S. Agnon - Two Scholars Who Were in our Town and other Novellas

And what took place after that? There was no difference between before and after, none at all. Reb Moshe Pinchas would sit and study, his sons and daughters grew up, and his father-in-law fell ill and passed on. When he died, Reb Moshe Pinchas was deprived of his means of support and forced once again to take on students for a fee. And since he was burdened with sons and daughters he was not afforded the ability to be selective and say, “This pupil suits me and this one does not.” And from to time, he even had to take on an unworthy student.

23.

And now we shall lament the fickleness of time. Three or four generations back nothing had been more beloved than Torah, but two to three generations ago Torah began a gradual decline. (God forbid that Torah should decline, rather despisers of Israel should decline!) The study houses remained full, but the students studied for their own gain, in order to be called “Rabbi” and be seated in places of honor. Albeit, the decline was not like that in our own generation, but the beginning of a decline is still a decline. Not many days had passed before Reb Moshe Pinchas had grown to detest his students and his students to detest him, for they sought wit without substance and he had studied for the sake of true Torah. They say that he did not find even one worthy student, and if he did find a worthy student he was one of the poor ones who were unable to pay tuition. The elders of that generation, who would act according to their custom and vie with one another in matters of law, might have mistakenly assumed that all was as it should be. And yet in truth the world was not the same and norms were not normal. And as the number of dedicated hearts dwindled, the number of books proliferated, and anyone who could rub his fingers together would write “innovative works” and bring them to the print house. However, in contrast to those basketfuls of hollow gourds there were found some truly sharp analyses, such as the book of the true scholar Rabbi Shlomo HaLevi Horowitz, which clarified a number of laws in matters that had resurfaced in recent generations and had not been addressed by the books of the earlier scholars. About Reb Moshe Pinchas, we have nothing to relay. Reb Moshe Pinchas was involved with nothing but Torah. And when they would mention him in praise, they would add, “He’s like a mountain palm — perseveres in difficult conditions, but his fruit is so meager.” He had already despaired of the rabbinate and, needless to say, no town in need of a rabbi ever approached him. The story of what he had done to a leading Jewish town had spread throughout the land. And towns that needed an instructor found themselves a scholar more agreeable than he.

24.

When Reb Shlomo had advised the people of his town to appoint Reb Moshe Pinchas to succeed him, tears had streamed from their eyes. After all the ill will that this man had aimed at him, their rabbi was still striving to help him even though several members of the rabbi’s own family were seeking to take over his position. Could there be in this generation a person so righteous that he was able to overcome human nature, relinquish his honor and bestow kindness upon his affronter? As a result, the townspeople had not hesitated and had sent a letter of appointment to Reb Moshe Pinchas, as we have recounted. Now we shall relate a little something concerning what happened to Reb Shlomo after Reb Moshe Pinchas had sent the town away empty-handed.

When news reached Reb Shlomo that Reb Moshe Pinchas had withdrawn from the rabbinate because he had not wanted to receive any benefit from him, Reb Shlomo’s countenance darkened like the edges of a cauldron and the matter gnawed relentlessly at his heart. Reb Moshe Pinchas had so begrudged him that he had shamed a town of Jewish eminence and was willing to live impoverished. Reb Shlomo remembered the days when the two of them had been ensconced in the same town. One sitting at the height of honor and the other living a life of sorrow without joy, without good fortune and without a wife, exhausting himself over Torah study, and in the end when Reb Moshe Pinchas had cited the law accurately, he hadn’t told him, “Well said!” but rather had belittled him and thrown in his face that he still remained a bachelor. And it is said that from that time on mirth had never again graced Reb Shlomo’s face. One day discussion began to revolve around the sermon incident. Reb Shlomo said, “Perhaps I should have let him triumph over me, but then again did I prevail only for the sake of my own pride? Surely it was for the sake of the Torah that I beat him and saved him from stumbling.” Nonetheless, Reb Shlomo’s mind would not rest.

25.

We must once again mention that which we are inclined to forget, namely the grim one, who reaps without having sown. In those days the elderly teacher passed away, the one who was not a rabbi but had occupied the teaching post in our town as an instructor. When the previous rabbi had gone to meet his Maker, our town remained unable to find a suitable replacement. They had brought in a rabbi from one of the small towns and appointed him as an instructor until they could find a rabbi commensurate with their prestige, and one worthy of the exceptional sages who by tradition had served as rabbis in our town. A year passed, then two, and ten, and twenty, until forty years had gone by and in all those years they had not approved any rabbi. At first, because for every rabbi who had sought the rabbinate in our town the town elders had said, “The post is bigger than he.” After that, it was out of habit. And after that, it was out of respect for the old instructor. When he died, many rabbis had come to eulogize him, some of them intending from the outset to seek the rabbinate. However, the town leaders had already focused their attention on Reb Shlomo. And even though Reb Shlomo’s town was bigger than ours, and was the town of his father the great sage, yet our town was superior since it was one of the long-established communities, and even before the year 1648 had been famously praiseworthy, having been mentioned in a responsum of the Maharshal. There’s even been speculation that several great rabbis had begun their service in our town. And after all, if it was his wish to serve in a place of his ancestors the sage Rabbi Pinchas, Reb Shlomo’s great-grandfather, had served in our town and prior to his passing had predicted that one of his descendants would someday reside in our midst. And because of this, he had decreed that no one should be buried next to him before the passage of a hundred years, and that the deceased must be of his seed.

26.

Several of the prominent men of our town journeyed to Reb Shlomo and brought him a letter of appointment. Reb Shlomo received them with great honor and reminisced with them about the good years he had spent in our town and he spoke of the praiseworthiness of our town and its inhabitants, and the highest praise he heaped upon the mighty Torah sages, the most eminent in the land, who had led the town. And he added that it would be an honor for a rabbi to be ensconced in a holy and splendid assembly where great rabbis had served, and that it was a great privilege for him to be offered the rabbinate of our town. The emissaries heard this and were filled with joy and said, “And it will be a privilege for us that our Rabbi Shlomo will be residing in our midst. And even our sagacious rabbis, who rest in peace, will derive contentment that he sits in their place.” The noble wife of the rabbi rejoiced immensely, for since the day she had left the town of her birth she had longingly yearned to return, and now that she had heard he was being offered the rabbinate of our town she said, “This is the day I had been hoping for.” A deep sigh was wrought from the heart of Reb Shlomo, he pondered briefly, and finally he said, “For my own private reasons, I cannot accept this rabbinate.” His wife swooned and began to weep. And he, who forever had honored her more than life itself, was now unmoved by her tears, and it was evident that nothing in the world could move him to his change his mind. The emissaries said, “Rabbi, is there a town on this earth as fine as ours, are there people on this earth as pleasant as ours, are there on this earth lovers of Torah and peace as we have in our town — and not only that, but they all love you, our Rabbi, and you, our Rabbi, love our town and it goes without saying also your wife. We will give you time to reconsider, and we implore you not to turn us away.” Reb Shlomo gazed upon them with unfettered affection and took the hand of one of them, as one shakes hands with his friend in agreement. And he repeated, “I have already told you, for reasons that are sealed up within me, that I am unable to accept.” The emissaries understood on their own that the hidden reason was that Reb Moshe Pinchas had not been among the signatories on the letter of appointment. But they reasoned that if they appointed Reb Moshe Pinchas to a judgeship in town, Reb Shlomo would acquiesce to take the rabbinate. They said to Reb Shlomo, “Rabbi, we are going back to our town and will return another time. And we trust that meanwhile the Rabbi will relent and not reject our town.” And when the emissaries returned to our town it was agreed in the presence of the entire congregation to take on Reb Moshe Pinchas as a religious judge, on the condition that Reb Shlomo be installed as rabbi. Reb Moshe Pinchas said, “I already told him that I do not want to be anywhere near him, neither in this life nor in the world to come.” So Reb Shlomo did not accept the rabbinate in our town because of Reb Moshe Pinchas and our town did not obtain Reb Moshe Pinchas as a judge because of the grudge.