{"id":60036,"date":"2021-03-05T16:55:50","date_gmt":"2021-03-05T22:55:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=60036"},"modified":"2021-03-05T16:58:52","modified_gmt":"2021-03-05T22:58:52","slug":"off-the-pulpit-have-you-read-all-these-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/off-the-pulpit-have-you-read-all-these-books\/","title":{"rendered":"Off the Pulpit: Have you read all these books?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE<\/p>\n

When people come into my office and see the room full of books, they will often ask, \u201cHave you read all these books?\u201d<\/p>\n

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And that is my answer when someone asks me what to read on Judaism. Read whatever book will lead you to more books. The great critic Randall Jarrell advised \u201cread at whim!\u201d Some of my greatest reading experiences are books I plucked almost randomly off the shelf, or in a bookstore, because something caught my eye. Then the trail continues: the author mentioned another book, and so on and so on, until there was a long chain of learning and storytelling whose beginning was that single instant of curiosity.<\/p>\n

I already own more books than I will probably ever read and yet I still buy new ones. Maybe this new book or that classic one will give me the insight and wisdom I lack. I don\u2019t wish to overstate the point, but there are moments when I cherish the wry words of critic Logan Piersall Smith: \u201cPeople say life is the thing, but I prefer reading.<\/p>\n

(Rabbi David Wolpe is the senior rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles.)<\/em><\/p>\n

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