I remember a time many years ago when one of the most used holy books in my library was falling apart. I discovered that the library at FAU had some wonderful craftsmen on the floor of the Judaica Collection. These artists have a knack for bookbinding … and, let me tell you something, it is not easy to find a good bookbinder these days. It is a dying art.

I brought my book over to them and one of the binders gently took it in his hands. I could see by the way he held it that he knew this was a holy book. I got the impression that this was a man to whom all books are sacred.

I asked him what I should do and he told me to leave it with him and he would see if he could give the book some added life. In the end, he was able to bind that book back together so well that I have been using it for a good 12 years now. What a wonderful job this master binder did.

When I think of my love for books, I can’t help but think of a novel called Farenheit 451. It was about a time in the future where firemen have a very different job than they do in our current world because, instead of putting out fires, in the futuristic world of Farenheit 451, a fireman’s job was to start them and, sadly enough, it was books that they were supposed to burn.

One of the closest people in my life is in a book club. She was supposed to get a particular book to read called Fifty Shades of Grey. I called the library to find a copy of it for her and found out that it was deemed too risqué for the Broward System. So, I called Palm Beach and found that they have a few copies of the book. I also found that the book that one library may as well have chosen to burn was so popular in the other that, if I put in on reserve, I would be waiting weeks or months until after her book club had already finished reading and discussing the book in detail.

A book can be banned and a book can be burned, but, sometimes, when you ban a book, you only make it more desirable, more popular. While fire can destroy a book, the heat from a fire can also be used by one who sees books as holy to seal the glue that binds the pages back together again. A fire can be used to burn books, even holy books, but a flame can also provide us with the light we need to see the written

word.

Lag B’Omer is soon upon us. It is a time when we traditionally light bonfires and those fires remind us of the light that can be found in the Torah and in those who teach the inner meanings of G-d’s word.

May the flames of literacy grow inside you and may the books you choose to read warm your heart and light your soul.

Shalom my friends,

Rabbi Craig H. Ezring

Rabbi Ezring is a member of the National Association of Jewish Chaplains and serves in this capacity in a number of healthcare settings in the area including Advocate Home Care Services and L’Chayim Jewish Hospice in Partnership with Catholic Hospice of Broward County.