In the family, when papa opens his book, all the house becomes quiet. Sha, Papa reads , the Mama says to the children, and all the house respects when there is study inside. When a book is left open, we put a cover over it for respect. When it is worn out, we give it a burial. It s like a living thing.
All writing has something of holiness.
So it is in the marketplace, also. Because we are Jews, we don t wrap herring in a printed page. So there you have it. In the relatively straightforward act of teaching someone to read, we live out and are transformed by such central Jewish themes as holiness, social equity, revelation and survival. It s a set of themes that goes a long way towards providing answers to some of life s larger questions, answers that emerge out of our vigorous engagement with the world.