Mistakes Abound

One of my Yemos Ha'Moshiach fantasies is that all incorrect information will disappear out of books.  All the stories told about various tzaddikim and gedolim will have only the correct names and the details will be accurate.  I assume there will be large swathes of empty white space in many books.

I am reminded of this because of a story I read in Torah Tavlin, a very nice series of books with divrei Torah and stories.  The story is one I knew previously and I know it as it is told accurately.  In this book however, the author has one main character dying instead of being away on a trip, and another character being the grandson when he was actually the son.  This is in addition to embellishing the story with a description that is probably not true and which is certainly not part of the original story.  The core point of the story remains though.

It sure does make me wonder about the other stories in the book! It's like when I read descriptions about Jewish life written by non-Jews or Jews who are not knowledgeable and I see inaccuracies and outright errors.  I would think they would have fact checkers who would verify things like Jewish law.  Makes me wonder about the accuracy of information I read on subjects that I'm not that familiar with.  It does not inspire confidence!

Popular Narrative Non-Fiction

I recently read of a woman's aha moment when she discovered, as a girl, that the pictures she saw in her head while asleep are called "dreams." That made her want to learn more and more words for the things she experienced in life.

Today I stumbled on a phrase that describes many of the books I've been reading lately.  I've tried describing the genre to people but only now do I have an "official" phrase for it: popular narrative non-fiction or just narrative non-fiction. 

It describes books that are true but the term non-fiction is too general and does not convey what these books are.  The word "narrative" lets you know that the book reads like a story.  There are characters and dialogue.  Sometimes, the topics are not what you would expect to be interesting, but in the hands of a master of this genre, these books are page-turners, books like The Boys in the Boat, The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Unbroken, In the Garden of Beasts.

Sensitivity to Subject Material

I met someone who expressed her dismay over frum publications referring to such sensitive matters as miscarriage.  Another person chimed in, saying today it's all out in the open and how years ago, we only had Marcus Lehmann to read and weren't exposed to these sorts of subjects, and do you remember how one magazine created a fervor with its article about sonograms ...

I said, what about what 10 year olds learn in Mishnayos Shabbos, for example.  That exposes them to plenty of "interesting" material.  The response was that from Torah they relate to it differently, it just passes them by.

Hmmm, guess it depends on the kid. 

Shortly after this discussion, I noticed "miscarriage" mentioned in one of the most conservative publications.  I remain unsure what the fuss is about when it concerns sonograms and miscarriages.  I suppose it's a big deal for those who do not tell their children that a baby is on the way and the children find out only when there is a mazal tov.  For the rest of us though, who don't consider an impending birth a great secret, I don't see what the problem is.  I suspect that if we discussed it further, we would discover that at the root of it is the fear that children will ask how babies are made.

What We Read

In an article I read, a mechanech from upstate New York, not referred to by name, says he makes the effort to travel and speak and makes a point of denouncing certain frum publications by name.  Why? He said one of them had an article about the life of a billionaire and this is antithetical to the desire we should have for a simple life.

I don't know who the man is and I don't know which publication he is referring to.  I don't know why this information was not shared when the man thinks it's his mission to go public with his opinion.

It is possible that the magazine he castigates made a poor choice of a topic.  Let's say they did.  If we followed his recommendation, we would eliminate a magazine or magazines geared to the frum reader.  I'm not convinced this is a good idea when reading material for the frum reader is limited.  Would he prefer that we read secular reading material instead?

Perhaps.  Maybe he thinks that if it comes under the auspices of a frum imprimatur, we are not on guard.  When we read something from a secular source we might be more alert to contradictions to our values.

On a related topic, there are reading lists one can get for children, of books that are not of Jewish content but have been vetted for appropriateness.  Artscroll has published textbooks with classic English literature that they selected for appropriateness.  I've been thinking about this.  I've also been thinking about someone reading "All for the Boss" for her English class.  It's a terrific book which I've read four times, but for an English literature class?

To read or not to read, that is the question.
Or, to read and what to read, those are the questions.

Kings and Queens, Princes and Princesses - What do they have to do with us?

When Czar Nicholas II was overthrown in the Russian Revolution, a Chassid by the name of R' Dovid Horodoker was seen crying.  Since life wasn't all that wonderful under the czar, he was asked why he was crying.  He said, because now we've lost a mashal in Chassidic teaching."

It seems to me that the concept of a King is quite important regardless as to what teachings you want to convey, Chassidic or otherwise, because of its centrality in Jewish life.  In our daily brachos we constantly refer to Hashem as "King of the universe." There is Avinu-Malkeinu. What does Hashem as a King mean to us who don't have a human king?

In America there is no king, no royal family, no palace, no ministers.  What is a child who grows up without any concept of royalty whatsoever, to make of a mashal about a king? Why should this be meaningful to him?

If, as in some cases, the mashal can be told just as well about someone who is not a king, then it doesn't matter.  But if you want to convey the majesty and omnipotence of a king, this has no counterpart in real life. And isn't that what a mashal is meant to be, an example taken from a person's daily life which he can readily relate to?

So if there is no royalty in our lives, meshalim that use it as the centerpiece are useless to us.  Which is why I've been thinking about fairy tales.  After reading one mashal about a king after another recently, it occurred to me that perhaps the hours I spent in my childhood reading fairy tales, were not all wasted after all.  

For those who want to provide only Jewish stories in their homes, there are only a few R' Nachman of Breslov tales about royalty.  I haven't looked through fairy tales recently, but I'm sure there are some (if not many) that can be safely read by frum children which will give them an idea of the glory of the royal palace.  It might be an idea to go through the hundreds of fairy tales out there in order to pick those that align with our values.  In this way, children growing up in today's day and age will have an inkling of what Malchus is about.

E-Books and E-Invitations

I've gotten so used to using Control-F to locate a word on a page that sometimes, when I read a book, I find myself wishing I can use that feature to find what I'm looking for. 

Now there are E-books, Jewish ones too, and boy, does the description sound tempting.  You can adjust the font and font size, you can do word and phrase searches, and you can mark important or favorite pages.  Sounds great, but you can't use it on Shabbos and of course you have to pay for every book instead of being able to read it for free from the library.

But this means that sometime soon, E-books and Jewish E-books will become part of our life just as our computers are a major source of our reading material now.  As someone in this transitional generation, between the Old Technology and the New, I find it all still most remarkable.

Another aspect of this transitional generation is the fact that we still snail mail invitations and even include a return envelope with a stamp when the percentage of people who mail them, don't justify their cost.  Why don't we email invitations to all friends and relatives who have an email address? Well, we feel that it's just not the same as receiving a "real" invitation in the mail.  That because all it entails is a click and no expense, that the recipients of e-invitations will be offended.  Give it a few more years and that will change too.

Positive Censorship

I was in a Jewish library when a young girl, about 10, asked to use the phone.  I overheard her asking her mother in Yiddish whether she could take out historical fiction (written in English) since she finished reading everything else.  When she hung up, I asked her what her mother said.  The answer was 'no' because her mother hadn't read the books and her mother reads everything before she does.  I asked, why can't you take home a book for her to look at? She said her mother doesn't have time.

Why would her mother not allow her to read a certain book? She said with one book, her mother told her the characters did not talk nicely.

Perhaps many of us would not endorse censorship, particularly not at a frum library with Jewish books, but this mother is careful.  She is a sweet, aidel, tmimusdike child and I was impressed by what a good girl she is.  After all, she can read whatever she likes while she is right there in the library, but she is there just to take out books and only approved books at that.

Is It True?

"Fiction can often be the best vehicle for helping us see our behavior objectively and pinpoint our mistakes, especially when it's written with true-to-life characters that are easy to identify with."

This is why mashalim (parables, fables) have long been used by Torah sages.  The most famous are in the book of Mishlei by Shlomo Ha'Melech and many years later, the parables of the Dubna Maggid and the Chofetz Chaim. 

However, when contemporary Jewish authors think that their novels and short stories, works of fiction, will change the world, I think they're deluding themselves as to the importance of their work.  Frum novels, by and large, are for the purpose of kosher entertainment.

I was surprised when, in a discussion about fiction and non-fiction in frum publications, the person I was talking to did not particularly care whether the writing was true or not.  I maintain that just as I have no reason to empathize with make-believe characters, I have no reason to be inspired by characters that are the figment of an author's imagination.  When a real person does something heroic, that can be moving and inspiring.  Why would I want to read about fictional people in the Holocaust, for example? What impact can imaginary characters who do extraordinary acts of chesed or kiddush Hashem have on me? None. 

The parables used by maggidim were tools meant to highlight our foibles in a way that slips under our defensive radar.  The parable Nosson the Navi told Dovid Ha'Melech enabled Dovid to see his error when a direct confrontation would not have worked.  It's important to differentiate between the parable as a tool for improving middos as opposed to a work of fiction that is not primarily a teaching tool.

Books that Made an Impact

What books have I read that made a significant impact on my life?

I've been thinking about that.  I've read a lot of great books, some of which I've posted about here on the blog, but I'm not talking about a great read.  I'm talking about secular books that shaped my way of thinking.

So far I've come up with:

Medical Heretic by Mendelsohn
7 Habits by Covey
Marva Collins' Way
Dumbing Down Our Kids
Son-Rise by Kaufman
The Magic Feather by Granger
books like Kaufman's Happiness is a Choice
books on the mind-body connection like Bernie Siegel's, Dr. Sarno's, When the Body Says No,  The Brain That Changes Itself
Hold On To Your Kids
books like some of the Chicken Soup Books about making a difference
Self-Talk Solution
Warning: Psychiatry Can Be Hazardous to your Mental Health by Glasser
books about the Enneagram and Myers-Briggs personality types

I'd like to know yours!