What is the place of the book in the digital world? Will the good old book, printed on paper, that you can read and then put away on the bookshelf, survive the competition with all the electronic devices? In an era when you can access databases of tens of thousands of books at the touch of a button, is there still a need for a home library?
This is a question that the whole world is discussing, and it is still difficult to know where things are going.
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Jewish books have a unique saving grace in the form of the Sabbath and the holidays. During these days, anyone who wants to study or read must return to printed letters on paper, and electronic tools cannot be used. And yet one can wonder whether the average Jew is not satisfied with a limited number of books, which he will use on Sabbaths and holidays, while on weekdays he will study and read using the new means.
Jewish atmosphere at home
In the following lines, we will ignore for a moment the question of whether digital devices can indeed replace the physical book, in terms of feel, comfort, reading experience, etc. We will focus on an aspect that is not always given consideration – the atmosphere that holy books create in the home.
Whenever people who were not raised in a religious environment visit a home that is observant, they are struck by the sight of the bookcase, usually placed in the living room. It has a presence that makes it impossible to ignore. Its very existence indicates that the household members feel a love and respect for books, and therefore they adorn their home with them.
Everything a person sees or hears leaves some kind of imprint on them, positive or negative. No responsible parent would keep negative things in their home and claim that it has no effect on their children. The mere proximity to a certain thing, the mere fact that we see it frequently – all of this has an effect, on adults and children. Holy books located in the home, in a prominent and visible place, create an atmosphere of holiness in the home.
Besides the atmosphere that the bookcase creates when it stands in front of you, it invites you to approach it, take out a book, leaf through it, and be drawn to an interesting and intriguing passage. It is a constant reminder of our being with the book, which draws from our ancient sources the powers of the spirit, faith, and wisdom.
Required books
That is why it is important to have many holy books in the home, even if from a practical point of view it seems that we are satisfied with a smaller number of books. Their mere presence does its job, and who knows, maybe one day we or our children will be interested in a certain book, open it and read it.
There are books that must be in every Jewish home. These are the basic books: the five books of the Torah, the prayer book, the Psalms. It is also essential to have a Shulchan Aruch, or a similar book that summarizes the daily laws. This is the "user's guide" that should be within reach of every person in Israel.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe turned this idea into an operation and called it 'A House Full of Books'.
That is to say: Every Jew should strive to keep holy books in his home, which will bring an atmosphere of holiness into the home. And those who already have books should increase their library, because the Torah is infinite and the flow of new books is also always flowing.
