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We’ve gotten a wide range of responses to those columns. Many people have thanked us for providing the only high-level Torah material they read all week. We’ve been told again and again by teachers and speakers that they’ve shared the ideas they’ve found there with students. Some series, notably Mrs. Shani Mendlowitz’s column on the Thirteen Ikarim of the Rambam and Rebbetzin Shira Smile’s “Song at Sunrise” set on birchos hashachar, are requested again and again.
Then there are readers who sheepishly admit that they don’t read the “holy column.” It’s touching to see that even those women who consistently flip past it are happy it’s in the magazine. “It’s too heavy for me when I’m half asleep on Friday night,” they say. “But I want to be reading the sort of magazine that contains such columns.” They appreciate the column they never read because it represents what they want for themselves; it’s a tangible reminder of their aspirations even if they don’t have the mental bandwidth to delve into it. And that’s commendable. But we want to be nourishing them as well.
On a recent trip to the States, several of us editors met with groups of thoughtful, intelligent readers in two different cities. The women shared what they wanted to see in the magazine, what topics they found relevant, how they’d like us to tweak the current offering.
One of the takeaways of those enlightening sessions was that people were thirsting for easily accessible spirituality. They wanted short pieces that would leave them uplifted about themselves and their Yiddishkeit, ideas they could absorb in moments.
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