BOOKS GALORE!

For a country that has to spend such a huge, disproportionate  slice of the national  budget   on defense needs in order to exist, Israel can still be considered as the People of the Book. A fledgling state which resolved to make the most of the only resource it had – human intellectual capital – with results far exceeding what anyone could have imagined.

Abba Eban once wrote that the Jews gave humanity the notion of “civilization. “ For 3,000 years, the creative tension between the People and the Book generated philosophy and law, offered models of piety and morality and defined a discipline leading to personal commitment and communal compassion.” In the words of Ben Gurion : "In Eretz Israel [the Land of Israel] arose the Jewish people, in which was formed its spiritual, religious and national image, in which it created national and universal cultural treasures and bequeathed to the world entire the eternal Book of Books…"

Ben Gurion also wrote: “Anyone who doesn’t believe in miracles is not a realist.”  In addition to the miracle of the creation of the State of Israel, can be added the revival of the Hebrew tongue. Today, Israeli writers – reflecting a renaissance of Jewish thought, creativity and writing – win prizes like the Man Booker and the Nobel. These writers hail from a country with the population of Los Angeles, writing in a language that 150 years ago virtually no one spoke.

When Shai Agnon received the Nobel prize for literature in 1966, the chairman of the Swedish Academy in his introductory speech said: “Mr. Agnon - In your writing we meet once again the ancient unity between literature and science, as antiquity knew it. In one of your stories you say that some will no doubt read it as they read fairy tales, others will read it for edification. Your great chronicle of the Jewish people's spirit and life has therefore a manifold message. For the historian it is a precious source, for the philosopher an inspiration, for those who cannot live without literature it is a mine of never-failing riches. We honour in you a combination of tradition and prophecy, of saga and wisdom.”

The people of the book – and even the screen – have the ear of intellectual elites across the world. Jewish culture flourishes in Israel in a way that it cannot anywhere else. Even if the conflict persists, the Jewish state will still be at the centre of a worldwide Jewish cultural revival.

Amongst the many types of bookstores which abound in Israel today one network, in particular,  stands out: “A Returning Story” which is the name of the bookshops are kinds of vocational rehabilitation centres in disguise. They are manned by people with some form of mental illness who are given a protective training environment through which they can readjust to the job market. Its aim is to help mentally challenged people to integrate into the community,  and become contributing members of society with the ability to live independently. Customers can choose from a wide variety of good second-hand books at competitive prices; books are recycled, and the job market has an influx of intelligent, delightful people who might otherwise not have the courage to go back to work.

Supported financially by the Health Ministry, there are altogether 12 shops across the country, including a store in Acre with Arabic books and a religious bookshop in an ultra-orthodox district in Jerusalem. There are also 500 book points located in cafes, train stations, community centres, gyms and large companies throughout Israel. People connected to the project also run the country’s largest used- book online shop.

In general, aside from the books and the friendly atmosphere, bookstores also host poetry readings, workshops, and other book-related events. Others provide coffee and refreshments, and the largest second-hand bookstore in Israel features soft music and couches on which to sit and read. Together, and separately, the stores create a community of readers in Israel: people who love to read.