You can tell a lot about people by noting which alonim (i.e. the weekly parsha sheets issued by a wide range of institutions and organizations and distributed every Shabbat in shuls across the country) they read.
For instance, seeing as how the Shiputzim family includes, inter alia, Anglo parents as well as Israeli teenagers, it should come as no surprise to hear that “Olam Katan” (literally, “A Small World”) and “Torah Tidbits” (put out by the OU’s Israel Center) are both very popular here in TRLEOOB*.
Thus, I was quite flattered when a number of readers observed that a recent humor piece (scroll down to Page 5) in “Olam Katan” about Israel’s national-religious world reminded them of this blog.
“It's like the kind of thing that you write, Imma...” one of the Shiputzim kids even said.
And on a somewhat related note, be sure to check out the extraordinary lead article (the article starts on Page 1 and continues on Pages 4-5) in this past Shabbat’s “Torah Tidbits”.
What are your family’s favorite parsha sheets?
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*TRLEOOB=the real life equivalent of our blog
Of course I read Torah Tidbits. I knew Phil and Toni way back when in NCSY. My husband collects all of them, Hebrew and English. He gives me the Machon Meir English ones to read, which I sometimes skim if they look interesting.
ReplyDeleteOur favourite is obviously The Drum - our shul's sheet, written by my husband! Unfortunately, it's not available online, but you can see samples here http://bit.ly/IIglOU (scroll down a bit) and if you're interested, you could have it sent by email.
ReplyDeleteOkay, my dirty little secret is that I like reading gilui da'at even though it is totally geared to the 18-22 yo crowd.
ReplyDeleteAnd the spread in Olan Katan was QUITE funny.
But regarding the article in TT, specifically his remarks re army service-there are arguments pro and con re exemptions for full time Torah learning. But his argument re how we're perceived by the secular is only partially true. The more I interact with chilonim in the workplace, the more I realize that in their eyes, hesder is really only a notch above exemption-anything short of the full 3 years that their sons/husbands do is seen as a cop-out. That doesn't mean we should abolish hesder, which in my eyes is the perfect compromise. But it means that the "how we're viewed by the chilonim" argument goes only so far.
Batya - I think one's Anglo license is revoked if one does NOT read the TT... ;-)
ReplyDeleteMrs Belogski - When you think about it, it's amazing how many alonim are issued around the world each week! I wonder if anyone has ever compiled a comprehensive list... :-)
Malke - That's a very good point! Obviously, our lives can't fully revolve around "what will the chilonim think," because at the end of the day, we have to do what WE think is right. (And as you know, I also think that hesder is ideal...) But at the same time, I feel that we should be spending at least some time checking to see if our actions and attitudes are causing a Kiddush Hashem and not, chas v'shalom, the opposite...