Two Scholars Who Were in our Town and other Novellas

by S. Y. Agnon

  20.

  Not too many days had passed before two men arrived at our town and in their hands the rabbinical appointment for “Our teacher, the erudite and astute rabbi, great scholar excelling in the entirety of Torah, etc., etc., and so on and so forth, may his name be of blessed glory, the sage, Rabbi Moshe Pinchas, a just and upright man of Israel.” They parked their carriage at the inn and entered, washed their hands, changed their clothes and went to see Reb Moshe Pinchas. At that same time, his wife Shaindel was sitting in the nursing chair, suckling her small son. Next to her stood her mother Elka, looking at the baby who was small for his years and yet melancholy for his age. Shaindel herself was also melancholy both on her own account and on account of her children, since as soon as one arose from his sick bed his brother was already laid up sick. And because she was immersed in gloom she flung it in the face of the entire world that it had been created only to oppress her in suffering. By her feet lay the cat, grooming itself. Elka observed this and remarked, “Your cat is washing itself.” Shaindel grumbled and said, “What have you come to tell me?” Said Elka, “If the cat is licking its fur, it’s a sign that guests are getting ready to arrive.” Shaindel said, “A house in which the head of the household is not found, is not likely to have guests found in it. God forbid that I should say anything against Moshe Pinchas, who doesn’t move from the study house. And where else would he sit? In this garbage heap? But this much I’ll tell you, Mother, my strength has ebbed and I don’t know why the Angel of Death tarries and doesn’t just come and take me from this world. It would better for him to kill me a thousand times a day. Why is it that all day long my eyelashes twitch and don’t stop twitching?” Elka asked, “Is it the right or the left eyelid?” Shaindel said. “You are a strange woman, Mother, what’s the difference whether it’s the right one or the left one?” Said Elka, “There is a big difference in it. If it’s the left, it’s a sign the guests are coming.” Shaindel said, “You see, Mother, it just so happens that it’s the lashes of the right one that are twitching. That being the case, there are no guests or anything else, only drivel. Now I’m going to fix the lunch meal. The fire is burning and the pot is boiling and I am sitting here babbling as if it’s Shabbat afternoon after the noodle pudding.”

  21.

  Meanwhile, the two dignitaries entered the town. They came across a little girl and asked her, “Whereabouts here is the house of Rabbi Moshe Pinchas?” The little one ran to her mother and in a loud excited voice exclaimed, “Two Jews are asking after Father. Mother, had you seen their garments, you would have thought they were going to a wedding!” Shaindel scolded her daughter and said, “Why are you hollering? What, am I deaf? If they’re asking, let them ask.” The little one said, “Mother, Mother, on my life, on my life, I’m not lying! Two important Jews dressed like fathers-of-the-bride came and asked me, Whereabouts here is Rabbi Moshe Pinchas’s house?” Shaindel said to her mother, “Go outside and see what this child is jabbering about, screaming non-stop like a crow.” Tears flowed from the child’s eyes and she said while crying, “I’m not screaming! I’m not screaming! I’m telling the truth! I’m telling the truth!” Said Shaindel, “Either you stop or get away from here. I will not tolerate yelling and crying. Oy, if only I had a place to escape to from here. How can one live in a house with incessant crying?”

  Elka stepped outside and saw two important personages elegantly dressed. Guests like these, dressed in this manner, are not normally found in our town. She said to them, “Come in, honored guests, come in. This is the home of Rabbi Moshe Pinchas. Rabbi Moshe Pinchas is not at home right now. If you would be so kind as to wait a moment, I shall send the little one to bring him.” The dignitaries came inside and sat down. Said Shaindel to her mother, “Mother, watch the baby and I’ll go and get him, for if the little one goes to call him he will not heed her.” She wrapped herself and went to his study house. She was gone for as long as she was gone and returned with her husband. Reb Moshe Pinchas greeted the guests and sat down. He took the salt box that was on the table and fidgeted with it, while wondering why these people had come and what they wanted of him. One of them stood up from his chair and said, “Rabbi, we have come for the purpose of…” He did not finish his sentence before taking out the rabbinical appointment, handing it to Reb Moshe Pinchas. Reb Moshe Pinchas read it and accepted their proposal. His mother-in-law heard and sent for her husband. He heard and came over. They fetched fresh water from the spring and brought rose petal preserves so that the guests could refresh themselves.

  The emissaries sat with their rabbi until the time for the afternoon prayers had arrived. In the meantime, a few of the town dignitaries gathered and came to greet the visitors and congratulate Reb Moshe Pinchas on having been elevated to the standing of rabbi. Elka prepared a meal for the guests, as well as for the next day’s luncheon and evening meal. And at every meal new faces came to pay homage to the Torah, and at every meal Reb Moshe Pinchas shared wondrous new insights, something he had not been in the habit of doing up to this point, as he was not one to converse with just anyone and if he did converse he did so only in truncated conversations. And when the dignitaries had left for the inn, his father-in-law Reb Meirtche summoned the tailor and the shoemaker to make clothing and shoes for Reb Moshe Pinchas, since the clothing and shoes that had been made for his wedding were worn out. The tailor labored at his craft as did the shoemaker, for they knew that so long as their work was not complete Reb Moshe Pinchas would be detained from leaving and an entire congregation would be left in limbo, like an abandoned wife without a divorce forever chained to her husband. And as such, they hastened to finish and did justice to their craft. And when Reb Moshe Pinchas donned his new clothes, his appearance truly was transformed into that of a rabbi. While all this was going on, his mother-in-law prepared everything that was needed for the journey. And when all was ready, Reb Moshe Pinchas boarded the coach and half the town came to escort him, all being jubilant that this talented scholar who had toiled in Torah was so esteemed by the Torah itself that people had come from another town to secure him for a great honor. And even his mother came to part from her only son, leaning on her cane, and in her hands a really large loaf like the ones she used to give him in the early days. She gazed upon her son and said, “My son, you look a rabbi. If only your father had been fortunate enough to see you this way, he would still be alive. The miller mills all his days, mills and mills endlessly, and in the end he mills his own bones until he dies. And I too shall die, and I don’t know where I will be taken. Remember, my son, and don’t forget that I carried you and gave birth to you and nursed you, and I implore you now to admonish the evil angels lest they vilify me.”

  And thus Reb Moshe Pinchas boarded the coach, dressed in his new finery that had that very day left the hands of the tailor, with the two dignitaries, emissaries of their town, sitting one to his right and the other to his left. After he had completed the traveler’s prayer he lit upon two peculiar questions that all the rabbis had wrestled with: why does Maimonides never mention the traveler’s prayer and why would the Maharam of Rothenburg recite the prayer in his house upon departing on a journey? In the heat of the events which transpired later on his observations on that issue were forgotten, and it is a shame that such a fine pearl of wisdom was lost to us.

  22.

  And so the carriage left town and arrived at a crossroads, where Reb Moshe Pinchas looked down the road leading to the town that had hired him as Rabbi. He recalled the day on which he had gone there on foot and he remembered everything that had befallen him in that town. He mused to himself, “Here I am, traveling by carriage to the very place where the residents rose up to swallow me whole because I sought to undermine their shepherd.” He suppressed the anger in his heart with words of Torah and began to expound on the verse, “Do not come to anger on the road,” the text of which the Gemara interpreted to mean, “When on the road, do not engage in matters of law.” And, therefore, he began discussing other matters.
The two emissaries were reminded of Reb Shlomo, their rabbi, who had left their town and encouraged them to take on Reb Moshe Pinchas as their next rabbi. And since they remembered their rabbi, they also remembered his righteousness. One of them said to Reb Moshe Pinchas, “I’m wondering, Rabbi, why you haven’t asked us how it came to be that we selected you as our new rabbi.” Reb Moshe Pinchas said, “I was also wondering, but was preoccupied with matters of Torah law and forgot to ask you.” The dignitary said, “In that case, I will tell you. When our great rabbi the sage Rabbi Shlomo, may he live long, was elevated to the seat of his father the sage, of blessed memory, the town elders asked him, ‘Our rabbi, whom shall we put in your place and who is worthy to sit in your chair?’ He said to them, ‘If you want to bestow joy on our hallowed Torah, select Rabbi Moshe Pinchas as your rabbi, for he is a genuine scholar among the true scions of the Torah.’ And inasmuch as our great rabbi was much beloved by us, we hastened to do his bidding.” Reb Moshe Pinchas’s expression began to undergo a transformation. After a short while, he said to the coachman, “Stop!” They assumed that he had to attend to a call of nature and stopped the carriage. He stepped down and took his bags. They asked him, “What’s this?” He said to them, “Any kindness that comes to me from that man – I don’t want it!” They said to him, “Rabbi, please relent and don’t embarrass a leading Jewish town.” He waved them away and said to them, “Go safely and in peace.”

  What more can we add and what more is there to tell? There is nothing more to add and nothing further to tell, except that once he had parted from them he did an about-face and began walking towards his hometown. The dignitaries chased him after him and called out, “Rabbi, Rabbi!” Since they saw that he was not listening to them they said, “Please come back into the carriage and we’ll bring you home.” He shooed them away with his hand and did not return. They stood there unable to decide whether to pursue him or to go on their way. And while they were standing there, he had covered so much distance that they could no longer see him. They lost their resolve and re-boarded the carriage. They returned to their town, and he to his.

  Reb Moshe Pinchas returned to his town and entered the study house. His wife and all her father’s household got word and rushed over, and with them his sons and daughters. They asked him, “Why did you come back?” He responded to them in the same words he had used with the two dignitaries. Shaindel wept and cried out, “Oy, what have you done to us?” He sat there in silence. And when his father-in-law reminded him of the expense he had gone to for the clothing, etc., he stood up, removed his top coat, and said to him, “Take it and leave me be.”

  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 thei
r 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.