And I'm not the only one...

Just after I published the quick post about my stand on the Matzav below, I did what I've been doing since the first announcement of Israel's Gaza campaign: move through every J-blog I have on favorites, and then click links like a mad woman to get as much info as possible.

How could I have forgotten to link to some of the wonderful bloggers who are making my up-to-dateness possible?

First, Leah shares that she, too, is standing with Israel...admittedly, last Friday well before I made that statement. Amazing how these things come together!

Second, this week's HH was hosted at Ima's blog...appropriately titled "The We Can't Stop Twittering/Blogging/Reading/Worrying/Watching/What's Going On in Israel Right Now Edition.... or....The Stuck To My BlackBerry Like Glue Edition.... "

A huge feature on Haveil Havalim is the blog of Jack, where he has posted myriad roundups and updates on the Gaza offensive...an excellent resource for information. (That's 16 links from "roundups" on...as I said, truly a wealth of information).

With all the blogging going on, of course there are what Jack politely terms "the opposition." Frume Sarah received a trollish comment, but rather than simply deleting she went one better...she answered him/her, point for point.

And my favorite blog, to which I have returned again and again. This woman speaks with poignancy about her son Elie, who serves in the IDF artillery. She calls herself simply, A Soldier's Mother.

Please check all of these links and follow up...Israel is not a terrorist state, she's a state under fire, acting as humanely as possible given the circumstances.

Thank you to all the bloggers who have made this possible, those listed, and those they link. Shalom.

A Smattering of My Day

There are several thoughts brewing right now, none of which seems worthy of a full post. Thus we have another smorgasbord post.

To begin, I have been on a procrastination binge of blog-reading. I find the more I click links, the deeper I fall into the rabbit hole which is the J-blogosphere. I'm sure that other religions, and non-religious folks, for that matter, blog. I'm not so sure they must have each other linked in a spiraling web that leads inexorably to the deep discussions of religious minutiae that J-blogs do. I unfailingly find myself shaking my head, wondering if any of this will ever make sense, but the more I read, the more I find myself understanding. I might also note that Wikipedia is a girl's best friend sometimes. ;) As one poster of note stated, I'm "no Maimonides."

On another note, I bought a box of matzos the other week. Of course they were not kosher l'pesach, but since we've moved well beyond that point I could breathe a sigh of relief. Interestingly, my son and I are becoming addicted to matzos. He chose them over cheese crackers a couple days ago and any parent of a toddler knows that's well nigh a miracle. It must be the salt, the crispness, the slightly burnt edges...yum!

I'm reading the book Exodus by Leon Uris. I already watched the movie starring Paul Newman as Ari Ben Canaan (and may I say, he doesn't strike me as the Ari I would have pictured by reading the novel first?). The book is a bit different from the movie, if you haven't read one and seen the other. In all honesty I prefer the book. It's more realistic in the sense that the movie forces some characters to take on roles played by several people in the book. Not only that, but the book allows for more to play out, better development of characters, and is able to push beyond the declaration of statehood into the fight to hold the land. I may have to compose another post on Israel and its creation, because it simply astounds me.

I believe I'll save my final topic for a full blown post as well. Remind me about history, Aryan guilt, and the presumptuousness of fear. I may need to think it through more fully to do it anything near justice, but I'll try.

Free Rice...Play!

I was reading archived blogs (yes, I am that bored...and procrastinating as well), and found the link to Free Rice on Tamara Eden's blog. A friend had turned me onto this site because she and I are freaks of nature who enjoyed English class, and she wanted to test my vocab skills.

Well, I have skills, how about you? Test your vocab skills at the site above, and feed hungry people as well. It's free, it's entertaining, it's a learning opportunity, and it's a mitzvah! What could be better?

Who pays for the donated rice?The rice is paid for by the advertisers whose names you see on the bottom of your vocabulary screen. This is regular advertising for these companies, but it is also something more. Through their advertising at FreeRice, these companies support both learning (free vocabulary for everyone) and reducing hunger (free rice for the hungry). We commend these companies for their participation at FreeRice.

If FreeRice has the rice to give, why not give it all away right now?FreeRice is not sitting on a pile of rice―you are earning it 20 grains at a time. Here is how it works. When you play the game, advertisements appear on the bottom of your screen. The money generated by these advertisements is then used to buy the rice. So by playing, you generate the money that pays for the rice donated to hungry people.

Does FreeRice make any money from this?
No, it does not. FreeRice runs the site at no profit.

(From FreeRICE's FAQs.)

More time equals more blog reading!

This blog is a bit of a departure from my normal religious meanderings, but I'm not in the mood to try to unravel more threads today. Thus I'm going to blog a little boring piece about Jblogs (ie, Jewish blogs).

My darling dear is currently away for training, which leaves me with more time to myself after the children are put to bed, or while they're playing peacefully. Although I miss him dreadfully, I put this time to good use (*snicker*) by catching up on my reading. There are quite a few JBC blogs I enjoy, as well as some JBB blogs. The more I read, the more I find linked together...and I'm simply amazed! Is the blogging world so small, that everyone is inter-connected? Or perhaps it's the J-blogosphere that is small...although we should all realize by now that it's truly a small world, after all. :D

Right now I'm enjoying starting one by one, and reading from the farthest archive forward. It's almost like reading a novel, albeit a Faulknerian novel with many turns for stream-of-consciousness.