Haveil Havalim

Hi folks,

I am Jack and I am the admin for Haveil Havalim, the blog carnival of our community. Now that the dust has settled somewhat from the conference I wanted to take a moment to promote H.H. again.

If you are unfamilar a blog carnival is a sort of blog event in which a series of posts are highlighted/promoted about a particular topic. In respect to Haveil Havalim it is a weekly event that is hosted on various blogs within the JBlogosphere.

Each week the host serves a variety of different posts that deal with Israel, Judaism, Torah, Culture, Politics and Personal. If you are new to the JBlogosphere or interested in finding out what is going on it is a great way to gain some insight.

It is also a fantastic way to gain more exposure for your blog and to learn about other blogs that you might find to be of interest. One of the things that I like about it is that it is inclusive and not exclusive. It is one of the few places in the world where you will find all Jews interacting with each other.

Blogging has enriched my life and I have made some good friends through it that I probably never would have met otherwise. H.H. has been a valuable part of it.

I’d like to encourage you all to participate in it. Even if you choose not to host you can always submit posts. The best way to do so is through the Blog Carnival form. Please remember that we ask that you submit no more than three posts at a time.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at my blog or via email talktojacknow-at-sbcglobal-dot-net.

For a list of past editions of H.H. please click here.

Crossposted at The Muqata.

You can find the latest edition of Haveil Havalim right here. And for those who are lazy, here are links to a number of the most recent editions.

Aug 17, 2008	Rechovot: A Place to Expand
Aug 09, 2008	SimplyJews

Aug 02, 2008
Little Frumhouse on the Prairie
Jul 27, 2008
Frume Sarah’s World
Jul 20, 2008
Esser Agaroth
Jul 05, 2008
Daled Amos
Jun 29, 2008
Ima on (and off) the Bimah
Jun 22, 2008
Soccer Dad
Jun 15, 2008
Writes Like She Talks
Jun 08, 2008
Random thoughts
Jun 01, 2008
Frum Satire
May 25, 2008
Frume Sarah’s World
May 18, 2008
Ima on (and off) the Bimah
May 11, 2008
Random thoughts

Many of you know that I was supposed to attend the Nefesh B’Nefesh International Jewish Bloggers Conference in Jerusalem. Unfortunately due to circumstances beyond my control I was forced to back out at the last minute, and I do mean the last minute.

Much has been written about the conference. Jewlicious has a roundup of the roundup that is worth taking a look at. I may provide my own feedback in a separate post, but for now I’d like to focus on a few comments made by Rabbi Gil Student of the Hirhurim blog.

I don’t have a clear transcript so this is going off of what was seen in the feed, which means it may be off a bit.

The good rabbi said that he does not like Haveil Havalim because he is uncomfortable with some of what is presented within. Presumably he doesn’t want to appear to be endorsing positions that he disagrees with

For those who are unfamiliar, Haveil Havalim is the Jewish/Israeli Blog carnival. It is a weekly roundup of posts from the Jewish/Israeli Blogosphere. I am the administrator for said carnival, having taken over the post from the founder Soccer Dad. You can find recent examples of Haveil Havalim by clicking here.

That is not entirely unreasonable. One shouldn’t be forced to pretend to agree with positions that he/she finds disagreeable, especially if you are looking at issues that are not classified as being benign.

So you might ask what the official position is for submissions to Haveil Havalim. That is simple. If it is anti-semitic or anti-Israel it is banned. The hosts have latitude to ban submissions that fall into these categories and frankly can bounce other posts that they find to be offensive.

However I strongly encourage them to construct a carnival that is not limited solely to their own perspective. Legitimate criticism of Israel is welcome also welcome, provided that it is legitimate.

While I respect Rav Student’s belief, I have a problem with his boycott. Maybe it is because I am a believer in the Marketplace of Ideas or maybe it is because I have long enjoyed challenging my own. But I think that it is a mistake on his part to do this.

If your beliefs are strong and based upon logical and rational thought then they should hold up to being challenged. They shouldn’t just crumble because you see/hear an opposing view. Much as I hate to admit this, I learned long ago that I am not always right. I am wrong more often than I’d like to admit.

The second part of my disagreement with him is based upon his assertion that we are not part of a community. I disagree. We’re part of the JBlogosphere, we are all Jews. Now I won’t get into a discussion about Halacha or how we should act as Jews. That is a separate discussion that will never end.

I suppose that one could try and define the Jblogosphere a bit. We could spend more time trying to determine what you have to blog about to be a member. Maybe it is as simple as saying that if you sometimes blog about being Jewish and or Israel you’re part of it.

I don’t know, have to think about it.

But if you’ll forgive me for sounding like a fearmonger, this I am sure of. The people who hate Jews will not distinguish between those who are Torah observant and those who aren’t. It doesn’t matter if you are an FFB who fell off of the derech, a BT, a ger, Conservative, Reform, whatever. Jewish blood is Jewish blood and those who hate us do not discriminate based upon how we think of ourselves.

It is time to enjoy another edition of our weekly carnival. Come read Haveil Havalim #178 – The Tu b’Av Edition.

Snoopy has done a very job with Haveil Havalim #177 – Tisha B’Av Edition. Don’t forget to check out past editions here, or use the list below to see some of the work our fine hosts have done.

Aug 02, 2008
Little Frumhouse on the Prairie
Jul 27, 2008
Frume Sarah’s World
Jul 20, 2008
Esser Agaroth
Jul 05, 2008
Daled Amos
Jun 29, 2008
Ima on (and off) the Bimah
Jun 22, 2008
Soccer Dad
Jun 15, 2008
Writes Like She Talks
Jun 08, 2008
Random thoughts
Jun 01, 2008
Frum Satire
May 25, 2008
Frume Sarah’s World
May 18, 2008
Ima on (and off) the Bimah
May 11, 2008
Random thoughts

Don’t just stand there, go check it out. Haveil Havalim #176 – The Dirty Laundry Edition