borrowing books
January 11th, 2007 | Published in books, culture, history, reading | 1 Comment
From all indications in the Talmud and in Gaonic literature, borrowing books for studious use was very commonplace in Jewish life. In fact, the rabbis spoke out against those who refused to lend their books to others, seeing in this protectiveness of ownership a hindrance to the spread of the study and knowledge of Torah. Rabbinic responsa literature is replete with issues and liabilities regarding borrowing books and the problems that surely emanate from such a policy of liberal lending of books to others. Who has not felt the pang of disappointment when a book that was borrowed in all good conscience somehow never makes its way back to its original place on one’s bookshelf? These are the inherent casualties of a liberal book lending policy.
I love it when an article combines two of my loves, in this case books and Jewish history. (via PhiloBiblos)
January 11th, 2007at 12:53 pm(#)
Although the original article (by Berel Wein) curiously confuses the borrowing of books with the use of their contents (in an era when books were all in the public domain), the points quoted are well taken.
In pre-Gutenberg Jewish cultures, both the exhortation to lend and the penalties for non-return or damage were a natural consequence of the Talmudic and Geonic contexts. The number of books was small and the social network of sages increasingly spread out. Thus, lending a book could involve sending it to a rabbi in another country and waiting months for its return. (Pity they didn’t have FedEx, and Brown couldn’t do anything for them either.)