Go Ahead-Read That Book in Shul

The sounds of the Days of Awe in synagogue: the cry of the shofar, the cantor chanting age-old melodies that go right to the heart and congregants alternatively whispering and shushing each other. Then there's the gentle click of pages turning to their own rhythm, not in unison with the congregation.

The latter refers to a not-so-secret habit that's growing in popularity, as an increasing number of people bring outside reading material with them to services. Some do this openly, even encouraged by rabbis, and some tuck a volume into a tallit bag for transport and then slide it into an open

[high-holiday prayerbook], much like the high school tradition of folding comic books into math texts.

These independent readers-who might pull out a book during a particular part of the service in which they lose interest-are likely to be reading serious books, trying to deepen their experience of the holidays. From my experience, it's not as though congregants are thumbing through airport novels or diet books; these special days require special books.

I've spotted interesting titles, from pocket editions of the Talmud to novels by Philip Roth. The book I've seen most often (and bring to shul myself) is the classic "

" by Israeli Nobel Laureate S. Y. Agnon (Schocken, 1995). First published in 1937 and in English in 1948, this is a companion to the prayer book, an anthology of texts, teachings, midrash, and customs following the order of the service. Agnon, a modern writer who was well-versed in Jewish texts, writes with love of the tradition, seriousness, a sense of humor and joy, and engagement. In his section on tashlich, he tells of how the Jews of Kurdistan would go to a river and jump in, rather than simply shaking the crumbs off of their clothing, so that the water would wash away all of their sins.

Rabbi Arthur Green, in a foreword to the latest edition, suggests that readers open the book and "think of Agnon as an old Jew from a world now vanished who happens to sit down next to you."

Most of the entries are less than a page long, some run onto a few pages, but the format makes for easy reading when there's much else going on, like during services. Even returning to this book every year, readers will find something new.

Another anthology of note is

compiled and adapted from the talks and writings of the rebbes of Chabad-Lubavitch (Kehot Publication Society, 1998).

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