Can you imagine Jewish life without books? Even in an age of ubiquitous multimedia, I can’t, and apparently most Jews can’t either. Whether we read them between hard or soft covers, on Kindles or iPads, or listen to them on mp3 players, Jews remain disproportionately voracious consumers of books of all types.
I’m one of those individuals who always has a book to read (though not in the same league as my wife who often has four or five books going simultaneously). I do it for fun and to learn. One of the nice things about books is that they allow me time to think and reflect as I read. But, even better—and more quintessentially Jewish—is having a conversation about what we read. As far as I know, Jews didn’t invent book groups (though maybe we did; what is a Beit Midrash really, when you come to think about it?). But, they’re something that uniquely melds our characteristic love of reading and talking.
So, when a few Board members expressed an interest in knowing more about what I was reading for our new work at the Lippman Kanfer Institute, we decided to start our own book group—in this case, given the constraints of time and space, a virtual one. This letter is your invitation to join “Jon’s reading group.” Each month I’ll share some thoughts about a book or books I’ve been reading, and encourage you to enter the conversation with your own thoughts and comments.
Most months the book will have something to do with Jewish education, but I’m not promising that I won’t range a little farther and wider at times as well. (Warning: I like mysteries, spy novels, and occasional science fiction.) The goal is partly to share recommendations for interesting reading, partly to explore topics relevant to JESNA’s and the Lippman Kanfer Institute’s work, and partly just to have a place to discuss intriguing ideas. I’ll kick off the discussion, but we hope you’ll join in as well.
You can find my initial post on “what I read over the summer” here. Take a look and join the group. We hope you’ll enjoy it, and you’ll certainly make us at JESNA and Amazon (or Barnes & Noble, or Allibris, or your local library) very happy.