Sunday, March 2, 2014

Only in a bookstore: an unusual reason a customer is interested in a book

I have yet to hear of a customer walking in to a clothing store and request a pair of shoes or a cute outfit that he had good memories of as a child. But in a bookstore, this is a daily occurrence, with customers showing much joy in rediscovering a book they have read as a child hundreds of times and often their own children are brought along and forced to share the excitement.

This week, a typical looking Bais Yaakov Girl, with the uniform and all walks in to our store and requests books written by the Hozeh of Lublin. Not a standard reading for today's youth by any means, I innocently asked about the reason for her interest. "He has been appearing to me in my dreams for the last few months and I figured I should read some of his works to find out a bit about him".
Posted by at

3 comments:

  1. ReadingMarch 2, 2014 at 11:42 AM

    Commission her to paint a portrait of him.

    Or at least get a description for us! ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. David G.March 2, 2014 at 9:11 PM

      If the version of the story of the death of the Choze that appears in David Assaf's book Ne'ehaz Basevach is correct, the Choze might in fact coming down to this world as a dybbuk looking for peace from his punishment for his committing suicide.
      "the most vulgar document published by Assaf is quite clearly the tale recounting the “fall” of the famed founder of Polish Hasidism, Rabbi Yaakov Yitzhak Horowitz (1745-1815), popularly known as the khoyze, or seer, of Lublin. What is known is that sometime during the celebration of Simchat Torah in 1814, the severely inebriated seer fell, or more likely jumped, out the second-story window of his room above the Hasidic shtibl where he held court. Like the affair of Rabbi Moshe’s conversion to Christianity, Hasidic hagiography has managed to transform what was either a drunken mishap or a deliberate suicide attempt into a mystical affair signifying a failed attempt to hasten the messiah’s arrival"

      Delete
  2. voodooqueen126July 26, 2016 at 12:50 PM

    May I ask what this jumper dress is called in Hebrew?

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)