CECE@Kinus 5777: Resource Sheets Bayis Molei Sefarim | page 1

בית מלא ספרים

“… In every private house of every single , there need to be the basic works of (in addition to the Chumash, , Tehillim, and in a Chasidic home, a copy of , etc.) These include and should be, in particular, books on Jewish law on issues relating to everyday life, which should be studied every often so that one should know which actions to perform. .. And when one has made a „house filled with books,” including the meaning, that the entire existence of one‟s home and personal belongings will be permeated with the content of these books, in the words of the Sages, “a house fit for the wise.” (Toras Menachem Hisvaaduyos, 5748, vol 2, page 171)

This Mivtza was originally introduced: Shabbos Parashas Bamidbar 5734

When the spoke about Holy Books in a child's bedroom, (Toras Menachem, Hisvaaduyos 5747, vol 2, page 647), he says:

Regarding the necessity for holy books in children's bedrooms, the actual presence of seforim in their bedroom makes a very strong impression upon them.

""... 'a house filled with books' ... the exact meaning of this expression is that seforim are the main part of the home and everything else in the home is secondary to the seforim. In this way, the house is 'filled with books.' Therefore ... even though there are various items and objects in a child's room (in addition to the child himself ...), such as a bed, a table, and so forth ... the true objective of the entire room is that it should be a 'room filled with books'. Every single thing in the child's room should be for the sake of the and in accordance with the Torah (such as his table - where only kosher foods are eaten ... and only holy books are read at it.)

For this reason, it is obligatory to fill the room with at least three seforim - a Chumash, Siddur and Haggadah for Pesach.

""And it would be even better to also add a sefer Tehillim - either a copy of Tehillim in its own right, or a Siddur that has Tehillim included (such as the Chabad Siddurim, but has its own cover page to emphasize that it is a separate work - one of the 24 holy writings and not (only) a part of the prayer book.

CECE@Kinus 5777: Resource Sheets Bayis Molei Sefarim | page 2

…In every private house of every single Jew, there needs to be the basic works of Judaism (in addition to the Chumash, Siddur, Tehillim, and in a Chassidic " home, a copy of Tanya, etc.). These include and should be, in particular, books on Jewish law on issues relating to everyday life, which should be studied very often so that one should know which actions to perform ...

"And when one has made a 'house filled with books,' including the meaning, that the entire existence of one's home and personal belongings will be permeated with the content of these books, in the worlds of the Sages, 'a house fit for the wise.'

"And from a 'house filled with books,' with regard to the private home of every single Jew to 'a house filled with books' with regard to public buildings:

"If every Jewish private home must be 'filled with books', a central and public home for a number of needs even more to be 'filled with books', thereby increasing the study of Torah among everyone who comes there.

Simply, every single place where a public home for Torah, prayer, and and so forth has been, or will be, established, we need to ensure that there are other Jewish books there in addition to essential works such as Siddurim, Chumashim, and Tehillim. It should be 'a house filled with books' in every Torah topic. In other words, a Torah library should be established (or the existing library should be expanded) for the benefit of the entire public so that they can increase and grow in , both in quantity and quality, by studying and learning from many volumes on every Torah subject." - Toras Menachem, Hisvaaduyos 5748, vol 2, page 171.

... it is a that in every single place where Jews are living - and it should come at first from places where Lubavitchers and those who listen to my voice are living, - that libraries should be established. In other words, there should be a "place where there are Jewish books, from works that are suitable for the simplest folk to works that are compatible with the highest levels of study of the revealed Torah and Chassidus.

"This library should be open several hours a day, or at least a short while each day, or at least an hour or two a week. It should be publicized that the library is in a particular place, room, and which day and time it is open. Anyone who wants to come may do so and learn there, and anyone who wishes to read and study at home may borrow books.

And anywhere that already has a library should make it larger and expand it and advertise it. They should make sure that it has the easiest access conditions, as well as easy terms for borrowing and reading the books. And from borrowing and " reading books 'when you lie down and when you rise', this should lead to study.

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אנכי נוטריקון אנא נפשי כתיבת יהבית

Anochi is an abreviation of " I placed my essence into these writings (Torah)...

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We're inextricably tied to space and the energy of that space.

Place Identity Theory: Place and identity are inextricably bound to one another.

 Neighborhood foods, smells, materials, and structures can tell us a lot about who lives, works, and visits there.  Why do we feel that we belong in some places and not in others?  People come to identify with where they live, shape it, however modestly, and are in turn shaped by their environments, creating distinctive environmental autobiographies, the narratives we hold from the memories of those spaces and places that shaped us.  Place identity is a core concept in the field of environmental psychology which proposes that identities form in relation to environments. o Place identity is a sub-structure of a person’s self-identity, and consists of knowledge and feelings developed through everyday experiences of physical spaces.  A sense of place identity derives from the multiple ways in which place functions to provide a sense of belonging, construct meaning, foster attachments, and mediate change.

Place Identity (conceptualized)

“Cognitions about the physical environment that also serve to define who the person is…The cognitions are represented as thoughts, memories, beliefs, values, ideas, preferences, and meanings relating to all the important settings of the person’s daily life, past as well as present…Place-identity cognitions monitor the person‟s behavior and experience in the physical world.” (Proshansky & Fabian, 1987, pp. 22-23)

Identity Claims

“We use our homes to make purposeful and deliberate statements about ourselves … call these “identity claims’, and they‟re designed to reflect our attitudes, our goals, our values, our roles and priorities. You might be displaying cultural iconography, photos of you with your partner, certain books you want people to see. You‟ll find these in your public spaces, places where you‟re trying to essentially say to people visiting „this is who I am and this is what matters to me‟.”

Our walls are often a timeline of our experiences and priorities.

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Feeling Regulators

Much of the stuff we gather about us and the environments we create are not to send messages about our identities but specifically to manage our emotions and thoughts. "Feeling regulators" - family photos, keepsakes, the CDs in the stereo, even the colour of the walls - can help a person reminisce about bygone happy times, focus on an important task or get pumped up for a night on the town.

It seeps into our walls

“I further believe that personality seeps into walls and is slowly released. . .” ― Sam Gosling, Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You

We receive energy messages from the books around us

Feng shui-wise, it is important to note the energy messages you receive from the books in your space.

(From a Feng Shui standpoint, books are viewed as “alive” because they embody the energy that went into writing and creating them.)

One day, the books may fall apart with use, but remember that there's no better death for a book than its having been read too much and by too many.

http://www.torahcafe.com/mrs-miriam-lipskier/kosher-feng-shui-creating-sacred-space- video_61303135d.html

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An early childhood surrounded by books and educational toys will leave positive fingerprints on a person's brain well into their late teens, a two-decade-long research study has shown.

Scientists found that the more mental stimulation a child gets around the age of four, the more developed the parts of their brains dedicated to language and cognition will be in the decades ahead.

--

Farah's results showed that the development of the cortex in late teens was closely correlated with a child's cognitive stimulation at the age of four. All other factors including parental nurturance at all ages and cognitive stimulation at age eight – had no effect.

-- https://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/oct/14/childhood-stimulation-key-brain- development

Our perceptions are influenced by our surroundings.

We are what we see. We are products of our surroundings.

If you make sure that your environment supports your dreams, achieving your dreams becomes radically easier. Whatever you are surrounded by all day – influences you more than you think.

CECE@Kinus 5777: Resource Sheets Bayis Molei Sefarim | page 7

The More Books at Home, The Higher the Childs Education

The presence of books in the home has Evans talked with Education World about a greater influence on a child’s level of the study and the implications of the education than does the parents income, findings. nationality, or level of education. A 20- year study shows how investing in Education World: What surprised you books can make a big difference. most about the study results? Included: Highlights of the study. Dr. Mariah Evans: I think the most important findings are that having books in Educators long have believed that the top predictor of whether a child attained a high the home helps children from families in all level of education was highly-educated walks of life and all around the world go parents. A 20-year international study, further in school, and that the beneficial however, has revealed an even bigger effect is greatest for children from predictor of a child’s academic success: the disadvantaged homes. presence of books in the home. Regardless of nationality, level of education, or their parents economic status, children who grew EW: How would you explain the findings? up with books in their homes reached a higher level of education than those who Evans: We have some hypotheses that we did not, according to the study, Family are testing in current projects. We suspect Scholarly Culture and Educational Success: that: Books and Schooling in 27 Reading with very small children -- and Nations published in Research in Social talking about the books as you read -- Stratification and Mobility. makes a big difference. Having as few as 20 books in the home has Homes in which books are used to a significant impact on a child’s ascent to a adjudicate questions of fact, rather than higher level of education, the study found. debating them as though they were matters The more books in the house, the greater of opinion, make an important contribution the benefit. According to a press release to children’s learning strategies. about the study, In some countries, such as Children watch what their parents do, so China, having 500 or more books in the reading at home is very important in a role- home propels children 6.6 years further in their education. In the United States, the modeling sense. effect is less -- 2.4 years, rather than the Children gain skills and culture/content from 3.2-year average advantage experienced the books in the home. across all 27 countries in the study. These skills and content help children perform better on standardized tests. The research was led by Dr. Mariah Evans, Bookish homes help children like school an associate professor of sociology and and see their teachers as valuable resource economics at the University of Nevada, Reno. She was joined by coaches. Both performing well and liking researchers from UCLA and The Australian school encourage youth to persist in National University. The project is one of education, even when the going gets tough. the largest and most comprehensive studies ever conducted on influences on I admit that is quite a load of hypotheses, the level of education a child will attain. but that’s how we suspect the process works. There is some existing research that CECE@Kinus 5777: Resource Sheets Bayis Molei Sefarim | page 8 supports each of those hypotheses; our reading or owning books themselves and goal is to make an integrated research plan still giving them to the children is not so we can see clearly how the pieces fit something we could find out about from the together and how large the impacts are. data on hand, but it is an unlikely scenario. We know from existing research that EW: Did just the presence of books make reading is a behavior that transfers strongly a difference, or is there data to show how from generation to generation. the books were utilized? EW: How can educators use this Evans: Getting researchers across a wide information? range of countries to include the single question on books was a huge effort and Evans: The study’s findings are important we would not have had a snowballs chance for educators in several ways. They in July of getting more questions in. There emphasize how important it is to teach are excellent data of some of the stages of parents when possible. For example, the process where we can differentiate findings suggest that helping parents learn those things. For example, in the part of our how to read to small children in programs research program predicting performance like Early Head Start is key. The study also on standardized tests, there are excellent suggests that parent education data on many aspects of reading-related emphasizing realistic goals of introducing behavior and on standardized test even a small amount of reading into their performance for an even wider array of and their children’s lives can have countries than we have used here. So we substantial beneficial effects on later school will be able to know what kinds of books, performance. what kind of home context, and what kinds of reading-related behaviors are most relevant to standardized test performance. In fact, were hoping to have our paper on the topic submitted to a peer-reviewed "I think the most important journal soon. findings are that having books in the home helps EW: What, if any, effect did the number of children from families in all adult books in the house versus the walks of life and all around number of children’s books have? That is, the world go further in what if the parents did not own many books but gave their children a lot of school and the beneficial effect is greatest for books? children from Evans: We have only the single measure -- disadvantaged homes." the number of books of any kind around the house. This means that the effect we observe is a kind of average effect: It is likely to be larger for some kinds of books http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/c and smaller for others, but we only observe hat/chat265.shtml the average. The [idea of] parents not CECE@Kinus 5777: Resource Sheets Bayis Molei Sefarim | page 9

Books in the Home Are Strongly Linked to Academic Achievement “Regardless of how many books the family by Tom Jacobs already has, each addition to the home library helps children do better (on the standard test).”

“They enhance the academic performance of children from families as all educational and occupation levels,” the researchers write, “but the enhancement is greater for families with little education and low-status occupations.”

Evans and colleagues Jonathan Kelley and Joanna Sikora examined data from the Program for International Student Assessment, a project of the With the school year ending and report cards being Organization for Economic Cooperation and issued, plenty of parents are no doubt wondering Development. what they can do to boost their children’s academic performance. Newly published research suggests Academic achievement of participating students there is a simple and effective answer: Build up your (most of whom were 15 years old at the time of the home library. study) was determined by a test that the researchers describe as “carefully designed, “We find that books in the home have a positive comprehensive, structured to minimize class and payoff in improved test scores throughout the ethnic bias, and anonymously graded.” world,” writes a research team led by University of Nevada-Reno sociologist Mariah Evans. “The Data was also collected on family demographics, as relationship is strong, clear, and statistically well as the number of books in the student’s family significant in every one of the 42 nations (we home. (There was no information available on the studied).” specific types of volumes.)

Evans made this same point in a 2010 study, which The results were unambiguous: “Regardless of how found “home library size has a very substantial many books the family already has, each addition to effect on educational attainment.” Her new the home library helps children do better (on the research confirms that conclusion using data from standard test),” Evans and her colleagues report. even a larger number of nations — 42, rather than This held true even after parents’ occupations and the 27 in the earlier report. education level and family wealth were taken into It also rebuts critics who contend that having books account. What’s more, the effect was consistently in the home “merely signals children’s elite status to found in both rich and poor nations; in countries gatekeepers, who then grant them unjust with economic systems that lead toward capitalism advantages.” To the contrary, Evans and her and socialism; and “in Asia as well as Europe and the colleagues find books “especially benefit children Americas,” they add. from disadvantaged families.” Within nations, “The gains are not equally great across the entire cultural hierarchy,” the researchers CECE@Kinus 5777: Resource Sheets Bayis Molei Sefarim | page 10 write. “They are larger at the bottom, far below elite While the answer isn’t clear, the researchers point level. Each additional book has a greater impact on to recent research suggesting that “books the performance of someone who only has a small themselves do matter.” home library than it does on the performance of someone from a home overflowing with books. The “If so, a strong policy recommendation in favor of second book and the third book have much greater book drives is justified,” they conclude, adding that impacts than the 102nd or 103rd.” providing children’s books to young mothers may be a very good idea. Still, that 100th (or 500th) volume says something important about the household environment. Being read to, reading for yourself, discussing what you’ve read — that’s the sort of positive spiral that “A home with books as an integral part of the way of can lead to greater academic achievement years life encourages children to read for pleasure and down the line. The Cat in the Hat may turn out to be encourages discussion among family members the catalyst between the covers. about what they have read,” Evans and her colleagues write, “thereby providing children with information, vocabulary, imaginative richness, wide https://psmag.com/books-in-the-home-are- horizons, and skills for discovery and play.” strongly-linked-to-academic-achievement- They concede that their research leaves something 832f3fbb56c8#.tvf8p97ny of a chicken-and-egg question: Are books in the home merely an indication of that sort of “scholarly culture,” or does their presence create an intellectually stimulating family environment? CECE@Kinus 5777: Resource Sheets Bayis Molei Sefarim | page 11

How Books at Home May Affect Child's Brain Later

By Rachael Rettner, Senior Writer Children who lived in more stimulating environments at age 4 had thinner cortexes when they were young

adults, between ages 18 and 20, Avants said.

The cortex changes in thickness throughout life, Avants said. Younger children have thicker cortices, but as we age, the cortex goes through a thinning process that trims away non-essential brain cells, and allows cells to become more specialized, Avants said.

"It really needs to be trimmed down and trained to respond to the environment that we grow up in," Avants

said. "The more stimulated some parts of the brain are, the thinner they become. They've been used more, and The amount of mentally stimulating content in a child's become more specialized for certain tasks," he said. home — such as the number of books that are around — may predict the structure of the child's brain later in In fact, people with thinner cortices, as seen on life, a new study finds. magnetic resonance imaging, tend to have higher IQ's, Avants said. The results show that people who lived in enriched environments during childhood had thinner cortexes The study's finding held even after the researchers later in life. The cortex is the brain's outer layer, and accounted for the parents' IQs. studies have linked thinner cortexes with higher Interestingly, the children's home environment at age 8 intelligence test scores. was not associated with the thickness of their cortexes The findings underscore the importance of early life in young adulthood. This could be because before age 8, experiences in brain development, the researchers said. the brain is particularly sensitive to its environment, the researchers said. However, it's also possible that this is because as children grow, they spend less time at home.

"The time we spend with our parents before we are in "At age 4, the home environment is much more of a school is going to affect us probably for the rest of our dominant player in a child's life," Avants said. At age 8, lives," said study researcher Brian Avants, an assistant children are likely spending a lot of time at school, he professor of radiology at the University of Pennsylvania. said.

Avants and colleagues analyzed information from 64 The study will be presented this week at the annual people who were followed for more than 20 years. meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in New Orleans. When the participants were kids, the researchers evaluated their homes for things that would provide Pass it on: A mentally stimulating environment early in mental stimulation, such as children's books and toys for life may affect brain structure in young adulthood. learning. http://www.livescience.com/23981-parenting-child- brain-development-reading.html