The Promise; 120-135

I was reading a blog about the use of technology, specifically a particular woman's decision to buy an e-reader/kindle. I was immediately brought back to the days when I would walk around San Francisco's step inclines and come upon a dusty old shop of used books. Or what about the smell of an old library book that you know has traveled farther than you have. It has been held in doctors offices awaiting a result of a pregnancy or cancer. It has had tears fall on it and sometimes a midnight snack. It has been used to throw at someone and to hug as if a friend. A book; a breathing book that only speaks when you allow it, can unite people, it is a shared entity. And so, do we replace it with individual readers that when broken are tossed in the wind? When a book tears, it is repaired, sometimes with rolls and rolls of tape so others can enjoy it; so others can pass it on knowing they are part of a circle that hands things to one another and gets pleasure at the thought that others will share in the joy of that book. How would The Promise read if Rueven did not go to the Judaica libraries and work the stacks of books there, finding references and commentaries? I'm just saying this particular time; I will bypass convenience for experience.