“All the Books I Own, I Need…”

The above was a headline from the Sunday edition of The New York Times, July 12, 2026. I borrowed it for today’s blog because it could not have been timelier. Mendel Uminer lives in New York City where he was recently evicted from his apartment for having too many books, a fire hazard, to be sure. Uminer owns close to or more than 10,000 books and says that having so many books in a Jewish household, especially a rabbinic one, is not considered excessive. Though he is not a rabbi, Uminer studied at a rabbinical seminary but did not get ordained. All his life, though, he was attracted to books and learning in all categories of knowledge. “I think Jews have an almost mystical relationship with books and knowledge,” Uminer said. We’re always reliving our past, creating a thirst for knowledge, which is why a Jewish home needs a library.”  Uminer “…understands that physical books are the only way we can truly retain knowledge.”

Uminer attended Columbia University after his seminary years and added numerous historically famous literary works as well as theological and philosophical writing to his collection. Over the years his collection grew to 10,000 books.

Uminer’s dilemma caught my eye because that very same week I was moving into my new residence with, of course, my own collection of books. Those helping me seemed aghast. Conversations while unpacking went something like this:

“Wow! Nineteen Banker’s boxes of books?!” remarked one helper and that’s after I weeded out several boxes.

“Mary Ann, why do you need, Vital Dust? Who could write a whole book on it?”

“A Nobel Prize winner, Christian de Duve, that’s who,” I answered. “It helps me understand the immense universe and its fallout of dust.”

“Why on earth do you have The Amateur Archaeologist’s Handbook?”

“Well, Chris Rody and I were going to explore our natural environment, particularly the old cemetery so we thought we should know something about archaeology.”

“Mary Ann, really, A Primer of Ecclesiastical Latin? What on earth? Now this is truly useless.”

“No, it isn’t. Someone asked me as a former Latin teacher to translate a couple lines from an old document she was working on. Voila!! This text helped.”

Reflection

I am not a book collector. A true collector is like Uminer; their books take up nearly their entire homes, not two and a half bookcases like mine. But I am attracted to bookstores, not the commercial big box stores that sell as much or more chatzke than books. I find amazing books in privately owned stores some of which are tiny hovels of creaky floors and sagging shelves. Stores with a cat checking on you now and then and cozy corners where you can sit and examine a book before you purchase it. I try to be selective when I purchase a book, and I often use the public library for books I know I cannot keep.

The point is to respect a book for the knowledge and enjoyment it provides. Authors put their experience and their hearts and minds into their books just to share with readers the fruits they have gathered for the book. If you’re even a little like me, someone who loves all subjects, you find that having a usable collection of books is like being a kitten in a cream factory: you can’t get enough of books! Can I hear a ‘yes’ to this?

And you can’t get enough either of the spirituality that books can generate. I find my bookcases to be a form of the Holy Spirit. Yes, you got that right. When I want to understand my scripture better, let’s say the miracles of Jesus, I read scholars on the subject, take notes, pray over what I’ve read and then read the miracles in one or several of the Gospels. If my mind is open, the Spirit will speak. Great novels and moving poetry become more meaningful when I pray for an open mind as I approach them. Again, the Spirit speaks to me. Who can read Melville’s Billy Budd without thinking of the Christ figure as Billy is hoisted on the hangman’s rope, a victim of legalistic interpretation of the law taking on the “rosy fingered dawn” as he is punished? You think of this if you are reading with the Spirit.

Think of this as you reflect on the gifts that books are to us: The famous Rabbinical scholar, Abraham Heschel wrote, “…the prophets maintain that their words did not come out of their hearts; their prophecies were inspirations, not inventions.” Prophetic inspiration comes in many forms but most especially in the arts. It requires that we read thoughtfully, listen attentively, study creations intensely always looking for the Spirit within the work. Prophetic inspiration unfolds this way, and it will enrich your life. You probably won’t need 10,000 books to do this, but don’t be afraid of becoming a bibliophile!

I say: Have a great time doing this. It’s the Spirit’s gift of joy.

Vadukal, A. (2026, July 12) “Every Book I Own, I Need. The Eviction of a Bibliophile,” The New York Times pp. 1, 8.

Heschel, A. (New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1983) God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism, p.176.