Saturday, June 12, 2004

A disobedient thought

while it's still not legally forbidden...



How many times during the day or a lifetime you've said, "This is too big on me"?



We have so many ways to create change, step by step.



On the occasion of the Hebrew Book Week, let's recall how annoyed and frustrated we are with the mega book-store chains and their bottom line preoccupation and choices.



In Israel one by one we've seen the disappearance of the small traditional bookstore, run by dedicated owners, wise people whose eyes glitter when they talk of their first and everlasting love: Books.



One day I entered a mega book-store and overhead a man asking in Hebrew: "I'm here for a short visit, can you recommend me the great new books?"



Said the lady: "Oh, here are the bestsellers, everybody is talking about them."



Some time earlier she might have been selling clothes, in the same vernacular: "This is the new trend in fashion, everybody is wearing them this year..."



If this "trend" continues, pretty soon we'll find ourselves in a book-store lined up with bestsellers alone, books and clothes.



I do not want to live in a nightmarish global mono-culture.



Luckily, in Israel lately, and for sure throughout the global empire, new book lovers are born daily and some of them are opening their own book stores.



We can help those Davids and Davidas stand up to the moguls by our own daily choices.



When you find yourself in a chain store, standing there with a book in your hand and the money or card in the other, stop for a moment and reconsider. Across the street, down the lane, a soul-mate is waiting for your visit. His or her store shelves are full of treasures.



Let's cherish and support the treasure keepers.



Friday, June 11, 2004

Once a year, for one month, the book prices go down.

It's called, The Hebrew Book Week.

On this occasion I wrote at my Hebrew blog a manifesto. In translation, it can serve globally, nowadays.