Alef: The NEXT Conversation

Cartoons for Shabbat

By Dan Abrams

Ask any ten-year old, and they’ll tell you – weekday cartoons are fine, but if you want the good stuff, you’ve gotta get up on Saturday morning, and start flippin’ channels. And so, growing up, I found myself in the same fight with my parents every Saturday:

Them: Get dressed. We’re going to Synagogue.

Me: First Ninja Turtles, then Muppet Babies, Then Captain N: The Game Master, then Synagogue.

Them: You have ten seconds, or we’re throwing the TV away. Here are your pants.

Me: ….

Next thing you know I’m in pants and on my way to Synagogue. And, believe me, I’m not happy about it.

I don’t tell this story to demonstrate how much of a brat I was (And when it came to the Ninja Turtles, believe me, I was) but rather to explain how important Saturday morning cartoons were for me when I was younger. For a ten-year-old, it’s a no brainer – why would I go to Synagogue, when I could stay home with cartoons instead? My parents, on the other hand, didn’t see things quite the same way. And so, for years, I sat in my Synagogue’s youth services, bitter at missing the animated adventures most of my friends were enjoying from the comfort of their sofas.

To this day, Saturday-morning cartoons hold a special place in my heart. Maybe it’s a symptom of arrested development, but the idea of watching hours of cartoons on end, with no one telling me otherwise, is still a pretty powerful reason to get out of bed on a Saturday morning. Synagogue, not so much. So, when I saw these Shabbat cartoon dolls in my NEXT Shabbat Shabbox, I was pleasantly surprised; now my inner-child could be the one dictating who wears what pants for Shabbat. And, sure, they’re not the Ninja Turtles, but a cartoon is a cartoon, and as such, is inherently better than a not-cartoon.

Who woulda thought? 16 years later, after countless Saturday morning arguments, I’d get cartoons on Shabbat after all.

***
Download your own Cartoon Shabbat Dolls here
***
Read more from Issue 17: People of the (comic)Book.

Tags: Comic, NEXT Shabbat, Shabbat

Posted by Rafi, Wednesday, August 11th, 2010, 12:17 pm, Friday Night Lights, People of the (comic)Book.