Am Ha Sefer, עם הספר
Author's Note: Please read this brief descriptive piece in conjunction with my slide show entitled Venerable Jewish Book Pages.
The People of the Book
Who are they?
The Jews.
The Book?
The Torah (Written Law) when understood in its narrowest sense, refers to the Five Books of Moses, known also as The Chumash. Both the Written Law and the Oral Torah, according to tradition, were given together at Sinai. The Oral Torah was later codified into The Talmud.
Learning-the use of this English gerund is found within the yeshiva world where it is substituted in place of studying. In answer to the question "what does he do?" the answer one will hear is "He learns" rather than "he studies".
Picture 1: the inside title page of To Bigotry No Sanction, the well-known history of the Touro Synagogue of Newport, Rhode by Morris Gutstein. Of essential importance is the author's treatment of the 1790 correspondence between Moses Seixas, Warden of the Newport Synagogue and George Washington, President of The United States.
Seixas' laudatory characterization of the American constitutional government" as one which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, assured The President of the full support of the Children of the Stock of Abraham.
The President responded to his correspondent by adopting the latter's favorable characterization of the new government which will, as The President noted, protect its citizenry in exchange for its adherence to law and order.
I had planned to review their correspondence when I noticed the author had written a personal message on the inside title page to General Julius Klein, a photograph of whom is the second of four in the slide show, Venerable Jewish Book Pages.
To General Julius Klein, With all good wishes for the blessings of God. (signed) Morris A. Gutstein.
So who was General Julius Klein? http://www.jewishtreats.org/2012/11/the-jewish-major-general.html
The second book (third and fourth slides) show the title page to Hours of Devotion by M. Mayer and its reverse page showing a scrap copy of one of my favorite poems with information regarding the book's inclusion in the Library of Congress. The fourth slide is of the index page. The book, intended for the Daughters of Israel, is a charming and delicate collection translated from German to a flower, poetic English characteristic of the nineteenth century.
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