Why are the Jewish people are called, "The People of the Book?"
Recently, American cities, such as Seattle and Chicago have discovered the unifying
power of sharing an interest in a common book. City governments, libraries and
bookstores have joined together to promote city-wide discussion groups of a single
book and found that it created a stronger sense of community. The Jewish people
have been united around a single text for thousands of years. The deep love and awe
we feel for the Master of the Universe is expressed in our attachment to and our
reverence for the Torah. The Torah is G-d's blueprint for the creation of this world.
It is the owner's manual for all created beings to learn how to transform this lowest
of all worlds into the holiest of all worlds. In His infinite kindness, G-d hid His own
essence in the Torah to give us the pleasure of discovering for ourselves the vast
holiness contained in the words of the Torah. When we learn Torah, when we fill our
minds with holy Torah thoughts, we merge with the thought of G-d.
We are strongly affected by our environment. When we surround
ourselves with holy books in every room of our home (except the bathroom),
we are under the continual, subtle influence of the holiness contained in the books.
The conspicuous display of sacred Jewish books, not only make a beautiful addition
to our shelves, the Jewish books, or seforim remind us of the importance of Jewish values and encourage us to learn Torah at home, not just in the synagogue.
The presence of seforim in the home, reminds us (in the words of the Shema):
"...and these words which I command you today shall be upon your heart.
You shall teach them thoroughly to your children,
and you shall speak of them when you sit in your house, when you walk on the road, when you lie down and when you rise."
The best way to acquire seforim is to go in person to a Jewish bookstore.
The minimum suggested texts are a Chumush (the Five Books of Moses),
a Book of Psalms and a Siddur (Prayer Book). All of these texts should be
from Jewish publishers and have the original Hebrew text included.
