a few good posts worth mentioning. She had some Guests From The BBC and talks about giving them so good ol' Israeli hospitality - and is even interviewed where she gets to be Blunt on the BBC.

Her husband, Yisrael Medad, describes the same experience at My Right Word. He also writes about A Verbally Violent Churchman, Tsk-tsk and how the WashPost Really Dumb.

In Batya's post Polish Jewry at The Begin Center, she gets less personal, talking about a photo exhibition on Krakow at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center.

In Mission: Attitude Adjustment, posted at Ki Yachol Nuchal!, Ruti writes about how Israelis, and really all of us, have a sort of "worry" room in our brains where we put all of our concerns and everything we don't want to deal with. I think that one of Hashem's greatest gifts to us is our ability to forget. Don't believe me? See my Bubbie, a holocaust survivor, for proof.

Over at The Israel Situation read about how an Israeli feels about Sending our Children to War. And at A Soldier's Mother, a woman whose child is currently in the army, discusses the significance of Where You Light a Candle, as she hopes that her son has been able to light in the army.
Thank goodness I never put my parents through that kind of situation. But who knows if it will happen to me?

Want all the latest Religion & State news from Israel? Well then here is Religion and State in Israel - December 22, 2008 Section 1 and Section 2. It's a pretty interesting mix of articles by a variety of writers on diverse topics. (i just used three synonyms for 'different')

Ben-Yehudah at Esser Agaroth writes about the Jewish Reality of Israeli politics today. I would probably understand his point more if I actually knew anything about or cared about the subject.

The Rebbetzin's Husband presents A Modest Proposal for an EcoRabbinate and Is "Wish me luck, I'll need it" a winning Israeli political slogan?. Like I said, I wish I cared about Israeli politics. But it seems so corrupt, I'd rather not get my hands dirty trying to wrap my mind around it all.

Daled Amos has a few interesting news editorial-style articles: More "Youth Riots"--This time in Sweden, Shai Agassi And Electric Cars--Maybe Not A Pipedream and It's Hopeless.

Over at Seraphic Secret, Iranian President Imadinnerjacket's Christmas Message is discussed. Why he gave a Christmas message, I'm not so sure. Seraphic sounds pretty angry in this post. But maybe, he has a point!

A cause you should care about

Also at Torat HaRav Aviner read about the need to Free Pollard Now. For some of us, it might seem like too passé to talk about again. But when a Jewish guy has to sit in jail for over 23 years, maybe we should take notice.


Alright - that's all folks. Hope you enjoyed the MM edition of HH!

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