Saving Book

I wasn’t going to write anything until next week or so, but I just couldn't contain myself after reading this article: Bible is America 's favorite book: poll (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080408/lf_nm_life/reading_survey_dc)

First, the clever Yahoo! marketers (or “marketeers” – the term my pseudo-professor used in a grad school course, which was part of the reason I quit) caught my wandering eye with the promising tag-line, which read something like “Guess which book is America ’s favorite…” Now, it doesn’t take a genius to guess; so I guessed right: The Bible.

I wonder what people giving this answer think they are conveying about themselves? That they are good god-fearing Americans? Do they think this answer fools anyone into thinking they actually read? I’d go so far as to guess that the very same people who give this answer would not buy it from anyone else. And how many of them actually read the bible? I bet few, if any; not even the Cliffsnotes (like Valerie’s pal from the previous post). I admit to reading the children’s version at the tender age of 11 and thinking that Abraham was a real prick. Joseph, on the other hand, was a real mensch, standing by his lady in her predicament. Who is your favorite character, dear reader?

But wait, this gets better: ”Men chose J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" and women selected Margaret Mitchell's "Gone With the Wind" as their second-favorite book, according to the online poll.” The article doesn’t specify if the poll participants were given set options or if they could enter anything they wanted, but in either case – these are real gems (nothing personal against either selection). And note how diverse and open-minded we are as readers...

Back to the Holy Book. I grew up in a very Jewish neighborhood of Brooklyn , surrounded by Soviet and middle-eastern Jews. Syrian Jews live primarily in large, multi-level houses spilling over the modest but priceless plots of land. Much wealthier than their Eastern European counterparts, members of the Sephardic community proudly display their achievements in business by driving luxury German cars and having big, clean, and unobstructed windows. A glimpse into one of those windows, however, offers nothing of interest to a nosy onlooker like me. Aside from rows of religious tomes, I never spotted a single book. Walking by one evening with my father I asked him if he thought they have books at home. “Yes,” he said, “they have saving books.”

*For non-Russian speakers, please note that the term “saving book” refers to a document you receive when you open a savings account (in Russia ).