Bookweek in the Boonies

Ok, I could have come up with a nicer title than that for the post, but Shavua Sefer in our yishuv sounded very dull.

Anyway, I don't know what other yishuvim do for this week, but we have one afternoon where books are on sale in the community center, and all week long the library has special events geared for each age. Sometimes it is a simple story time, and sometimes there is book talk given by an author (for the teens and adults).

I tell my kids that I will buy them one book each, and if they want more they have to pay for it from their savings. One son likes the Chaim Walder series "Kids Speak Out", and even though he has read them over and over again, he wants to own them. So he picked out number four, and I gave in and bought the newest one, number five so that he would have the whole set. One son picked out the book about all of the miracles that happened in Gush Katif, and he paid for a set of machzorim (prayer books for the holidays, versus just for weekdays and Shabbat). He put out a substantial chunk of his savings for this - but he wants to be like his older teenage brother who has his own set too. Sort of like very positive peer pressure.

For the first time ever I picked out a Hebrew book. I usually don't read books in Hebrew (newspapers yes, books no) because I read for enjoyment. But I saw the book "Kissufim", a collection of essays on the difficult questions we all have about why the disengagement happened, and I couldn't resist. I plan on reading this during the three weeks (the mourning period commemorating the destruction of the Temples in Jerusalem). I am always conflicted about what to read during this time, and I sometimes read something Holocaust related. This year the memories of last August will be sad enough to put me in the "proper mood" for this time.