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

All trouble is hard to bear, but hardest of all is the trouble of making a living. When a man becomes poor, hunger irks him every day. There seemed to be a hole in our comrades’ pockets and their money ran out. Before the end of the year they felt the hardships of making a living, since the Land of Israel has been purged of all vanities and there is no source of money save the money that a man brings with him from abroad. And so at length they were compelled to obtain their sustenance from the Exile.

When that time came, Leibush the butcher separated from the group and made up his mind to return to Buczacz. For Leibush said, Have you ever seen a country where nothing is to be had but mutton? From the very beginning he had not been pleased with Jerusalem. What he sought he did not find, while with what he did find his body was not satisfied. On the other hand, Rabbi Yosef Meir also had to prepare to leave. He wished to dwell in the Land of Israel but was not permitted to, on account of an ancient ordinance that no man may dwell in Jerusalem without a wife for more than a single year.

But the Holy One, blessed be he, will use one and the same means for chastising the unrighteous and for doing good to the righteous. The ship on which Leibush returned to the Exile had brought with it the divorced wife of Rabbi Yosef Meir. On her arrival he sent her greetings and afterwards brought her under the bridal canopy, and Rabbi Yosef Meir lived to see a generation of upright, God-fearing and God-loving descendants. Rabbi Pesach and Tzirel were likewise found worthy in the course of their residence in the Holy City, and their house was built by sons and by daughters who in due course of time were enlisted in the legions of the Lord of the Universe.

And so our redeemed brethren dwelled together within the Holy Congregation of the Holy City, joyously fulfilling the commandment to dwell in the Land of Israel; until their end came and they passed away, returning their souls unto Him to whom all souls belong, and leaving their bodies to the bosom of their mother; for they were found worthy to be buried in the soil of the Holy Land on the Mount of Olives at Jerusalem, facing the Temple of the Lord, at the feet of the Holy One, blessed be he; until the time comes for them to awaken to everlasting life, on the day of which it is written: ‘And His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives.’

But Hananiah lived many long years, strength and energy accruing to him year by year. When he was a hundred years old, he was like a lad of twenty in his fulfillment of the commandments and performance of good deeds; and neither weakness nor weariness could be recognized in him. Many fanciful tales are told about that same Hananiah, such as the tale that when our men of good heart arrived on shore at Jaffa, they found Hananiah drying his kerchief in the sun. But this is not the truth, as Hananiah was already in Jerusalem ere his comrades had arrived in the Land. All kinds of fanciful tales are likewise told about his kerchief; for instance, that the Emperor Napoleon saw it and made a flag out of it and was victorious in his wars. But that is not the truth either, since, when Hananiah had passed away, they covered his eyes with his kerchief.

The day on which Hananiah died was the first day of the month of Nisan. He had tied his kerchief round his loins and was about to proceed to the synagogue. Suddenly he felt his legs failing. This fellow’s legs, said he, are entreating him not to bother them; so I shall pray at home.

And when he came to the words, ‘The heavens are the heavens of the Lord; but the earth hath He given to the sons of man,’ his soul departed from him in purity. They came and closed his eyes and covered them with his kerchief. Then with much difficulty they took his prayer book out of his hands, purified his body, and brought him to his eternal home.

Many accompanied him to the cemetery, and many spoke his praises. One praised him for his simplicity, another for his whole-heartedness, a third for his nim-bleness in fulfilling commandments, a fourth for his love of the Land of Israel, a fifth for his faith, and a sixth for all of these qualities together. For all the good and upright qualities which were given to Israel to glorify God’s blessed world were to be found together in Hananiah, peace be upon him.

The sages and rabbis of Jerusalem have long desired that all that befell Hananiah should be put on record in a book. But by reason of harshness of servitude and the urgency of livelihood, as well as because of strife and contention, the matter was deferred from day to day and from year to year; until I came and wrote all the adventures of Hananiah in a book which I have called ‘In the Heart of the Seas.’ This name I have given this book in memory of Hananiah, peace be upon him, who went down into the heart of the sea and came forth peacefully. I have not left out anything I have heard and I have added nothing more than my soul advised.

Some will read my book as a man reads legends, while others will read it and derive benefit for themselves. With regard to the former I quote the words of the Book of Proverbs: ‘But a good word maketh the heart glad’; a good word maketh the soul to rejoice and delivereth from care. But of the latter I say in the words of the Psalmist: ‘But those who wait for the Lord, they shall inherit the land.’

Translated by I.M. Lask

Revised and Annotated by Jeffrey Saks

Title / Cf. Jonah 2:4.

Register / To join the group who will be travelling to the Land of Israel.

Quorum / Minyan; group of 10 men for communal prayer service.

Kerchief / The kerchief — a central symbol throughout this tale — is revisited by Agnon most famously in his story, “The Kerchief”, in A Book That Was Lost .

Lulav and citron / The palm-branch and citron ( etrog ) used as part of the Sukkot celebration (cf. Lev. 23:40).

Robber chief / This element is taken from the legends of the Ba’al Shem Tov.

A certain cave / Cf. Agnon’s “Fable of the Goat”, in A Book That Was Lost .

Two thousand ells / The Sabbath boundary outside of which one is forbidden to travel.

Shaddai / Playing off the homonym: Shaddai (Hebrew for “The Almighty”) being one of God’s Holy names and the Polish siadaj , meaning: Sit!

Took off my shoes / One is forbidden to wear leather shoes on Yom Kippur.

Buczacz / Agnon’s hometown in Eastern Galicia, today Western Ukraine, and the setting for this story’s opening.

Rabbi Akiva / cf. Pesachim 112a.

Him who hath light in Zion / Isaiah 31:9.

Adar / Hebrew month corresponding to February-March.

Kohen / Descendent of the priestly caste.

Slaughterer-and-inspector / Responsible for the production of kosher meat.

Ketuvot / Talmudic tractate dealing with laws of marriage contracts.

Alfasi / R. Isaac Alfasi of Fes, known as Rif (1013–1103), medieval Talmudic commentator.

The King hath brought… / Song of Songs 1:4. Rabbi Gershon is the central character of Agnon’s earlier story HaNidach (“The Banished”), which is set around 1815. Based on this fact we can speculate that “In the Heart of the Seas” is set around 20–30 years later.

Rabbi Shmuel Yosef / Agnon’s own name; the author has retrojected himself as a character into his own story.

Stryi / A town about 135 km. west of Buczacz.

Esther / Agnon’s own wife, Esther née Marx (1889–1973), similarly retrojected into the story.

Rabbi Avigdor / One of the protagonists of the earlier mentioned story HaNidach .

Oh that the salvation… / Ps. 53:7.

Draw me… / Song of Songs 1:4.