Physical Presence of Printed Books

Last week I was finally able to make a kind of "pilgrimage" to my favorite non-Jewish place in the country where I've been living since the end of September 2023 - the Russian bookstore in the capital. I last visited it about seven years ago, and ever since then I had been dreaming of returning. At long last, I had the chance to do so thanks to some rather incredible "Divine choreography."

Only after leaving this bookstore and walking through the largest English bookstore in the city did I notice how differently the books in these two places seem to radiate. It reminded me once again of something I've been sensing for quite some time - the physical presence of printed books. With all due respect to ebooks, which I also love, buy, and read, only printed books radiate a certain energy simply by being physically present.

I also realized a parallel between the books on these shelves and the flowers in family gardens. Both absorb the energy of the people who care for them. When I pass a family garden, I can often guess the atmosphere of the household - and when I later meet the people who live there, I usually see that my intuition was right.

But books have, so to speak, an even stronger "life of their own", though they are not biologically alive. What is written inside them - and all the "shoulders" on which each book stands - also shapes the energy they carry.

I sensed this already back in Jerusalem, when I rearranged my personal library. For lack of space, I had divided my books between the living room and the bedroom: academic books in the former, Jewish books in the latter. But after I left academia, I reversed their locations. Since I spent most of my day working from home, I began to feel very clearly the difference in the energy I received from the books that surrounded me in the living room, where I worked.

Before leaving Jerusalem, I had to make a very painful decision about which books to bring with me. From my carefully chosen library of about 1,200 books, I first gave away roughly 500 - mostly academic ones, as you might imagine. The remaining 700 consisted of about 200 dictionaries and 500 Jewish books, mostly Chassidic. I spent an entire month asking myself which 100 books to send.

These books have surrounded me since I moved here a little more than two years ago. Paradoxically, I feel more energy from this small, distilled library than I did from the larger one in Jerusalem. Precisely because I have less, each book matters more; each one receives more of my attention, and in return each one gives me something back - the accumulated energy of thousands of years of Jewish tradition, radiating quietly from their physical presence.

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Success for the Ego vs. Success for the Soul

This time I would like to do something I've never done - to let one amazing Jewish parable speak for me about what I would like to talk about - success for the ego vs. success for the soul - as told by Rabbi Marc Angel in his book entitled Losing the Rat Race, Winning at Life (pp. 19-21). Please read this, and you will understand why I felt - and still feel - that my words wouldn't be able to compete with this parable.

"A rabbinic parable tells of a poor man who was struggling to support his family. He learned of a faraway land that was filled with precious jewels. A ship would soon be leaving for this land and it had room for him as a passenger. But the ship would only return after a long interval; so if the man chose to go to the faraway land, he would have to remain there for a considerable time. His wife agreed that he should make the voyage. He would be able to obtain valuable jewels and bring them back to support his family in wealth and honor."

"So the man boarded the ship and was off to make his fortune. Sure enough, the ship arrived at the faraway land, and it was indeed filled with treasures. The earth was covered with diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and all types of precious stones. He hurriedly filled his pockets with jewels; he stuffed his bags with gems. He was now an extraordinarily rich man. He rejoiced in the thought of how wealthy he and his family would be upon his return home."

"But in the faraway land, the man soon realized that his precious stones were valueless. They were so abundant and so readily available that no one paid any attention to them. None of the storekeepers would accept them as payment for merchandise. Rather, the currency of this land was wax candles. These were hard to come by and were highly valued by the public. Everone strove to accumulate as many wax candles as possible; their wealth and power were evaluated by the number of candles they possessed."

"It did not take long for the man to recognize his need for wax candles. He worked hard to gain as many as he could. Soon, he had accumulated a large number of them. He emptied his pockets and bags of the diamonds, rubies and emeralds, and filled them instead with wax candles. In this new land, he became wealthy and prominent - very 'successful'."

"Time passed. It was now time for the man to return to his wife and family. The ship was ready to leave. Quickly, the man packed as many wax candles as he could, so that he could bring them back with him. He proudly boarded the ship, laden with as many candles as he could possible carry."

"When he arrived home, his wife eargerly greeted him. She asked to see the treasures he had brought back. Proudly, the man opened his bags and emptied his pockets. He stacked up piles of wax candles."

"Then, suddenly, the man realized he had made a terrible mistake. When he had arrived in the faraway land, he knew he was supposed to gather precious gems - but he had soon forgotten his mission. Influenced by the people in that land, he had come to value candles and ignore jewels. He had completely forgotten his original goal. He had thought that by accumulating candles, he had become successful. But now that he had returned home, he realized that he had missed his opportunity to bring back real treasures. Instead, he came back with a pile of nearly worthless candles."

"We human beings are placed on earth to attain transcendent treasures - wisdom, love, spiritual insight, moral courage. If we can keep our lives focused on these goals and if we can direct our lives according to these ideals - then we "win" at life. But if we come to ascribe greater value to mundane attainments - wealth, power, face - then we may find ourselves having accumulated things that are ultimately of little worth."

"Winning at life means keeping focused on what is truly important and not getting sidetracked by external glitz. Winning is not a one time event, but an ongoing way of life."