Muqata Report: Milestones (the year in review)

Muqata Report: Milestones (the year in review)

Last September I was still wallowing in my misery of the Disengagement. While going back through the blog, I found that most of the picture links I had up then are "gone"...how appropriate. For next year, I hope to load them into blogger (since I have most of them saved) -- some of them were really good. Looking for decent postings from last year...I found some decent posts I worked on.

Sukkot Neurosis -- how the mitzva of Lulav and Etrog makes me crazy.

Our "Cool Jew Blue" family trip to the Dor beach in search of the murex trunculus snail for making Tekhelet.

I thought this picture had a good potential for a posting which depicts an average day at the Knesset. Since I love pictures and painting of Hevron, Shechem, and Yerushalayim (or most pictures around Israel) -- they inspired this posting (which has some great pictures in it)

Who can remember before the summer war? Even back in November, when our politicians were busy ignoring Hizbolla...there was a terrorist infiltration into Rajar on the border of Israel. Excellent marksmanship by a IDF Hesder yeshiva student-soldier, single-handedly shot and killed 4 Hizbolla terrorists in under 8 seconds.


Great pic of Jerusalem

Ah yes...back when I used to follow the Slifkin controversy daily (as opposed to weekly), it even managed to infiltrate the Muqata home on Friday Night...Tranquility Shattered. And on topic of Erev Shabbat...here's a typically strange Jameel story about Erev Shabbat Creations...

Don't forget the Peres Paradox -- but I think the bigger question is, how is this man still in politics?

Chanuka is always a great family tiyul time in Israel, so the Muqata family went on an exciting visit to the mizbeach of Yehoshua when he entered the land of Israel. Parts 1, 2 and 3. (also with great pictures!!!)

Going to work daily often gives me nightmarish close encounters with hitchhikers from Hell; and it hasn't gotten any better since then, either.

I remember this ominous day as well -- Polls Confirm the Worst: Israeli Chocolate Consumption Lowest in Western World.

I had fun going at DovBear this day...ranting at him about Hypnotic hypocrisy. He fisked me back but it was still fun...(and by the way, DovBear maybe a liberal leaning blogger, but he has always been a mentsch about letting others post their own views on his blog. Kudos to you, DovBear)

I liked this post...being an advocate for Israel...I think I wrote it around the time of the JIB award, when I only received a nomination for best Israel Advocate...I thought I deserved other nominations as well...oh well...maybe this coming year.

Finally, my first major posting which started getting me noticed! The JBlogosphere Anthropologist - The Roarin' 60s. I loved writing that post...and it's so nostalgic for me to look back at it now. Seems like years ago that I wrote it in a hotel room in California somewhere on a business trip. When asked how Jameel managed to get through Israeli passport control, I posted this to explain.

Rav Kadouri passed away...and many thought that was a sign of impending Geula. Hmmm.

While thinking about redemption, I wrote this curious posting about "Judaism Interrupted" -- he's definitely an interesting character.

Yet, my son's Bar Mitzva was coming up...and I had to give up blogging for two weeks. So...I invited a group of talented bloggers to fill in for me, and they did a wonderful job! All those two weeks were summarized in this posting. Some of those posts were classic! (Thanks guys -- you were great!)

I attended this spooky Nighttime Funeral in Jerusalem. Gave me the chills.

Looking back, we all knew that we were destined for for disaster when Amir Peretz ran for head of the Labor party.

(Updated section for typos and broken links)

On a motzei Shabbat, my wife and I went to a local movie about a horrible predicament of a young religious husband who's wife went comatose, and he was given permission after a few years to remarry...the ending of what happened was posted here.

I still drive home from work via "Checkpoint Eliyahu" every day (and it's grown even bigger and ominous since that posting...I'll have to follow up on it with more pictures one of these days)

The Olympics! Was that only half a year ago? Seems like a lifetime ago. We Insane Islamic Hatred from the Danish Cartoon? Some things never change I guess.

With Olmert as Prime Minister, he made sure to show us "who's in charge" by sending in Israel's finest "boys in black" to Amona. That was awful. So we demonstrated (again) and it brought back lots of memories from 20 years earlier in yeshiva and hanging out in Jerusalem. And once I started daydreaming, it brought back many short-term memories from just a few months earlier in Gush Katif.

I attended a MDA refresher 2 day course...and had yet another unlikely Jameel coincidence. Seems like Jewish Geblography is the story of my life.

And then...came the first major JBlogosphere Collaborative Muqata Project...


Purim? Yeah...that was fun with all the parodies. The summary, round up post is here. (you need to scroll down in the middle of it, since the formatting got a bit messed up).

We recounted Israeli Urban Legends though its hard to tell if they are true or not, since in Israel...almost anything is possible.

I posted about Fleeing Manila. Will I put those links back? I need to think about it...the muqata blog was threatened by Philipino bloggers over that posting...

With Pesach coming up, I wrote about extreme matza, and how I "had" to go on a business trip right before Pesach.

In honor of WestBankMama's project to get bloggers to write their Aliya stories, I posted one of the chapters of my upcoming book, Jameel's Excellent Aliya Adventure...but since the feedback wasn't as high, I may shelve the book for now. I posted this in honor of Yom HaAtzmaut, where I compared Israel to a start-up company (for better and for worse).

Back in the days when we though that Godol Hador wasn't too much of a skeptic, we wrote about his fantastic voyage. It was fun writing that at the time...I wonder if he'll have another trip.

Coming home one night, my wife reminded me that I had a school meeting. Ungh. I hate those meetings...but the topic was fascinating and I got to blog it as well, do I didn't mind as much. Even Cross-Currents liked it.

Someone put the city of Petach Tikva for sale on ebay, while Hamas gunmen attacked a cellphone store in Gaza.

In honor of Lag BaOmer I translated an article from hebrew about it all being based on one big mistake. The article's author crumbled under pressure a few weeks later. Oh well.

Recounting other weird stories from college, I wrote about Elvis the Drug Dealer and how he took over my telephone. If we're already discussing strange things, I also wrote about Jewish Handshakes.

In memory of my friend Danny Frei, I posted this about him on Yom HaZikaron.

I visited the graves of Calev and Yehoshua in the middle of a very unfriendly Hamas village...that was some midnight trip. (And that post is worth reading -- tons of exclusive pictures!)

There can't possibly be two billion idiots watching the World Cup...can there?
We demolished the World Cup with the following knockouts; Who Cares, Two Billion Idiots, and Why Jameel hates soccer (a trip to the shrink).

Want to keep your kids from making yerida? Here's my solution: it's all in the name.

Everything till now seems like ancient history. Everything changed in June.

Gilad was kidnapped.

Eliyahu Asheri was kidnapped.

Israel re-enters Gaza after less than a year from leaving it -- in an attempt to save save Corporal Gilad Shaleet. Should we negotiate? Eliyahu's Asheri's mother didn't think so.

I celebrated by First Blogaversary with a whopping 56,748 visitor count since the blog's inception. Woo Hoo! The Muqata welcomed home bloggers making aliya. My kids left on a summer vacation to the US...they had a blast (as did we :)

Two more soldiers were kidnapped...and the hour by hour coverage started when Israel re-entered South Lebanon.

I guest blogged on DovBear's site about a Passionate Yearning for Eretz Yisrael. Everyone liked it except for DovBear and GodolHador. I wasn't surprised :)

Ooops - almost forgot about the Muqata CommentFest with over 339 comments. That was cool :) (Even if I got locked out of my blog by blogger...)

We remembered the Hebron Massacre of 1929...and I attended a very touching and sad funeral for an IDF soldier. Stories continued to emerge about IDF bravery under fire, and I went up North to volunteer for MDA as the rockets fell all around us.

Tisha B'Av was depressing as ever, when Olmert announced the the point of the war was to further his upcoming Convergence/Disengagement plan. Jerk.

Muqata blogger Litvshe got us world attention as we were the first to report ANOTHER photoshopped Adnan Hajj picture. (Woo Hoo again!)

Sarah is planning a new look for the Muqata...the banner above is only temporary! (she also designed the "Muqata @ War" banner)

I had planned on going to NYC and performing there with DovBear...but it didn't work out, and I spent shabbat in London (but not in Uman).

The pope insulted Islam and the moslems went crazy (is that a recurring theme?)

And then...twice in a week, the Israeli judicial system does something right!

What a year...let's hope next year bring us the speedy, safe return of our soldiers to their families, and a quiter year than this past one.

Shana Tova!

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael