"Every time I read from it, my soul is changed, my life is changed. I communicate with my Maker and become closer to Him"
Imagine having to hide in a cave to learn Torah, leaning over the holy parchment scrolls in secret under threat of death. Today, seforim of every type and in every language surround us — from reprints of classic commentaries to user-friendly annotated sifrei kabbalah to the writings of modern talmidei chachamim. In honor of the endurance of the People of the Book for all these centuries, we asked prominent readers to name a sefer that has had a profound effect on them.
I began thinking about the many books I’ve read over the years that have impacted me, but I wasn’t satisfied. And then it hit me. The book that had the most impact on my life was the very first book that I read: Reishis Chochmah! It was a classic aleph-beis book used back then to teach children how to read, and it’s thanks to that book, without which I might have been illiterate, that I was able to read and study all the future books and seforim that affected my life.
Once I became proficient in Reishis Chochmah, I graduated to the siddur, which I still read every day, three times a day. And every time I read from it, my soul is changed, my life is changed. I communicate with my Maker and become closer to Him.
When I got a little older, I got a Chumash and began a lifelong study of that book, which every time I open, gives me new insights and understanding, improving and enhancing my life. Then came Gemara and the beginning of another lifelong pursuit. Oh, how that has changed my life. When I became a little more advanced, I began learning Gemara with Rashi — he became my best friend. And then I got new best friends: the Ritva, Rashba and Ramban. Sometimes it was tough to know what they were saying, but in the end, they helped me grasp the meaning of the Gemara, and nudged me along in my task of studying and comprehending Shas.
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