Holy Hat-tip, Batman!

This blog is slightly over a year old, and it was only roughly a month ago that I was celebrating my one year blogaversary. Then the war broke out...and I had this compelling feeling that I needed to liveblog the war. I don't know what came over me, but the day the war started -- I instantly knew that liveblogging the war would help connect people to what was going on here.

I had no clue that today I would already be breaking 100,000 visitors to my blog since it's inception.

There are many stories I still need to tell, op/ed pieces that must be written, and encounters you need to hear about -- yet the war has put much of that on the back burner, and for that, I apologize. This blog was never meant to be a news aggregator roundup, just a fun, compelling blog about Israel with some extra slice of life stories thrown in.

I'd like to thank the Litvishe blogger for his invaluable help in keeping the blog going when I was on milluim/up north/or taking some time off. (He also introduced me to blogging in the first place). His breaking news story yesterday about the second doctored Reuters photo was a major milestone in this blog's placement in the blogosphere. Thanks to him, we received hat-tip's from all over the planet....

Once in a while, I browse through some other blogs, and think back to a month ago, when my blog was more care-free. There were so many fun ideas to explore (was it only a month ago, when the first muqata comment-festival started and I got locked out of my own blog?!), and there was a top-secret project I was working on with Ezzie, which has been shelved due to the war. I was so looking forward to writing about Tu B'Av -- the 15th day of Av -- which was always a "good" day for Israel and the Jewish people.

Hopefully, I'll get to some of that soon...I haven't forgotten.

I'd like to personally thank all of you who have written encouraging emails, and didn't receive a reply. I've been getting so much email that Ive been bad about personally replying...and I'm sorry if you haven't received a reply. (You can send me a reminder, and I'll try harder to get back to you).

Thanks again for your continued support and interest -- a Happy Tu b'Av to all of Israel.

Lehitraot - Chazak vEmatz,

Jameel.

PS: I just had to add this. Growing up, my parents never, NEVER let me watch Batman on our tiny 12 inch black and white TV. Never. It was just one of those shows a good Jewish boy shouldn't watch (or so I was told). So what did I do? Obviously, I would watch Batman down the block by my good friend...the rabbi's son. His parents didn't have a problem with the evil TV show... And what do I have to show for myself? Blog titles...hmm...maybe I shouldn't have watched it after all.

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael