Agnon Speaks

My favorite Hebrew author has always been S.Y. Agnon. His thoroughly warm style, fashioned after the style of the Midrashim, sets him apart from other modern authors. His biography is a kaleidoscope of Jewish life: his birth in a small Polish town, permeated with chasidut; his years in Germany permeated with the spirit of Haskalah; his return to Israel and his total emergence in our traditional values; his Talmudic learning and piety, all reflected in the amazing number of his publications.

For my bar mitzvah, I got a set of all of Agnon's books published up to then. I was totally absorbed by the style and characters of his books. I even tried my hand at imitating his style by writing -- at the age of 14 -- a short story totally inspired by the Agnon stories I had read. I went further -- I mailed him a copy of my story. Weeks and weeks passed. Finally a handwritten letter came to me at my home in Sweden from Talpyiot -- Agnon's home -- part written by his wife, Esther, and part by him. They both encouraged me to come to Eretz Yisrael and continue writing there … All this happened in 1936.

Ten years later, my late brother Gabriel, who had made aliyah, was standing in line to board a bus in Jerusalem, when who was standing in front of him but Agnon. They entered into a conversation. When Agnon heard that my brother was from Sweden, he said, "You know, ten years ago, I received a letter from a young boy in Sweden …" Of course he was referring to me, and when I heard about the conversation, I was rightfully happy.

In 1964, when Agnon received the coveted Nobel Prize in literature, I was invited by the Swedish authorities to attend the festivities, but to my everlasting regret, I could not take advantage of the invitation to the celebration, which turned out to be a real Kiddush Hashem (Sanctification of G-d's Name) …

A new book has been published with a large number of quotations from Agnon's various books and other writings. These pearls of wisdom and Jewish insights are worth making widely known. I therefore have selected and translated from Hebrew a number of them, which I hope my readers will enjoy:

"A Jew must always consider that he is only one on earth and that there is no one else like him. Because if there already would be someone like him, why was there any need for him to be born? Thus every Jew must contribute something unique and new to the world. He must correct things that need correction, until all worlds have been corrected and Mashiach can come soon."

"Man does not appreciate what he has, only the things he does not have."

"Sometimes good fortune runs after man, but he flees from it. When good fortune sees this, it turns away from that man and abandons him."

"Don't ask yourself if you are satisfied, but ask yourself if others are satisfied with you."

"Real love does not need complicated causes. Sometimes one drop of perfume will create an ocean of love."

"The cholent turns out according to the guest at your meal."

"If you stand for the truth, you are the majority, even if you are alone."

"You must have a bit of humility towards Eretz Yisrael; don't think you are doing the land a favor."

"I would prefer a thousand deaths to one embarrassment."

"Our salvation will result from our tsores (woes)."

"Our mouths are used to talking, but if we would check carefully what we are saying, we would find that we have not spoken even one word."

"Man should always organize his house and not squander his time, because life was given for harmony and not for anarchy."

"As long as a man is alive, everybody will say they are as smart as he. The moment he dies, they recognize what they lost."

"Even a hundred wise men cannot interpret the mind of a fool."

"If the goyim would not remind us that we are Jews, we would forget that we are Jews."

"Whosoever is a mensch is a Jew, and whoever is a Jew is a mensch."

"Wherever Jews live, there is life."

"A Jew may violate all the laws, but he will not violate the command of human compassion."

"When you learn Torah, the Torah protects you, and if you perform a mitzvah, that mitzvah keeps you from performing an aveyra (sin)."

"The joy of a mitzvah cannot dwell in the heart of someone who is void of mitzvot."

"There are poems that lead to action, and actions that lead to poems."

"When somebody feels that the world around is dark, let him read a book and see a different world."

"A city with many wise men will have many collectors of books."

"A poem without vocalization is like a wedding without dance."

"A rich man is someone who prepares for winter during the summer."

"If I had not fasted every Monday and Thursday, I would have died of hunger."

"The tsaddikim (righteous) mourn inside but rejoice outside."

"It was a great idea by the Almighty that he selected us from among all the nations and gave us the Torah and eternal life; but on the other hand, it is difficult to understand that at the same time He created all kinds of people who are taking our life away from us because we keep the Torah."

"If you listen to your doctor, you don't need a doctor."

"A tailor who abandons his trade is still called a tailor, but a Jew who abandons his Torah, is no longer called a Jew."

"After the composition of the Tenach was completed and the authors of the Midrashim died, the Shechina (Divine Presence) settled on the composers of holy poems -- piyyutim -- which they have added to our prayers."

Agnon's precious book, Yamim Noraim, an anthology of sayings related to the High Holidays that our great sages of yore left behind, has accompanied most of us through the most solemn holidays of the year. The fiction Agnon wrote was thus only the outer shell of his literary genius. His real genius is found in his own personal character and attitude to Judaism and to the ideal life and attitude of a Jew.