Well, as a writer, author, writing and author coach, I have to get on board with ebooks. They represent the future of publishing. However, when it comes to the world of Jewish sacred texts, I am glad some things will not be changing.
According to Sue Fischoff’s article in the Washington Post, ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications is in the process of digitizing many of its 1,500 publications. However, we shouldn’t expect to go online to purchase Shabbat and High Holiday prayer books for IPads or other digital tablets.
Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz, president of the Orthodox-run publishing house, told JTA, “The vision of people coming to shul on Shabbat with their e-siddur just doesn’t cut it. There are other reasons, too -- notably a lag in technology. Amazon’s Kindle is not yet equipped to present Hebrew and English texts on facing pages, which the prayer books require, and the iPad’s capability to do so is “quite limited.”
Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, executive vice president of the Rabbinical Assembly, the Conservative rabbinical association, says the question of e-books on Shabbat has not yet come before the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, which sets Jewish law for the movement. “If the goal of Shabbat is to take us away from distractions and give us a more spiritual focus, what would it mean to have this electronic media enter that most sacred realm on that most sacred day?” she asked. “Even if you could daven from a Kindle, should you?”
Maybe all of that is true, but for me there are a number of other considerations, for example: When you turn an electronic page, are you dishonoring God’s Holy Name? Do your prayers disappear as well? Not to mention the potential ecological implications for genizahs, the place where worn out Hebrew prayer books are buried or stored. Can one respectfully destroy a digital holy text?
Conjecture aside, for me the bottom line is this: I just can’t see myself standing Amidah with an Ipad.
Can you? Enter the fray here by adding your opinions below.
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