S. Agnon - The Parable and Its Lesson - A Novella

He looked at me as if he were puzzled why I was standing next to him. He had definitely motioned me to come up, but since he had taken flight to worlds where people like us can never go, his visage had altered, and what people like us think they see is often not so.

Our Master continued looking at me and quoted the verse that God said to Moses after the sin of the golden calf, But you remain standing here with Me . Then he added the verse from the laws in the book of Exodus By the word of two witnesses or three shall a case be established . I would be surprised if there was anyone in the synagogue who could fathom our Master’s intention. I myself began to understand it only when he was halfway through his sermon, for after he concluded the eulogy he continued to sermonize. That is one thing I take pride in: if I do not understand our Master’s words right away, later on I do. I heard from the saintly Rabbi Isaac the Chastiser, the son of Reb Yedidiah Lieberman, the nephew of the holy Rabbi Mikhl of Nemirov, may the Lord avenge his blood, that the deeds of the righteous correspond to their thoughts, and therefore their words are coherent from beginning to end.

19

Our Master began as follows: “My brothers, dear members of the congregation, you who love God, blessed be His holy name. I will offer no words of rebuke today, for God has visited upon us a double measure of punishment for our transgressions.” Our Master turned to the Holy Ark and said: “You, O Lord, know that I had in mind only the sins known to us. Our hidden sins and iniquities and transgressions are known only to You.” He then recited a verse from the book of Ezra. Which one it was I forget because I could not find a single copy of the full Bible anywhere in town and thus was unable to check the text. Our Master then turned to the congregation and continued: “God is righteous, and so our only task is to ask for the strength to withstand our sufferings until He will deem them sufficient. And we must never stop hoping for them to end”—and here our Master wiped away a tear with his talit. That tear was surprising, for our Master never teared up in public except when he mentioned his holy teacher, may God redeem his blood. When he faced God in prayer he certainly shed tears, but not when he faced people. This is why I think his eyes always glistened and a light shone from them, even in the hour of his passing.

Our Master continued: “Nor will I offer any words of Torah. Words of Torah require a joyful heart and a clear mind, and all of us here today are weighed down by mourning and fasting. But the day is long and we stand in a holy place sanctified by Torah and prayer, and so let us say some things about Torah and prayer. In truth, in a holy place we should not even speak about mundane matters, but since I want to talk about silence, let speech come and serve the cause of silence.”

Here our Master stopped talking and just stood there. I stood beside him in mute astonishment and the whole congregation stood in hushed silence. Nothing stirred in the synagogue other than the rustle of his snowy white curls. Because of headaches resulting from an old sword wound, our Master never shaved his head, even for Shavuot. Then he raised his eyes and looked out upon the assembled. He scrutinized each and every person to see how much he could absorb.

After surveying the congregation, our Master closed his eyes and said: “Though I have not seen it, I have heard that there are people who do not restrain themselves from talking during the services and even while the Torah is being read. I am not referring to those who are compelled by circumstances to do so. Rather, I have in mind those whose vocal chords function independently, everywhere, all the time, on any subject, for no purpose in particular and for no purpose in general, even during the services, even during the reading of the Torah. When you tell such people that what they are doing is not appropriate, they answer you by saying that, yes, it is indeed forbidden to talk during the services, and so on. Do you think they hear what they are saying? No, they continue chattering away. Then there are those who, when you rebuke them for talking, reply, ‘For only two or three words spoken aloud you are making such a fuss?’

“And so, my beloved friends, as I have said, I am not here to chastise you for the sin of talking during the services and the Torah reading. One only rebukes those whose actions demand it, whereas you have been blessed by God not to be guilty of this transgression, and you are not in need of my reprimand. But since we are in a house of God consecrated to Torah and prayer, and since it is customary to offer admonitions concerning this particular sin, let me say a few words about it. Not by castigating you but by way of a parable.

“The midrash on Song of Songs states that a parable should not be regarded as something trivial. It can lead us to understand what the Torah is saying. The midrash offers a parable itself to illustrate this point. A king had a gold coin or a precious pearl that went missing in his palace. How would he find it? With a pennyworth wick of the candle that would lead him to it. Likewise, a parable can lead us to discover what the Torah is saying. So do not regard it as a trivial thing.”

The shamash interrupted his narration and observed:

Most people today know this parable, but in our Master’s day collections of midrash were largely unavailable, except for Midrash Tanhuma, and so any teaching from the midrash was regarded as something brand new. Furthermore, whenever our Master would cite a parable from the Talmud or the midrash, he quoted it word for word, as “it is like a king who. ..” But when he told a parable in his own words he never introduced it that way. I once heard a theory about this. In the past, kings had stature and were worthy examples for parables; today, when their power has been diminished, as is the case with the Polish kings who did not rise up to save themselves during the Khmelnitski pogroms, it is not flattering to compare anything to them. I now return to the words of our Master, may the memory of the righteous be for a blessing.

20

“I bring the parable I will tell not to illuminate a point in the Torah but to illuminate a point about transgression against it. Maimonides, of blessed memory, says in his Code that it is a positive commandment to pray each day, as it is written, You shall serve the Lord your God . The Oral Tradition teaches that 'serving' entails prayer, as it is written, And serve Him with all your heart , and the Sages have taught, What is the service of the heart? It is prayer.”

Whenever he quoted a biblical verse our Master would recite it in a melody, the way a melamed teaches Torah to children, and he would explain it as he went along. Each one would receive it according to his capacity. There were about two hundred householders in Buczacz in our Master’s day, besides servants and wayfarers, and they all eagerly drank in his words.

Our Master then noted that according to the opinion of Naḥmanides the commandment to pray is rabbinically ordained, and then he cited Maimonides’ view in his Book of the Commandments that prayer is a commandment mandated by the Torah itself. He analyzed both positions and came out for Maimonides’ view and against that of Naḥmanides, after which he turned to Reb Akiva Shas and asked him, “Is this not so, Reb Akiva?” Reb Akiva nodded and said, “Certainly, certainly.” Flustered, he added, “But does our Master need me to agree?” The interpreters of mystic secrets explained his seeking Reb Akiva’s opinion this way: according to those who delve into secret wisdom, Naḥmanides was descended from the right earlock of the great teacher Rabbi Akiva, and since our Master was going against Naḥmanides’ view, he sought confirmation for his approach from Reb Akiva Shas in deference to Reb Akiva’s venerable namesake. Personally, I have no concern with secret matters. Would that I could comprehend even a fraction of the Torah’s revealed meaning.