There Is No Such Thing as a Person of the Book | Inspiration & Entertainment - Chabad.org

I can’t remember my first day of Hebrew school, and my bar mitzvah portion is a blur. But I’ll never forget the day a rabbi told me to stop reading so many Jewish books, notes Scott Hirsch, Chabad.org. 

Photo: Chabad.org

It was one of the most surprising, absurd, and ultimately, meaningful moments of my Jewish education.

The rabbi was Yosef Moscowitz of Chicago’s Bucktown Chabad, and he’s on my mind because I’m sitting on a park bench in Jerusalem with no idea where I’m going to sleep tonight—it’s Chol Hamoed and every hostel and Airbnb is fully booked. But despite my lack of lodging, I’m feeling strangely upbeat, and I have Rabbi Moscowitz to thank for that.

I was 30 years old when I first reached out to the rabbi. Despite a strong Jewish background, I was interested in tackling Torah on my own terms for once—that is to say, not learning about Judaism, which I felt I knew enough about, but Torah. As a literature student and introvert, I decided maybe I should get to the heart of my tradition—the texts.

The rabbi met me for coffee, and after the usual introductions and games of Jewish geography, I finally got to my main question: what books would he recommend for someone like me—a bookish, shy-ish, Jewish guy looking to go deeper into the texts of our people?...

As an American, I forget there are places where Jews aren’t a minority; where the Jewish holidays dictate the ebb and flow of the everyday calendar. And Chol Hamoed is vacation time in Israel. Schools shut down. Families go on vacation. Parks, hostels, and bus stations swell with students and travelers.
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Source: Chabad.org