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

‘Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When the Lord turneth the captivity of his people, Let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.’

Rabbi Shmuel Yosef, the son of Rabbi Shalom Mordekhai ha-Levi asked Rabbi Moshe, Perhaps you know the tune to which your brother, Rabbi Gershon of blessed memory, sang the verse, ‘The King hath brought me into his chambers’?

That tune, said he, it is not our practice to sing because my brother departed from the world therewith; but I know the tune to which he sang the verse, ‘Draw me, we will run after thee.’ If you wish to hear it, I shall sing it for you.

All those assembled lowered their heads, and Rabbi Moshe began singing, ‘Draw me, we will run after thee.’

Then Rabbi Yosef Meir rose and said, Would that we might merit to sing the verse, ‘The King hath brought me into his chambers’ in Jerusalem, the holy city. Those assembled responded, Amen, and they proceeded to their homes in peace.

When they left the House of Study, the whole town was already deep in slumber. The houses lay in the secret place of night, concealed by the darkness. The moon was still hidden in the skies, and only stars lit up the summits of the mountains. Buczacz lies on a mountain, and it seemed as though the stars were bound to her rooftops. Suddenly the moon came out and lit up all the town. The river Strypa, which had previously been covered by darkness, suddenly gleamed silver, and the market fountain overflowed in two silver rivulets. One of the company said, I never in all my life knew that this town was so pleasant. It seems to me that there is nowhere in the world a town as pleasant as ours.

That, responded his companion, is just what occurred to me this very moment.

Every city, remarked Rabbi Alter the slaughterer, in which decent and pleasant people live is decent and pleasant.

And now, added Rabbi Alter the teacher, those decent and pleasant people are going to go up to a truly pleasant place.

At that very moment one of the women was saying to another, I don’t know what has come over me: for first I think that I have never seen such a lovely night, and then it seems to me, on the contrary, I have already seen such a night, and the very things I hear now I have heard before. I know that is not so, yet I cannot be certain it is not so.

To which her companion replied, Perhaps we have already journeyed once before to the Land of Israel, and everything we have heard and seen here we heard and saw before on some other night.

In that case, said the first, why are we here and not in the Land of Israel?

My friend, said the other, we have already been there.

If we have already been there, said the first, how is it we are here?

My friend, said the other, ere you go asking how we come to be here, I shall ask you how we came to be exiled from the Land of Israel and how we came to be scattered among the nations.

I cannot make out what you are talking about, said the first.

My friend, said the other, didn’t you tell me that it suddenly seemed to you that you had seen such a very night as this before?

Well, they hired themselves two long, high wagons covered with a kind of booth, and turned their household goods into money except for those utensils which they would require for the way; and they packed away their money in their clothes. They filled their boxes with pots and pans, and glasses and ladles and plates, and smoked meat, and fine pellets of baked dough that last a long time without going bad; and then they went to request permission from the dead to depart.

Some went to the graves of their fathers and their kindred, while others went to the graves of great pious folk, the constant props of the world, who had accepted burial outside the Land, entailing the pangs of having to make their way to the Land of Israel by rolling through caves and tunnels at the End of Days, all in order that meanwhile they might protect the town from evil decrees. At the graves our company burst out weeping, for they were very moved; the graves of the pious always arouse people to repentance. And they went on weeping until they reached the threshold of the cemetery. There they turned their faces back to the graves and looked at them.

Then came Rabbi Abraham the circumciser, who had inducted more than half the town into the covenant of our Father Abraham, may he rest in peace. He took a circumcision knife and passed it under the soles of each and every one of the company, saying, Children, I make this blade to cut under you in order that the dust of your city may not hold you. And he likewise passed the knife under his own feet.

Thereupon they all burst out weeping and went back home. They put on big boots especially prepared for the journey, with heavy iron nails on the soles to make them last a long time; the boots could be heard from one end of the town to the other when they walked. And that is why people in Buczacz say of noisy folk, They make as much noise in town as if they were going up to the Land of Israel.

They made the rounds of all the synagogues and Houses of Study in the town and passed through all the streets, discoursing about the Torah, praying and giving charity, so that they might never have to return to those places to make amends for any blemishes which they had been the cause of. Then they went from house to house to take leave of the living; and they asked each and every person separately, Perhaps you have something against me, or perhaps I owe you some money? Then they opened the charity boxes of Rabbi Meir the Miracle Worker and made bundles of the money to take it to their brethren in the Land of Israel; and they kissed each and every mezuzah on each and every doorpost, until they reached the river Strypa.

When they reached the Strypa, they paused to beg indulgence of the waters, saying, All the rivers run into the sea. We pray you, waters of the Strypa, do not be angry with us on our way. Finally they entered their own House of Study and prayed. At length they mounted their wagons, the men in one wagon and the women in another. The wagoner took the men’s wagon and entrusted that of the women to Hananiah, whom he had appointed his assistant, as is the practice of wagoners who have two wagons and entrust one to one of the travelers and do not charge him any fare.

All the town went out to speed them on their journey, except the rabbi. For the rabbi used to say, Those who proceed to the Land of Israel before the coming of the Messiah remind me of the boys who run ahead of the bridegroom and bride on the way to the bridal canopy.

They departed the town and entrusted themselves to the horses. The horses lowered their heads and sniffed the way they were required to take. The wagoner mounted one wagon and Hananiah the other. Then the wagoner tugged at the horses’ reins and urged them on. The horses raised their heads and prepared for the way, but still delayed their going, lest anyone had forgotten something and had to return. But nothing was to be heard save the sound of people weeping at leave-taking; so the horses lifted their legs and started off.

Hananiah took the whip in his right hand and cracked it over the heads of the horses, who turned their heads, looked at him, and went on. Those of the women who were accustomed to travel to markets and fairs said, Never in our lives have we had such an easy journey as this.

Are you a wagoner? the women then asked Hananiah.

No, said he, I am not a wagoner, but horses are horses and know what is required of them, so they go.

Are you telling me, said the wagoner to Hananiah, that you are not a wagoner? The very way you crack your whip shows that you are one.

Never did I drive a wagon and horses in my life, said Hananiah, except for the time when I saw a Jew and his horses drowning in the river and got them out and took him back to his home.