Entries from The Diary of a Jewish Bookseller Jan 2021

A visibly Irritated man calls insisting I tell him why he is receiving unsolicited books from my store.  Turns out that someone was purchasing books on controlling your anger and sending them at regular intervals to this man's address. 

A Non-profit whose aim is stated as preserving the history and literature of Syrian Jews called my store and requested, or rather insisted that I don't sell copies of their publication which I acquire second-hand as they want to be the exclusive source for their publications

A customer from rural Texas sends me this message after our lengthy call was disconnected. "Sorry about the interference.   I am curious myself about it.   I was left with a fuzzy brain as I hung up -  interesting. But I can break their power over me by speaking in tongues to God, so I did and the fuzzy is clearing.....   They never went that far before!   I don't know who 'they' are but as long as I am on the Lord's side, I can stay in the Spirit of God....   I have learned a lot about what warfare is in the Spirit....   speaking in tongues (I do it loudly!)  is the most powerful.    They can't fight against it."

A response to an email I sent to a customer telling him that the book he requested arrived: "I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to get back to you regarding this book.  Unfortunately, Mr. Lipman passed away around 5:30 p.m. on Monday, September 16.  I never had a chance to even ask him about the book.  His death was very unexpected and we are all in shock.  Thank you for all of your help obtaining the books."

A response from a customer who received a book in the mail from me. "I am interested in the newspaper you used to pack my books. I would like to get a subscription to it . I would call them if I had the phone number of their office and see about having it sent to me. ! Please, will you send the number? Thank you in advance......"

A visit to a local home to acquire books turned in to a two hour lecture and overview of the lady of the house's stand on vaccination. They were in the process of emigrating to avoid the forced vaccination of their children with the Covid-vaccine. 

A bride to be called to order a Meam Loez in the original Ladino, as per the ancient Turkish Jewish tradition where a groom would receive a Meam Loez on his wedding day

An order came through for a set of Zohar in English going to a Japanese woman incarcerated in Rikers. It was explained to me how the Japanese are descended from the lost tribes of Israel and how their literatures complement each other.

A local slightly confused customer asked if I was planning on being closed on both days of Tishah Be'av

A traditional Syrian Jew requested to view a manuscript in the handwriting of the Ben Ish Hai, but insisted I find him a head-covering beforehand in respect of the sanctity of the writing. 

A noted CNN TV anchor inquired from my store who was sending her books on Anti-Semitism from my store, she was impressed when I explained that it was most likely someone who thought she can use some insights in to the topic and was buying them and sending them to her address.

Just got a rundown and comparison of the Artscroll Sephardic Siddur vs the Moroccan English translation of the Siddur from a African-American convert to Judaism

A purchase of 10 Yom Kippur Machzorim was returned after the holiday by a lady from California as she explained to me that she no longer needed them as the holiday was now over

An order for a copy of the "Sanctity of the Mechitzah" by Baruch Litvin came with a note that it was intended as a gift for a great-granddaughter's of the author's wedding and the wedding will indeed sport a mechitzah

A walk-in who claimed to be a professional graphologist spent an extended amount of time analyzing the handwriting of manuscripts of the Chafetz Chaim and Ben In Hai in my possession, showing me how their differing personalities are evident in the handwriting styles

A regular customer currently in a Florida Jail requested I write to his parole board advocating for his release. 

An email came in from an author with a request to pay for space in store for titles such as "Living For Higher Purpose: Story of a City Boy Who Survived the Vietnam War by Living for Jesus and Others"

The widow of a rabbi whose extensive and all-encompassing library I acquired told me how she served for decades as her husbands librarian, retrieving and shelving books as needed.

 A customer from the rural mid-west, hearing of the hard-hit areas in Brooklyn due to covid, sent me $300 to be distributed to a needy family locally

A caller insisted I arranged to have books picked up from his home immediately as he wanted his house tidy in the expectation of guests

A customer from Boro Park walked in to the store and saw me preparing an order for shipment. Based on the contents, he was able to correctly guess the name of the purchaser in Chicago by knowing his interests

I came across a walk-in customer bragging of his sponsoring volumes of the Artscroll Talmud and his minor contributions, oblivious to the fact that the person he was speaking to was the editor and translator of many of the volumes in the Artscroll Talmud

After received his order of a book by Jonathan Sacks, the customer called to confirm if Sacks was Orthodox, having been shocked by Sack's non-literal understanding of the story of Adam and Eve

A large order for books on the subject of Hitler's life came with the disclaimer that the purchaser was no admirer of Hitler and his interest was purely academic in nature.

A request to make an appointment to visit the store was prefaced by asking if I mind that he currently is testing positive for Coronavirus

Just mailed a large box full of children books to a grandfather in quarantine who told me he reads stories to his grandchildren each night over the phone.

A customer from an area relatively unaffected by Covid sponsored a quantity of books to be distributed to local Jewish Children stuck at home due to school closures

Came across a Yiddish description of my store on the web: ר׳ ישראל מזרחי פון מזרחי ספרים סטאר

A customer explained his extreme care for the numerous books in his possession, as he viewed himself as merely a custodian for books until the next owner claims them for his collection'

A request came in for any Hebrew books with green covers to match the décor and style of a room in the purchasers house

A PhD student strolling through the store tells me of her hunt for an article in an obscure Russian Jewish Journal to complete her dissertation. By chance, I had that very volume in a recently acquired collection

A request to cancel an order came with the note :""I won't be able to feed my dogs. I need that $15 to spend on one more bag of dog food, or they'll run out of food before I get payed again."

Multiple Jewish Bibles were purchased by someone who sent me: "I'm trying to supply Torah's to people who never thought they needed one, and show them the beauty I see in it~"

I was rather befuddled when I received this message: "Please cancel this order. I'm a levite, and focusing on the Zohar for now."

A long-time customer who has now been sentenced to 20 years for attempted murder, had created a want list of books he is interested in purchasing. At regular intervals, he finds people to sponsor specific titles and I mail them to his facility.

After receiving a book ordered, an Israeli customer correctly guessed the previous owner of the volume received based on the marginalia he found written in the volume

Disclaimer: If you think you or someone you know is referenced in one of the above encounters, you are most likely correct