Since I got interested in and involved with Judaism two years ago, my Jewish library has become an impressive (or at least mountainous) fixture in my bedroom. I have somehow managed to amass, according to my LibraryThing page, at least 91 books on various Jewish topics since then. Some have been staples, like The Jewish Book of Why and The Second Jewish Book of Why, where others have been light and fun, like Cool Jew. I used to just buy my books at random, which is probably evident in the random assortment I’ve acquired, but I’ve recently tried to hone in on my specific interests.
Yesterday, I went to the famous Strand Books, just south of Union Square in Manhattan. I love the Strand, with its 18 miles of books, though I never understood why, with 18 miles of room, Judaica and Germany still ended up side by side. That, however, is another story. I only had 20 minutes to spare before my class, but I somehow managed to buy seven new Jewish books, mostly tangentially related to youth culture in American Judaism. I’ve found my Judaica selection almost evenly divided between American Jewish history and interfaith issues, particularly between Catholicism and Judaism.
Earlier this week, I read a great piece from Vanity Fair that talked about the Kindle and what it means for tangible libraries and the literary snobs among us. Personal libraries say a lot about a person, just based on their content, size, the way they’re organized (Mine are currently arranged by color. Poor choice; I don’t recommend it.), and the condition of the books. Sure, it’s easy to have a bunch of pristine copies lining the shelves, but it’s the heavily thumbed-through copies that speak to the casual visitor.
Jews are part of a very literate and literary culture. Many Jews, therefore, have at least a small selection of Judaica gracing their bookshelves, even if it’s just duplicate copies of The Jewish Book of Why received at a bar or bat miztvah 15 years ago. What does a Jew’s selection of Jewish-themed books say about his or her attitude toward Judaism?
There are so many different topics that make up the genre of Judaica. There are biblical analyses, accounts of the Holocaust, beginner’s guides to basic Judaism, criticisms of modern culture in America, and notes on the state of Israel, among other things. What’s a Jew to do? How do you know which topics, let alone which books, are the ones to line your shelves with?
Does the sheer number of books about basic Judaism make me look like an amateur? Is my resistance to books about Israel bad? Or are we all allowed to have our own specialties, areas of interest and expertise?
I don’t have an answer, of course, but I’m interested in what you have to say! What kinds of Judaica (if any) are you most interested in stuffing your bookshelves with? And what do you think that says about you as a Jew? Feel free to thumb through my virtual library on LibraryThing and tell me what you think my library says about me as a Jew!
