Tell me stories: This day reminds us why we really read | Liora Minka

August 9th, known globally as National Book Lovers Day, is one of those cultural days that was born from the bottom up. It was not initiated by UNESCO, nor by an international library association, nor by any educational or political body. It is a day that was born by bloggers, independent bookstores, reading groups, and social networks out of a simple and intimate love for reading. Because of this, it represents a broader phenomenon — the transition from "official" cultural days with educational or social goals to days that are created organically from within communities.

In recent decades, the number of days dedicated to books and reading has increased: UNESCO's World Book Day on April 23rd, World Poetry Day on March 21st, International Children's Book Day on April 2nd, and more. Each of them carries a clear agenda: encouraging reading, protecting copyright, promoting children's literature, and so on.

These are days that seek to influence policy, raise awareness, and change habits. In contrast, Book Lovers Day on August 9th does not seek to change anything. It does not offer reform, does not make demands, and does not pretend to fix the education system or the book market. It simply invites us to stop for a moment, put down the screens, and read a book with pleasure. Not out of duty and not out of ideology — out of passion.

This abundance of days testifies to richness. Just as literature itself is multi-layered, so are the days dedicated to it. There is no need to unify them, just as there is no need to unify all literary genres onto one shelf. Each international day, official or unofficial, highlights a different aspect of reading, and each of them reminds us that literature is a space much broader than the categories we try to assign to it.

The uniqueness of August 9th lies in the fact that it is not institutional. It is communal. It lives on social networks, in readers' recommendations, in photos of favorite books. It becomes a basis for reading initiatives, meetings, and annual challenges.

Perhaps precisely this year, in Israel, amidst a noisy public discourse where an infuriating statement like that of Yaakov Bardugo that Gadi Eizenkot "does not read books" manages to stir up a storm, it is important to remember that reading is not a political loyalty test. It is also not a measure of leadership quality, and it certainly must not be a tool for attacking a specific person. Books and reading are a human, personal, deep space. They can certainly be a source of knowledge, but also a source of comfort. Reading can be a thought-provoking tool, but also an escape from the day-to-day.

Whether we are marking World Book Day or simply opening a favorite book on a hot August day, we are participating in an ancient tradition: the desire to tell stories and also to hear them.

The author is an educator, formerly the chairwoman of "Emunah" - the National Religious Women's Organization.