Underground New York Public Library

The Underground New York Public Library is a visual library featuring the Reading-Riders of the NYC subways.
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“The Torah with Rashi’s Commentary: Vol. 1, Genesis,” Edited by Rabbi Yisrael Herczeg Borrow I Read I went up to him after I took the picture, to find out what he was reading. He welcomed my interruption seamlessly; it was like he had been expecting me. He showed me that he was reading commentary on The Book of Genesis. Then he asked me, “Do you want to hear a great idea?” I said yes happily. He said he was concentrating on the very first sentence in Genesis, where it mentions what was created in the world first. He pointed at the sentence in his book and said, “If you read the full sentence, it says that the sky and the earth were created first. But, if you read just the first half of the sentence, the Hebrew word in the middle reveals that it was actually the alphabet that was created before anything else.” He took his finger off the page then, and he pointed at the subway doors. “You see these subway doors,” he told me, “they really are made of metal.” In a quieter tone, full of meditative curiosity, he continued. “At their foundation though, they’re really made of letters.” He lowered his hand then and looked around the subway car, in a way as if he was literally reading the atmosphere. 

“The Torah with Rashi’s Commentary: Vol. 1, Genesis,” Edited by Rabbi Yisrael Herczeg

Borrow I Read

I went up to him after I took the picture, to find out what he was reading. He welcomed my interruption seamlessly; it was like he had been expecting me. He showed me that he was reading commentary on The Book of Genesis. Then he asked me, “Do you want to hear a great idea?” I said yes happily. He said he was concentrating on the very first sentence in Genesis, where it mentions what was created in the world first. He pointed at the sentence in his book and said, “If you read the full sentence, it says that the sky and the earth were created first. But, if you read just the first half of the sentence, the Hebrew word in the middle reveals that it was actually the alphabet that was created before anything else.” He took his finger off the page then, and he pointed at the subway doors. “You see these subway doors,” he told me, “they really are made of metal.” In a quieter tone, full of meditative curiosity, he continued. “At their foundation though, they’re really made of letters.” He lowered his hand then and looked around the subway car, in a way as if he was literally reading the atmosphere. 

Notes

  1. dumpsterbabies reblogged this from ixitothez
  2. chaoid reblogged this from czechlist
  3. starslikesugar reblogged this from talshachar and added:
    I love this about the Kabbalah too, how it talks about the power of words and the alphabet. Language is so necessary, it...
  4. talshachar reblogged this from unypl and added:
    first saw this on tumblr awhile back but...think about this guy often, especially as
  5. hi-john-im-alive reblogged this from unypl
  6. mylittleponiesarec00lerthanyours reblogged this from perksofbeingdreamer
  7. perksofbeingdreamer reblogged this from uranophobia
  8. uranophobia reblogged this from everywhere-else-was-taken
  9. carbavore reblogged this from unypl and added:
    Everything is made of letters.
  10. inspiration-onlinebackup reblogged this from unypl
  11. cookiecakes reblogged this from jenova83
  12. sammiesamsamm reblogged this from unypl
  13. evaabroad reblogged this from unypl and added:
    so much can be lost...things can be so fascinating when you discover something new to you
  14. justrainythings reblogged this from unypl
  15. atyrellrose reblogged this from bookporn
  16. brightsuzaku reblogged this from unypl and added:
    alphabet, comes everything else? Haha. Makes
  17. merrymocking reblogged this from unypl and added:
    You’d be amazed...have sprung up while...transit. Traffic...
  18. anothabrickinthewall reblogged this from capitolprostitute
  19. fuckyeahfrivolity reblogged this from unypl and added:
    ….i came.
  20. rimbaudisgod reblogged this from unypl
  21. wordsofinnerturmoil reblogged this from unypl and added:
    faithful person. But...others is inspiring.
  22. hello-maria reblogged this from bookporn
  23. cakespeare reblogged this from unypl
  24. hotnighthounds reblogged this from fieldofadventure
  25. fieldofadventure reblogged this from grabthelight
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