|
Dear ones,
Rabbis tend to be book lovers, which I suppose is no great surprise. Judaism is a learned tradition, and as the biblical book of Ecclesiastes (12:12) quips, "of the making of books there is no end." And over the years, I have acquired quite a library. Indeed, those of you who have spent time in my study on the second floor of the Shirley Barish Learning Center might be shocked at the nearly empty shelves in the photo, above. Many of the books that used to fill that bookcase (and three others) are now in boxes, ready to be shipped to Falmouth, Massachusetts, where I will serve Falmouth Jewish Congregation as Interim Rabbi beginning July 1.
That said, there's a difference between the way one thinks about stationary volumes, perched on a shelf, not causing any trouble, and the way you look at those same books, knowing that you will have to pay to have them shipped halfway across the country. You start asking yourself questions like, "Do I really need that book? When was the last time I opened it?"
These questions took me back to a moment in time, some 34 years ago, when I was preparing to leave my first congregation in Great Neck, New York, where I had served as Associate Rabbi for six years. I was perusing some of the books on the shelves in my Senior Rabbi, Jerome Davidson's, beautiful study, taking special interest in some of the very oldest volumes that he had. "Most of those old books belonged to Jack Rudin," Rabbi Davidson said, referring to the esteemed Senior Rabbi that he had served, many years before." If you see anything you like, feel free to take it." I couldn't believe his generosity, and I selected a handful of volumes, hardly believing my good fortune.
Rabbi Davidson's generosity came to mind as I stood in my study a few weeks ago, scratching my head, wondering what I was going to do with all the books that I felt I might be able to part with. So, I've decided that, this Friday night, after services, I'm going to set up several tables with books that I am simply giving away to anyone who wants them. You can see a portion of those giveaway books in this photo:
|
