Haveil Havalim #202- The Superhero Edition

It's a bird, it's a plane it's... Haveil Havalim: The Superhero Edition!!!

(Nu, what did you think I was gonna call it?)

This edition of HH is dedicated to the bravest superheroes in the world: the men and women of the Israeli Defense Forces. Forget comic book heroes- these guys are the real deal.

HH is a weekly collection of posts from around the J-Blogosphere. It was founded by SoccerDad and is now coordinated by Jack. It is a terrific way to keep up to date on what's going on in Israel and the Jewish world.

And away we go...

ISRAEL/GAZA
First of all, we all owe a huge shoutout to the liveblogging superheroes of the Muqata and Israellycool, who sacrificed sleep, sanity, and the patience of their loved ones to bring us the most accurate, updated, round the clock news of the war in Gaza. Ditto to Jack, who tirelessly organized articles and posts into twice daily "War in Gaza Updates" that allowed us to keep informed and spread the word that the soldiers of the IDF are not the villains that the world makes them out to be. (You guys can take a nap now- you've totally earned it.)

SoccerDad presents Declaring Victory From A Rat Hole .

Doubletapper, who was away on active reserve duty, posted pictures from the front: http://doubletapper.blogspot.com/ (keep scrolling down on his site to view all the pictures).
Seraphic Secret brings us a terrific clip of British Col. Richard Kemp telling the BBC that "Israel doesn't have any choice apart from to defend its own people" and that "I don't think there has ever been a time in the history of warfare when any army has made more efforts to reduce civilian casualties and the deaths of innocent people than the IDF is doing today in Gaza." (If only our own hasbara people would defend the IDF as eloquently as Kemp has done!) You must see this video.

Shiloh Musings presents The Government's Statement re: Unilateral Ceasefire.

The Velveteen Rabbi offers The Gaza war: so many worlds destroyed.

Duckrabbit chimes in with they throw on us tilim, so we come with metosim / but remember who started to shoot on ezrachim!

Joel Katz of Religion and State in Israel emphasizes the indispensible role that religion plays in the IDF.

Occidental Israeli tells us that Things Never Really Change.

West Bank Mama is interested in how olim chadashim felt during the war in Gaza. She is issuing A Call For Posts from Olim Chadashim.

Herb Keinon of the Jerusalem Post recounts his immeasurable relief as his son returns safely from Gaza in A Father's Story Of His Son At War.

Esser Agaroth wonders if there will be a February Surprise and has a suggestion for CNN: "10 Things To Say To Keep The Peace".

My Right Word offers Mitchell: A Miffed Maneuver of U.S. Aggression and Red Hot In Ramallah.

Parshablog asks Did Rav Eliyahu Confirm The Miracle of Rachel Imeinu in Gaza? (his answer: "Snort. He did no such thing.")

Judeopundit notes his disgust in Juan The Abolitionist.

Lion of Zion tells us that a Pregnant Soldierette Fights Hamas.
ISRAEL (LIFE AND POLITICS)

Mrs. S. of Our Shiputzim has a series of posts about Heblish, the weird mixture of Hebrew and English that so many native English speakers adopt while living in Israel. Her (very funny) latest is Heblish: multi-dialectical edition.

Israel Chronicles offers some much-needed guidelines for people who ask others to shlep stuff to Israel for them in Can You Take Something? Please?

Jacob Richman has launched a terrific new website designed to help people learn Hebrew. Check out http://www.my-hebrew-dictionary.com/ or see his blog at Good News From Israel.

Is Muammar Qadaffi defending Israel's right to exist? Baila is surprised (who can blame her?) at Hey, I don't make the news; I just report it.

My Right Word tells of the shooting of Moshe Avitan in Condi Had "Indirect" Responsibility For This Shooting and Me-ander offers us an update on his condition.

Daled Amos tells us that George Mitchell Draws The Wrong Comparisons Between Ireland And Israel.

JUDAISM (Torah, Halacha, and Hashkafa)

Lion of Zion offers us some Points On Leining Shemot and When A Mehaber Is Really A Mafsik.
Elliot of Weekend Hospitality addresses an important halachic issue in The Dark Side of Organ Transplants.

A Mother in Israel provides us with an exclusive: The Official Haredi Guide To Modest Necklines.

A Simple Jew asks: "How are we supposed to honestly regard the suffering and difficulties we experience in a positive light and experience them as such?" See Dixie Yid's answer at Bitter Tasting Medicine.

Samson Blinded presents some pretty controversial opinions in The Phoenix of Judaism.

Chabad Lubavitch mourns the passing of Rabbi David Hollander in Oldest Full-Time Pulpit Rabbi Passes Away.

JEWISH LIFE Shimshonit presents a terrific post In Praise of the Jewish Diaspora.
West Bank Mama's young son learns the true meaning of "becoming a man" in Lessons in Jewish Manhood. Drew Kaplan discusses that sacred Jewish institution, the Shabbos nap, in Thank God For Sleeping On Shabbos. Conversations in Klal feels that "some of our young men and women, the ones still in their teens and very early twenties, are not getting married because they don't want to be married." Her commenters enthusiastically agree in Some Plain Speaking. Serandez examines the lack of financial transparency in Jewish schools in Transparency and Punishing Success.

ANTI-SEMITISM Daled Amos presents Welcome To C-Span- And Thank You For Slandering Jews! Lady-Light responds to the world's anti-semitic condemnation of Israel in Anti-Semitism, Martin Luther King, and Julie Burchill.

PERSONAL
Our thoughts go out to Elie on his son Aaron's birthday z"l. Congratulations to Baila on her 200th post, and a very happy birthday to her beautiful dog Ozzy! Jack shares some thoughts about writing (and grandfathers) in The Professional Blogger. Sporadic Intelligence has a few words to say about our perceptions of beauty in Men vs. Women: The Last Degradation. Shtetl Fabulous asks "Why did we get so obsessed with the landing of US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River? Maybe because things have gotten so bad we need any bit of good news we can get." Check out Miracle on the Hudson. Beneath The Wings opens our eyes to the importance of respecting the personal dignity of people with special needs in A Three-Post Day: Perceptions. Also see Rabbi Shimon Ben Shatach And My Daughter, the (Petty) Thief. The Rebbetzin's Husband discusses the assumption that being a small-town Rabbi is not sufficiently challenging in The Hick Rabbi And The Metrorabbi. According to Frum In The City, the Superbowl is going to be geshmack. Check out Superbowl Mania In Yeshiva And In All The Hayligah Moisdois. The Real Shliach tells us about his smicha test in Tov Tov Lehodos!Whether you like it or not, America's got a new president! J-bloggers reflect on the inauguration of Barack Obama in: Ima on the Bima's Making History Today, What War Zone's Live Blogging The Obama Inauguration: Who Had 12:48 PM In The Shema Pool?, On Obama And Our New American Lexicon at Letters Of Thought, Moshe, Obama, And The Cult Of Personality at The Rebbetzin's Husband, Daled Amos' On Israel, Obama Is Against Using The T-Word--And In Favor Of The Saudi Plan After All and my own Inauguration Day and Once Again Now, With Feeling.

ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY Carol Feldman offers us a beautiful rendition of Tel Aviv at night with EspressoBarKiosk. Shiloh Musings reminds us that Eilat is also Eretz Yisrael. Leora shows us the majesty of the sycamore tree here and here.
Joe Flix Daily posts one fabulous picture after another. Wolfish Musings presents Floral Macro: How Close Can You Get?

HUMOR
Shvach Yid shows us the lighter side of a sneeze in Gesundheit. Mike in Midwood offers And Where is the Messiah? Find out What Men Look For In A Prospective Shidduch at Not Just Typical. A Time of The Signs zeroes in on a lighthearted help-wanted ad in Pretty Upbeat Pizza.

Hope you enjoyed the roundup! Please let your readers know that this edition is up. Next week's edition is being hosted by Ima On (and off) The Bima. To submit your post, use this form.

Be sure to check out the latest edition of the delicious Kosher Cooking Carnival, debuting today at Ilana Davita's.