D'var Torah

Adar II-Nisan 5768

People of the Book(s)

Literacy characterized the Jewish people from early in our history. An account said to date from the 13th century BCE tells of the Israelite judge Gideon asking a local youngster to write down the name of the city officials [Judges 8:13-17]. References throughout the Bible allude to reading and writing as part and parcel of everyday life. Woven into the very fabric of our lives, books and reading connect us to one another and to God in profound ways. Tradition notes that in the first month of the calendar year (Nisan, the month of Passover), we left Egypt, arriving some months later at the foot of Sinai to receive the Ultimate Text, the Torah. A not disinterested observer once remarked that Jewish homes could be identified as such by the presence of books rather than knickknacks on shelves. From an early age, we instruct our children in the art of reading, opening to them remarkable paths to knowledge. As the American poet Emily Dickinson wrote

There is no frigate like a book
To take us lands away,
Nor any coursers like a page
Of prancing poetry.

This traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of toll;
How frugal is the chariot
That bears a human soul!

I am pleased to report that later this spring we will be affiliating with the Jewish Book Network. This will enable us to access books (both adult and children's) of Jewish interest, and to bring authors to read from their books over the course of the next year (hopefully on the morning of our annual pre-Hanukkah Nursery School and Religious Schools’ PTA Book Fair and Boutique and mid-spring of 2009). We hope to create interest in books clubs for anyone who wants to participate. Simultaneously we seek to broaden our connections to wider Jewish community of the Rivertowns, enhancing our outreach to the community we serve, and to those who may not yet have found their way into the circle of the Greenburgh Hebrew Center's embrace. We plan to announce book selection in early summer.

Our first author, Jeffrey Hantover, will be in the synagogue, Sunday, May 4, 2008 from 9:15-10:30 a.m. to read from his acclaimed first novel, The Jewel Trader of Pegu. Writes Publisher’s Weekly, “ Jewish jewel trader Abraham, a widower at 28, leaves Venice in 1598 for Pegu, a Burmese kingdom halfway around the world, where he is to settle and acquire high-quality gems for the family business. In his letters home, which comprise much of the novel, Abraham, liberated from the ghetto, delights in the freedom to walk when and where he will, but soon discovers that foreigners are expected to perform a specific service to bring luck to the marriages of young brides, one that is forbidden by Jewish law. His relationship with a young woman, Mya, expands his views, and he develops deep friendships with several other locals. As political unrest grows in the area, however, Abraham is forced to choose between his feelings for Mya and his certainty that the world does not have a place for their love.” Describing the title character of the book, in its review this past January, The American Jewish World writes, "Abraham's travails sweep the reader along in this compelling debut novel." Join us May 4, and then plan to be with us as we explore the world of the Jewish book in the months ahead. Feel free to contact me, or Nancy Nager for details.

Feel free to contact me, or Nancy Nager (nagersadoff@yahoo.com) for details.

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