Childhood: A Journal for the Study and
Research of Children’s Culture
‫ כתב עת לחקר תרבות ילדים‬:‫ילדּות‬
1 ‫גיליון מספר‬
Volume No. 1
‫ ד"ר גליה שנברג‬,‫ ד"ר שי רודין‬,‫ ד"ר שרה מאיר‬:‫מערכת‬
Editorial Board: Dr. Sara Meyer, Dr. Shai Rudin,
Dr. Galia Shenberg
Academic Council: Professor Tamar Alexander,
Professor Miri Baruch, Professor William Freedman,
Professor Uzi Shavit, Professor Aliza Shenhar
,‫ פרופ' מירי ברוך‬,‫ פרופ' תמר אלכסנדר‬:‫מועצה אקדמית‬
‫ פרופ' עליזה שנהר‬,‫ פרופ' עוזי שביט‬,‫פרופ' ביל פרידמן‬
‫ המכללה לעיצוב‬,‫ באדיבות מכללת תילתן‬,‫ קסניה לוגובסקי‬:‫איור הכריכה‬
‫ולתקשורת חזותית‬
Cover Drawing: Ksenia Lugosky, by courtesy of Tiltan College for
Design & Multimedia
‫אלול תשע"ה‬
2015 ‫אוגוסט‬
August 2015
Copyright © 2015 by Gordon Academic College of
Education
All Rights Reserved
‫כל הזכויות שמורות למכללה האקדמית לחינוך גורדון‬
‫בכוונתי להראות כי הקונפליקט הפשוט לכאורה בין הרוח‬
‫למספר המנסה לבנות בית מחוץ לחומות ירושלים אינו קונפליקט‬
‫המתרחש רק במרחב הפיזי‪ ,‬אלא גם במישור הרוחני שעיקרו‬
‫בחיבוטי נפש הנמצאת במשבר אמונה‪ ,‬ומשום כך‪ ,‬גם סופו של‬
‫הסיפור אינו סוף טוב חד משמעי אלא אמביוולנטי‪.‬‬
‫תקצירי המסות והמאמרים‬
‫מן המקום אל "המקום"‪ :‬מרחב פיזי ההופך למרחב רוחני‬
‫בסיפורו של עגנון "מאויב לאוהב"‬
‫גליה שנברג‬
‫וכל מקום שם בירושלים קרוי משה‪ ,‬או אוהל משה‬
‫או זכרון משה או מזכרת משה‪ .‬רוצה אתה להגיע‬
‫לאחד מהמקומות הללו שוכח אתה אותה מילה‬
‫שנטפלה למשה ואין אתה מגיע למשה זה שרצית‪.‬‬
‫תמול שלשום‬
‫"מאוייב לאוהב" נחשב כסיפור פשוט‪ ,‬מעין סיפור ילדים עגנוני‪.‬‬
‫זאת‪ ,‬משום מיעוט הדמויות והעמדתן זו מול זו כאויבים בעימות‬
‫נחרץ ללא גווני ביניים‪ ,‬עלילתו הלינארית של הסיפור‪ ,‬והחזרה‬
‫המעצימה האופיינית לסיפורים ופזמונים לילדים כמו "אליעזר‬
‫והגזר"‪ ,‬או "לדוד משה הייתה חווה"‪ .‬יתרה מזאת‪ ,‬הסוף הטוב‬
‫בדומה לסופן של המעשיות העממיות שעובדו לסיפורי ילדים כמו‬
‫"כיפה אדומה" או "שילגיה"‪ ,‬מאפשר אף הוא את זיהויו של סיפור‬
‫זה כסיפור ילדים‪.‬‬
‫אך עגנון כמספר אינו מספר לתומו אלא יש בסיפור מורכבות‬
‫ועמדה אירונית מובלעת המרמזת על בעיות עמוקות יותר מאלו‬
‫שהוצגו על פני השטח‪ .‬בדומה לקלאסיקות רבות בספרות הילדים‬
‫כמו "אליס בארץ הפלאות"‪" ,‬פו הדוב" ו"הנסיך הקטן" הפונות בה‬
‫בעת לשני נמענים‪ :‬המבוגר והילד‪ ,‬משום שיש בהן רבדים עמוקים‬
‫שאינם מובנים באופן מיידי‪ ,‬כך גם בסיפור "מאויב לאוהב"‪.‬‬
‫‪8‬‬
Abstract
Wind and the narrator, who attempts to build a house
outside the Jerusalem walls, is not a conflict occurring only
in the physical space of the narrative, but also in a spiritual
space in which a struggling soul experiences a crisis of
faith. Hence, the story does not have a conclusive happy
ending but rather an ambivalent one.
Abstracts
From Hamakom (a place) to Hamakom (God): A
Physical Space Becomes a Spiritual Space in
Agnon's “From a Foe to a Friend”
Galia Shenberg
“From a Foe to a Friend” is considered a simple story, a sort
of children's tale. This simplicity is due to the small number
of characters, their confrontations with one another in a
decisive conflict without compromise, the story’s linear
plot, and the captivating repetition typical of children's
stories and poems. Moreover, the happy ending, like that in
a fairytale, identifies this as a children's story.
However, as is typical of Agnon, he does not simply
tell the story; instead, there is a hidden layer of irony that
suggests the existence of a deeper significance to this
apparently simple tale. The multi-layered nature of this text
is a characteristic shared by numerous classics in children's
literature, such as Alice in Wonderland, Winnie the Pooh,
and The Little Prince, which simultaneously relate to two
implied readers: the adult and the child (Shavit).
Consequently, these works contain depths which are not
immediately apprehended. I intend to demonstrate that the
apparently simple conflict in Agnon’s story between the
16
From Hamakom (a place) to Hamakom (God):
A Physical Space Becomes a Spiritual Space
in Agnon's “From a Foe to a Friend”
However, as is typical of Agnon, he does not simply
tell the story; instead, there is a hidden layer of irony that
suggests the existence of a deeper significance to this
apparently simple tale. The multi-layered nature of this text
is a characteristic shared by numerous classics in children's
literature, such as Alice in Wonderland, Winnie the Pooh,
and The Little Prince, which simultaneously relate to two
implied readers: the adult and the child (Shavit).
Consequently, these works contain depths which are not
immediately apprehended. I intend to demonstrate that the
apparently simple conflict in Agnon’s story between the
Wind and the narrator, who attempts to build a house
outside the Jerusalem walls, is not a conflict occurring only
in the physical space of the narrative, but also in a spiritual
space in which a struggling soul experiences a crisis of
faith. Hence, the story does not have a conclusive happy
ending but rather an ambivalent one.
The articles
From Hamakom (a place) to Hamakom (God): A
Physical Space Becomes a Spiritual Space in
Agnon's “From a Foe to a Friend”
Galia Shenberg
And every place in Jerusalem is called Moshe, or
Ohel Moshe, or Zichron Moshe or Mazkeret
Moshe. You want to reach one of these places but
you forget the word attached to "Moshe" and you
do not arrive at the Moshe you actually wanted.
Tmol Shilshom
Introduction
“From a Foe to a Friend” is considered a simple story, a sort
of children's tale.1 This simplicity is due to the small
number of characters, their confrontations with one another
in a decisive conflict without compromise, the story’s linear
plot, and the captivating repetition typical of children's
stories and poems. Moreover, the happy ending, like that in
a fairytale, identifies this as a children's story.
1
Related Research
From its inception, a conflict has emerged in Agnon
criticism regarding whether his works should be interpreted
as expressing the texture of Jewish life at a certain period
(for example, Lifschitz, Sadan, Helkin and others, in
Barshai) or whether the bulk of Agnon's work should be
viewed in the context of its association with contemporary
literary movements of the twentieth century, such as
symbolism or expressionism. In the latter view, his writings
include a covert layer which does not constitute a
The story is considered as a children's tale by the education system
whereby it is taught in the elementary school grades as well as by
publishing houses which published it both as an illustrated edition with
comments referring to Midrashic sources (Agnon) and as a comic story
(Cherka).
136
Galia Shenberg
description of life per se but is given to psychologistic and
other interpretations (for example, Kurzweil, Barzel,
Rosenzweig, Kariv, Bahat and others, in Barshai; BenDov). That is, scholars concur that Agnon's prose is realistic
from the point of view of its design. The disagreement,
however, lies in the question of whether we can view it as
merely simple or – by analyzing motives, allusions, and
various plot moves – understand this prose to be symbolic
or allegorical.
Lea Goldberg was the first to point out that Agnon
was influenced by German romanticism, especially by the
artistic legend in the style of E.T. Hoffman. Yet, in the
critique that followed, mainly that of Gershon Shaked (in
Barshai) and Dan Miron, Agnon's text was perceived as
primarily realistic. Moreover, Miron cautioned against the
allegorical interpretation of Agnon's text (in Barshai). He
maintained that one should not dismiss the artistic design of
the text as a mere shell, but should remain focused on the
realistic – as opposed to the symbolic – content. In fact,
Agnon wrote works whose design may be construed as
simultaneously realistic and fantastic, such as the story “Ido
and Einam” or the vampire story, “The Mistress and the
Peddler,” as well as the stories in The Book of Deeds, which
were categorized by the scholarly community as allegorical
works. Nevertheless, the main body of Agnon's work was
explored and discussed by numerous scholars as realistic
prose, with significant references to modern European
literature and not merely to Jewish writings. Indeed, the
influence of Kafka or, later, of Proust has often been cited
(Zemach and Elkind in Barshai) to explain various events in
Agnon's stories that are not in line with realism as such.
Emphasizing that his literary persona was associated with
Orthodox Judaism, Agnon himself denied those influences,
claiming that he did not read world literature. Yet, the
influence of romanticism and German expressionism is
evident in his works, and this influence elucidates Agnon's
enchantment with magical elements and their integration
into his creative work.
Hence, even if we look at Agnon's most famous
works, which have been acknowledged as realistic (e.g.,
The Bridal Canopy or Tmol Shilshom), not all the
occurrences can be explained by realistic reasoning only.
Such reasoning does not provide an adequate explanation of
certain plot events, that is, the finding of the treasure by
Rabbi Yudil Hassid in The Bridal Canopy or the
wanderings of Balak the dog in the streets of Jerusalem in
Tmol Shilshom. These events cannot be explained as natural
and logical occurrences but rather only as the interventions
of an arbitrary, supernatural power. Consequently, one can
say that Agnon's stories, like Kafka's, have two systems of
reasoning: realistic reasoning wherein cause and effect are
acceptable to readers based on their daily rationalistic
experiences, and magical reasoning, associated with
137
From Hamakom (a place) to Hamakom (God):
A Physical Space Becomes a Spiritual Space
in Agnon's “From a Foe to a Friend”
mysterious super-natural powers which cannot be logically
explained.2
As mentioned above, Agnon's monumental novel
about the cities of Galicia, The Bridal Canopy, has a
magical ending which cannot be construed as realistic.3 In
contrast with the distinct realism of the entire novel, the
ending forces the reader to understand the occurrences in
the story in an entirely different light. Similar to the popular
genre of the legend, where the narrative complies with
Agnon's famous vampire story, “The Mistress and the Peddler,” is also
structured like a realistic story for all intents and purposes, except for
the fantastic image of the feminine character. The story describes the
attraction of Joseph, a Jewish peddler, to Helena, a Polish housewife,
depicted later in the story as a type of vampire. Helena is a “Shtrize”
["‫]"שטריצה‬, known in Eastern European folklore as a woman who needs
human blood in order to survive. If she does not drink blood, she is
doomed to die (Shenberg). The story is perceived by critics as an
allegory about Jewish-Christian relationships in Europe before the
world wars (Barshai). The development of the relationship between
Joseph and Helena is described with meticulous realism and with
penetrating psychological perception; it is similar to the description of
the relationship between Dina and the doctor in “The Doctor’s
Divorce” and between Tony and her husband in “Another Face.”
However, Helena's demonic character is manifested only toward the
end and sheds a magical light on the entire story, explaining the
shattering of the couple's relationship in a way that is different from the
realistic one. That is, the events of the story can be explained in an
entirely realistic manner, almost up to its end. This, to great extent, is
the secret of the story's magic. It works on two levels: the realistic,
natural and probably in line with the readers' daily experience; and the
magical, explaining the events of the story in a different way. What we
have here are two systems of logic which function simultaneously.
Sometimes they contradict each other and sometimes they function side
by side in both a scary and pleasurable harmony. Were it not for
Helena's demonic character, this would be merely another story of
unfulfilled love. Nevertheless, it is this very terrible nature of that
woman, forced upon her by her supernatural nature, which enriches the
story, facilitating additional interpretations that do not cancel each
other, but exist simultaneously.
Consequently, the caution expressed by Dan Miron that while perusing
Agnon's prose one should not disregard its realistic design and focus
only on the covert content, has become unnecessary. The reason is that
one cannot separate the design of the story from viewing it as
encompassing a magical reasoning system which is not in line with
2
3
138
merely realistic events. Indeed, in his later book Other Faces in S.Y.
Agnon's Works, Gershon Shaked emphasizes Agnon's romantic point of
view versus the classical stance, wishing to balance the imaginary
world of his work both from the point of view of style and
composition. Shaked maintains that Agnon breaks the boundaries of
realism, creating grotesque, carnival-like scenes which expose human
impulses. Nevertheless, I would formulate it slightly differently –
Agnon's work disguises itself with a serene Apollonian look rather like
Freya’s Scurf (Nietzsche), which conceals the Dionysian whirlpool of
its characters (Shenberg). In my opinion, Agnon masks the Dionysian
impulsive occurrences in his work under the archaic Midrashic
language which functions as an Apollonian cover. Magic, then, is an
expression of the continuous struggle between these two elements.
Thus, the magical events in his prose are not probable or logical like a
Talmudic dispute, nor are they exposed in a cruel and blunt manner.
Namely, magic in Agnon's work is a Dionysian outburst which is
restrained by the Apollonian appearance of the Biblical and Midrashic
language, which also implies in Agnon's work a deep paradoxical layer
which cannot and should not be settled.
When using the term “magic” I do not refer only to noninstitutionalised magic, but also to the magic associated with religion.
The attempt to distinguish between religion and magic was initiated by
Frazer. But has had no success. I concur with Harari that today most
scholars acknowledge that there is no essential difference between
magic and religion, except in the attitude of the peer group toward
them. Therefore, when referring to Agnon's stories, I will relate to
supernatural elements as magical, even when referring to a religious
miracle.
Galia Shenberg
realism (Bar-Yitzhak; Shenhar; Yassif), the mechanism of
the plot is connected to the belief in supernatural forces that
frequently intervene in a miraculous-magical way, shifting
the events in favor of the protagonist; that is, toward the end
of the novel the magical underpinning of the plot is
exposed, acting in contrast to the realistic rationale that had
accompanied Rabbi Yudil from the beginning.4
Similarly, in Tmol Shilshom, a novel which describes
the story of an immigrant who comes to the Land of Israel
with the second Aliyah (wave of immigration, 1904-14), a
magical note is introduced when Agnon presents the
character of the dog, Balak. The simple street dog runs after
the protagonist in the streets of Jerusalem and he – half in
humor, half with prophetic insight – paints the words "mad
dog" on its back. Everywhere the Jews are frightened by it
and run away. And there is someone who reads from left to
right (in Hebrew one reads from right to left), calling the
dog "balak" instead of "kelev" (dog). From that moment on,
Agnon tells a considerable part of the story through Balak’s
eyes, thus presenting the reality of Jerusalem differently, in
4
a dreamlike, almost magical way. That is, the description of
Jerusalem through Balak's consciousness enables us to
acknowledge the astonishing nature of the city and,
particularly, the areas outside the city walls. The colorful
descriptions of the market, the wall, and especially what lies
beyond the wall, imply something unknown, different,
perhaps liminal and perhaps a parody of the liminal
(Turner).5 There is some essence beyond realism, beyond
the mundane realities of life, on the verge of a new order
which has not yet come into being.
When the Mea Shearim [an ultra-Orthodox
neighborhood in Jerusalem] market is unexpectedly
abandoned by all its human visitors, Balak wanders around,
wondering about this new situation in which he can enjoy a
multitude of wonderful foods, but not the affection and
caresses of the Jews, the "masters" of the market.6 Painted
5
The liminal stage in Turner's theories is the most important stage of the
ceremony whereby the old social order disappears; hierarchies are
eliminated. This gives rise to the communitas, a feeling of the
individual's unity with the collective, of the members with the group
taking part in the ceremony. Indeed, Balak enters the market wanting to
be part of it both in eating and in the love which people will bestow
upon him. Agnon's point of view, which is attached to Balak's
consciousness in the market, also creates an ironic gap between Balak's
understanding of the situation and the understanding of the reader. That
is, there is a description of a liminal situation whereby, on the one
hand, the old order is eliminated while, on the other, there is hardly a
feeling of communitas. Consequently, I referred to it as a situation
which might be liminal or might be a parody of the liminal.
6 Many scholars have discussed the allegorical meaning of Balak. Some
depict Balak as a symbol of the agonized soul of Yitzhak Kumer
himself (Ruchner and Sweid, in Barshai), while others view the dog as
Shaked calls Rabbi Yudil a comic or picaresque hero. The novel can
undoubtedly be seen in this way since there are many clues to that (e.g.
the horse names "Mishchani" [Pull me] and "Narutza" [Let's run]
pulling Netta's wagon, names originating in a verse from the Song of
Songs). However, as in popular legends, the miracle of uncovering the
treasure displays the naïve belief of the protagonist and actualizes it
and thus enriches the observation of this move, both literally (exposure
of a magical argumentation in the story, in the capacity of "The
Righteous Thrive") and as a parody of the popular "happy ending" (in
Barshai).
139
From Hamakom (a place) to Hamakom (God):
A Physical Space Becomes a Spiritual Space
in Agnon's “From a Foe to a Friend”
in a magical hue, this description of going out beyond the
walls of the Old City of Jerusalem, resurfaces in another
variation in Agnon's short story “From a Foe to a Friend.”
Therefore, I will attempt to show that “From a Foe to
a Friend,” Agnon's children's tale, also encompasses a
magical element. Moreover, it is based on two systems of
logic: realistic and magical. The plot format of Agnon's
story is taken from the popular folktale turned children's
tale, “The Three Little Pigs” (AT124). In transforming the
plot of the classic story, which engages entirely in the
struggle for a physical space, Agnon converts the physicalactual space into a spiritual space associated with the
struggle of faith, which is common in many of Agnon's
stories. I will then discuss the plot structure of the folktale
and see how we can understand the amalgamation of the
spiritual dimension with the physical/realistic one described
in Agnon's story.
1. Three little pigs go out into the world, seeking their
fortunes.
2. The first pig builds a house of straw. The big bad wolf
huffs and puffs, blows the house down, and eats the pig.
3. The second pig builds a house of sticks. The big bad
wolf huffs and puffs, blows the house down, and eats the
pig.
4. The third pig builds a house of bricks. The house is very
strong, and the wolf cannot blow it down.
5. The wolf tries to trick the little pig three times by setting
up a meeting for some joint activity: gathering turnips,
picking apples, and visiting the market. The pig is
smarter: it comes one hour earlier, gathers turnips, picks
apples, or buys at the market, ridiculing the wolf.
6. The wolf tries entering the brick house through the
chimney and falls into a pot of boiling water which the
pig has heated earlier. The wolf is cooked and served as
the main dish for dinner (Shenberg).
In many versions the "joint activity" is omitted from
the plot (item 5 above), but in all variations the issue of
building the house and blowing it down is maintained.
Due to cultural constraints, the figure of the domestic
animal frequently changes. For example, the little pig
becomes a little goat (Jewish version) or a hen (Druze
version) because in these cultures pork is considered
impure. Sometimes there is a change in gender, and it is a
little sow which conquers the wolf, like in an American
version published in Nights with Uncle Remus (Harris). It is
“The Three Little Pigs” (AT124)
The folktale about the three little pigs (AT124) building a
house to protect themselves from the wolf has had a place
in various cultures in Europe, Asia, and America, and it
comes in numerous versions.
Below is the essential structure of the tale:
a motif symbolizing impulsiveness and demonism (Kurzweil, in
Barshai).
140
Galia Shenberg
described as an omnivore, eating both turnips and apples –
but also pork. Furthermore, in the world of the ancient
Orient, Greece, and Rome, as well as that of Christianity in
the Middle Ages, gluttony was frequently perceived as a
metaphor for sexual desire. Indeed, in the American version
included in Nights with Uncle Remus, wherein the wolf tries
its force against a little sow, penetration through the
chimney can be easily interpreted in a Freudian way
(Shenberg). Thus, in many senses the pig is similar to the
wolf; that is, the pig is not perfect like the young goat or the
lamb (symbolizing Jesus) who would be the antithesis of
the wolf (Shenberg 67-8).
All the versions, as indicated above, maintain at least
five primary events of the plot, associated with control over
living space: the first house, built of straw, is entirely
destroyed by the wolf and the second house, built of sticks,
cannot withstand the attack of the wolf. In contrast, the
third house, built of bricks, remains standing and once the
wolf tries to break into the house through the chimney, it
must pay with its life. That is, maintaining a living space is
a matter of life and death.
interesting to note that the wolf almost always remains a
wolf, except for an American version where it becomes a
fox (Shenberg 65-6). That is, the domestic animals change
according to the strictures associated with eating in a given
culture, whereas the wolf, the wild animal, does not
change.7
However, the central version of the tale is with the
domestic animal characters as little pigs and the wolf as
their antagonist. In my opinion, this is due to the similarity
rather than the difference between the pig and the wolf.
Both of them are associated with gluttony as, for example,
in the expressions "eats like a pig" or "hungry as a wolf."
Moreover, pigs are omnivorous – they are both carnivorous
and herbivorous. In “The Three Little Pigsˮ the wolf is also
7
The change which domestic animals undergo from one culture to
another can be explained by Mary Douglas' distinctions about the
norms of pollution typical of primitive societies. These norms, many of
which are associated with the foods that people are forbidden to eat
reflect, in fact, the social patterns of that culture. In animal tales, in
which the primary mode is personification, i.e. projection of the human
world on the animal world, the social structure is reflected through the
deep structure of the tale. Following Levi-Strauss, Mary Douglas
explains the separation between human civilization and the savage by
means of two hierarchies – the hierarchy of the forest or wild animals
(savage), which reflects a human social structure (the lion is king of the
animals, the tiger is its deputy and so on); and the human hierarchy
(civilization) to which the domestic animals belong, but are relegated
to the bottom. Hence, little pigs, young goats or hens change according
to the norms of pollution of a certain human culture such as Christian,
Jewish and so on. However, the wolf remains a wolf because it does
not belong to the human hierarchy at the bottom of which are found the
domestic animals but rather to the hierarchy of the forest or wild
animals (savage) (Shenberg and Ben-Canaan).
Children's Tales Evolving from Folktales
The tale in its primary version with the little pigs as key
figures has many variations in European and American
children's literature. In the translation of the tale into
Hebrew, the figures were in fact changed into three young
goats in the version of Miriam Yalan and that of Yitzhak
141
From Hamakom (a place) to Hamakom (God):
A Physical Space Becomes a Spiritual Space
in Agnon's “From a Foe to a Friend”
included in the Israeli Ministry of Education’s literature
syllabus for the higher grades in elementary schools and in
junior high school. In 2008 a new edition of the tale was
published together with “The Story of the Goat” and “The
Orange Peel,” illustrated by Lee Kurzweil, in a style
somewhat reminiscent of the illustrations in The Little
Prince and The Wizard of Oz, classic books in the world of
children's literature. Recently, the story was published in a
comic book version, created by Shai Cherka, who chose the
"nationalistic" interpretation of the tale (explained below).
The story “From a Foe to a Friend” was first
published in Haaretz (an Israeli daily newspaper) on the eve
of Shavuoth, the Feast of Weeks, 30 May 1941. The story
tells of the writer's attempts to build himself a residence
outside the city: first a tent, then a shed, then a small house
that the wind destroys, and finally a big, strong house,
surrounded by a garden with trees, which function as a
windbreak. The story ends with the narrator's triumph over
the wind. However, this victory is not clear and decisive as
in the folktale where the little pig defeats the wolf, eats it
for dinner, and thus eliminates its physical existence. In
Agnon's story, the wind remains as it was, and the narrator
sits with it on a bench in the garden in the shade of the trees
that broke the spirit of the wind, calling it a friend instead of
a foe (see below).
The first version of the story is similar to the canonic
version in Such and Such (Agnon 480-484). But there is one
difference: the name of the place to which the writer
Avnon, or to little rabbits in the version of Talma Elyagon.
Despite these changes, in their adaptations of the tale, these
writers adhered to the plot structure associated with
domination of space.
In other words, domination of space and place is
essential for understanding the underlying structure of the
tale. Indeed, according to Claude Levi-Strauss the struggle
here is between civilization and the savage: the savage is
symbolized by the wolf, whereas civilization is symbolized
by the little pigs and their houses (Shenberg; Shenberg and
Ben-Canaan). In contrast, the contemporary evolution of the
tale into children’s versions features adaptations such as
“Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig.” Thus, the
essential facts are reversed, and the pig, the agent of
civilization, becomes the villain by damaging the ecosystem (Trivizas).
“From a Foe to a Friend” and “The Three Little Pigs”
The plot structure of “The Three Little Pigs” resonates in
Agnon's classic story “From a Foe to a Friend.” Both
present the triple repetition of attempting to build multiple
houses outside the city and succeeding only after building a
solid house with a garden around it. Another similarity is
represented by the method that the wind applies in ruining
the houses, reminiscent of the wolf huffing and puffing in
order to destroy the houses of the little pigs (Shenberg).
This similarity might be one of the reasons why
Agnon’s tale is considered to be a children's tale and is even
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the Jerusalem neighborhood of Talpiot.10 Shaked
supplements the "nationalistic" interpretation with a more
universal interpretation of people's struggle with nature,
saying that this is:
relocates and where he meets the wind. In the canonic
version he goes to Talpiot,8 whereas in the earlier version
the place is called "Zofit" or "Zufit," a name that Agnon
invented especially for the story. Unlike Talpiot, it is a
name that is not associated with the Zionist movement to
settle beyond the walls of Jerusalem, and the subsequent
destruction of Agnon's house during the 1929 Palestine
Riots.
An allegorical story which is essentially a
description of the history of the first human beings:
how they came to know nature's devices and learnt
from experience, how they gradually acquired
resourcefulness and built themselves a sturdy house
and how they finally managed to turn their foe – the
wind – into a friend, at least apparently (8).
The "Nationalistic" and Anthropological Interpretation
Most published interpretations of the story see in it a
symbolic, politicized element associated with the JewishArab struggle over the settlements outside the walls of
Jerusalem (e.g., Sadan; Shaked; Ben-Yossef). They present
as evidence the trauma that Agnon experienced both after
the burning of his house in Germany9 and later after the
burning of his house during the Palestine Riots of 1929 in
8
9
Shaked does not develop this interpretation further,
but rather reiterates that this constitutes a parallel between
Zionist pioneering practice and the first human beings'
struggle against nature.11 This construal leads to the implied
anthropological interpretation, following Claude LeviStrauss who relates to the struggle between the binary
contrasts of the savage and civilization. That is, according
This was the neighborhood of Agnon’s residence until he passed away.
And so he writes:
In 1913 I left for Berlin. Twelve years I wandered around the Land of
Ashkenaz [modern day Germany] […] In 1924, while I was
hospitalized in Hamburg, a fire destroyed my house and all my
possessions and all my books, about 4000 books, most of them
extremely rare, were all consumed by the fire. This was done by a
converted Jew who promised his merchandise with warranty and set
fire to the house; and the city of Homburg did nothing to extinguish the
fire because it had neglected to repair the firemen's equipment. Then all
my writings which I nurtured and fostered for eighteen years were
burnt. They included a long story of eternal life about sixty printed
pages. Woe for the loss! (An excerpt from Agnon's letter to Jack,
Agnon House Publications).
From the story “The Sign” in The Fire and the Wood anthology
(Agnon 283):
In that year when the news came that all the Jews in my city had been
killed, I lived in one of the Jerusalem neighborhoods, in a house which
I had built following the 1929 Palestine Riots [1929 = equivalent to
numerology (‫ )גימטריה‬of the letters of Netzah Israel (‫ – )נצח ישראל‬The
Glory of Israel] – that at night the Arabs destroyed my home, I made a
vow that if God saved me from my enemies and I lived, I would build
me a house in Jerusalem in the same neighborhood which the Arabs
had wanted to destroy.
11 “…because the pioneering settlement in the country is like the initial
roots of people in a world of chaos…ˮ (Shaked 9).
10
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From Hamakom (a place) to Hamakom (God):
A Physical Space Becomes a Spiritual Space
in Agnon's “From a Foe to a Friend”
to Levi-Strauss's perception, the story describes a process of
acculturation (Levi Strauss; Shenberg).
Later in her essay, Shaked implies that the
narrator’s actions are associated with the worship of God.
She quotes two references from the Mishnah [collection of
oral religious laws]: one from the Avot Tractate12 and the
other from the Berachot Tractate13 from which she deduces
that "the connection between the name of the chosen place
(Talpiot) for our story and the cited source enables us to
comprehend that action of settling down and of building the
Temple as an act of worship of God" (Shaked 9).14
The Analogy Between the Temple and the Writer's
House
I intend to expand on the "nationalistic" interpretation,
which considers building the house to be a form of the
worship of God. Agnon does indeed imply that, according
to his religious-messianic ideology, the building of the
country by the Jews is metaphysically identical to building
the Temple.15 Why did Agnon initially choose a tent and
12
The excerpt from Avot (3, 17) presents an ideal of a person whose
wisdom is greater than his deeds (the words "his deeds" carrying the
assumption that these are good deeds).
He whose wisdom is greater than his deeds, what does he resemble? A
tree whose branches are numerous and its roots are few and the wind
comes and uproots it, turning it upside down, as the verse says: “For he
shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good
cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt
land and not inhabited.ˮ But he whose deeds are more numerous than
his wisdom, what does he resemble? A tree whose branches are few
and its roots are numerous that even if all the winds in the world blow
on it they do not move it from its place: "And he shall be like a tree
planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season;
his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper".
13 The excerpt from Berachot (30, 1) connects the wind to Jerusalem, the
Temple and the Holy of Holies and the worship of which the name of
Talpiot is a metaphor:
Our Rabbis have argued: a blind man and he who cannot direct the
winds will direct his heart towards our father in heaven [as in the verse]
"And pray to God." If he were abroad, he should direct his heart toward
the Land of Israel: “And pray to you through their country.ˮ If he were
in the Land of Israel he should direct his heart toward Jerusalem: “Pray
to God through the city which you have chosen.ˮ If he were in
Jerusalem, he should direct his heart towards the Temple: “And pray to
this house.ˮ If he were in the Temple, he should direct his heart
towards the Holy of Holies: "And pray to this place... All the People of
Israel were directing their heart to one place." As the Bible says: “Thy
neck is like the tower of David builded for an armoury (‫)לתלפיות‬,
whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men.ˮ
Namely, “a hill (‫ )תל‬that all the mouths (‫[ )פיות‬of the Jewish people]
pray [for Zion] there.ˮ
14 In this context, it is interesting to note the comprehensive discussion
which Nitza Ben-Dov dedicated to “Up to Here” which describes
Agnon's search for a room of his own and his severe distress when
removed from his place (Ben-Dov 13-122). Moreover, in her book And
She is Your Glory Ben-Dov mentions the theme of attempting to build
a house, of settling down in a proper place which affected the writing
of Amos Oz: From One Apartment to Another (Ben-Dov 22-4).
15 The connection between Romanticism and the Nationalistic
movements in Europe is common knowledge. According to Barshai's
book, as mentioned before, Agnon’s work was deeply rooted in
German Romanticism: “Lea Goldberg found a clear reference between
Agnon and German romantic writers at the beginning of the nineteenth
century, enumerating the common features between them: 'Reference
to folklore, merging of realism and fantasy, legend as a foundation of a
story and naturalistic details in the legend, admiring naiveté together
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Galia Shenberg
Levite brethren at the Temple, singing with them
songs for David, King of Israel. Such tunes no ear
has heard since our city was ruined and its people
was banished from the land.
two houses, which could not stand up to the raging wind,
while only the third house managed to withstand it? The
answer is embodied in his messianic ideology: these
dwellings represent the three Temples. He chose the tent as
his first place of residence, since the tent represents the Tent
of Congregation,16 the proto-temple (see Appendix No. 2:
photograph of the tent, illuminated in the middle of the
darkness, by Lee Kurzweil as a support for this
interpretation); the house of sticks then, represents the
Temple of Solomon, and the first house of brick is the
Second Temple. Only the third house with its garden and
pleasant aroma (like the fragrance of the perfumes and
incense in the Temple) withstands all the ruses of the wind.
This Third Temple represents the messianic Temple, the
one that will never be destroyed. Indeed, in his speech in
Sweden, on the occasion of being awarded the Nobel Prize,
Agnon said:
Agnon’s vision of Zionism clearly encompasses a
rebuilt, messianic Temple. Furthermore, if we remember the
name of the place in the first version of the story we can
call it "Zofit" with the association of “ayin le-Zion zofia”
(looking toward Zion from Hatikvah, the Israeli national
anthem) or "Zufit," originating from the Hebrew word "zuf"
(the juice of flowers), befitting the ambiance of the place
where the story takes place: “The good fragrance coming
from the mountains and the valleysˮ surrounding the
writer's house. Moreover, the word "Zufit" is reminiscent of
the expression "nofet zufim," namely pure honey, the best
honey (Ben-Yehuda). Thus, a phrase by Hazal is alluded to:
“With the destruction of the Temple, the thistle and the best
of honey were abolishedˮ (Sotah Tractate, 9: 12).
The association between the Temple's destruction and
the construction of person dwelling is explicitly expressed
in Agnon's story, “The Sign”:
Out of the historical catastrophe in which Titus,
King of Rome, destroyed Jerusalem and the People
of Israel was exiled from its land, I was born in
one of the Diaspora cities. However, at any time, it
seemed to me as if I had been born in Jerusalem. In
my night vision I saw myself standing with my
With God's mercy upon us we rose and were
encouraged. And I, like I told at the beginning of
this matter, I built me a house and planted me a
garden. In this place from which the enemy wanted
to expel us I built my house, in memory of the
place of the Temple I built it, in order to always
remember in my heart our precious ruined
with smart and realistic irony, tendency towards mystery and faith in
the people's vocation'ˮ (19).
16 Destruction of the tent by the wind “moved its stakes and turned my
tent upside down and scattered my tent sheetsˮ (Agnon 11). This
reflects the destruction of Zion as written in the Book of Jeremiah (4:
20): “Destruction upon destruction cried, for the whole land is spoiled:
suddenly are my tents spoiled and, in a moment, my curtains.ˮ
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From Hamakom (a place) to Hamakom (God):
A Physical Space Becomes a Spiritual Space
in Agnon's “From a Foe to a Friend”
even a shrub; just soil and rock. I said to myself, ‘I shall
plant a garden’ˮ (Agnon 115). Biblical scholars recognized
the connection between the Temple and The Garden of
Eden:
Temple that has not yet been built. If we cannot
go up and be seen there because of the hand that
destroyed our Temple in our prayer we aim our
heart in that direction (Agnon 300).
In the biblical faith there is an internal link between the
perception of the Garden of Eden and the perception of
the Temple. This link is not expressed in the Bible in a
systematic and abstract manner but is manifested in it
through literary motives, its use of language and various
thematic elements. The link between the Garden of
Eden and the Temple which is displayed in the Bible is
bi-directional: the descriptions of the Temple have a
connection to the traditions of the Garden of Eden and
the descriptions of the Garden of Eden are connected to
the traditions of the Temple. The bi-directional
movement between the Garden of Eden and the Temple
is facilitated due to a common denominator both of the
Garden of Eden and the Temple, namely the perception
of the Garden of Eden and the Temple as God's
dwelling place (Mazor 5).
The textual proximity of the destruction of the house
to the destruction of the Temple and the building of the
house as alluding to the building of the Temple, suggests
the emotional proximity that the writer feels between his
own house and the Temple.17
Another image that implies a comparison between the
writer's house and the third Temple is the moment that he
decides to plant the garden: “I stood on the threshold of my
house and could see that all the land was desert: no tree, not
17
In the Ancient East, building a house preoccupied the gods among
them the Jewish God. In writings from Ugarithic about the adventures
of Baal and Anat, Baal implores, that a house be built in his name in
order to guarantee the stability of his rule over the other gods and man.
He has to pay a bribe for its approval so that it influences Ell, head of
the Ugarithic pantheon, to authorize the building. Baal's sister, the
goddess Anat, asks Ell but receives a negative answer. Kosher
Vachssis, (‫ )כושר וחסיס‬the god of craftsmanship who is in charge of the
building, asked for authorization but to no avail. Finally, after many
pleas and paying a bribe, the authorization is granted. Now Baal argues
about the technical details of building the Temple regarding the
positions of the windows. The house itself was built of cedars from
Lebanon with silver and molten gold over them (Amir 33-44). This
reminds us of the explicit instruction of the Jewish God both for
building the Tent of Congregation and the building of the Temple of
Solomon. There, too, God is involved in the technical details and has
precise demands. Similarly, we find the demands of the Sumerian and
Babylonian gods for building a house in order to consolidate their reign
on earth (Mazor).
Agnon's Garden as Symbolizing the Epicurean Kepos
The Garden of Eden is not the only garden associated with
our story. The garden can also be construed as the opposite
of the Garden of Eden: the Epicurean Kepos [garden in
Greek]. This story is characterized by indeterminacy; just as
at the end of the story the writer's victory over the wind is
temporary and the difference in Hebrew between “foe” and
“friend” is only one letter (oyev and ohev in Hebrew), so the
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assuming that God does not supervise their matters
and the world is not managed by a good and
immortal being… but exists and moves by its own
power (automatos) without a leader and a mentor
(Rokach 169).
garden refers not only to the Garden of Eden, but also to the
garden of the person identified in the language of Hazal
with the loss of faith – Epicurus. Epicurus, the Greek
philosopher who lived at the end of the fourth century BCE
and the beginning of the third century BCE,18 was one of
the only philosophers mentioned in the Talmud, albeit in a
disrespectful manner (Rokach). The reference is not to the
philosopher himself but, rather, to people with Epicurean
opinions, who do not believe in Providence and the
immortality of the soul. The word is also used generically to
refer to all types of heretics; that is, people who dissent
from the accepted faith and even those whose way of life is
deemed inappropriate. In analyzing the philosophy of
Epicurus, Rabbi Akivah and his disciple, Rabbi Meir,
explain that "evil does not deny the presence of God, but
rejects his divine providence over his creatures" (Rokach
168). Moreover, in his writings, Josephus Flavius reiterates
the opinions of Hazal regarding the Epicurean perception of
the way in which the world is managed:
Other phrases of Hazal that criticize the Epicureans
are associated with their ambition to attain a scientific truth
that omits not only the function of the divine providence,
but also life in the Other World. Rabbi Eliezer's warning in
the Avot tractate (84: 54): “Be industrious when studying
the Torah and know what to answer the Epicurean” [non
believer or skeptic], reflects a combative approach to the
"scientific" nature of the Epicurean philosophy and its
attraction.
The Epicurean garden, the Kepos, is identified with
the Pardess [Kabala notion of Divinity] (Rokach)
mentioned in the famous Braitha [“external” Mishnah –
teaching quoted in the Talmud] Hagigah 14: 2:
Four men entered the Pardess: Ben Azzai, Ben
Zoma, Aher [Elisha Ben Avuya] and Rabbi Akivah.
The first, Ben Azzai, cast a look and died; the
second, Ben Zoma, looked and was hurt (lost his
mind); the third, Elisha Ben Avuya, tore the shoots
(became a skeptic, a disciple of Epicurus) and the
fourth, Rabbi Akivah, went in well and came out
well.
This teaches us that the Epicureans are wrong,
rejecting the divine providence from their lives and
18
Epicurus advocated the search for happiness. In order to achieve
happiness, people should strive and learn to know the truth, which
leads to an acquaintance with the laws of nature. By becoming
acquainted with the laws of nature and learning the differences between
the natural desires of the body and spirit, and desires which are not
natural and necessary, people will be able to acquire commonsense
which creates a life of happiness. Most of the studies of Epicurus and
his followers were conducted in the garden – Kepos – which has also
become the name of the entire school.
Thus, the garden planted by the narrator in “From a
Foe to a Friend” is not only the Garden of Eden but is also,
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From Hamakom (a place) to Hamakom (God):
A Physical Space Becomes a Spiritual Space
in Agnon's “From a Foe to a Friend”
simultaneously, the Epicurean Kepos. This shows that the
physical space in this story is inextricably connected to a
spiritual space, especially to a space which is associated
with faith.
interpretations without contradicting them; however, the
point of view is changing. Instead of observing a real,
actual place, let us look into an inner place, one within the
writer's soul, the external construction in the story being
only a metaphor for an internal process.
I do not intend to say that what we have here is a
struggle between the Id and the Super Ego so that,
eventually, they will achieve some acknowledgment and
compromise manifested by the Ego (although Freudian
concepts sometimes do reverberate in Agnon's stories; see
also Ben-Dov). Rather, this story, in terms of its denotative
and connotative texture, is filled with allusions to Judaism
and is concretely centered in a Jewish physical world, as
well as in a Jewish world view. Consequently, it seems that
if we are discussing here a conflict in the narrator's soul, it
transpires around his faith in the Makom. In other words,
the narrator has experienced a crisis of faith, and he is
attempting to re-build the Makom, his house and his faith
simultaneously.
The first hint to a crisis of faith is implicit in the word
"wind" with its various meanings. In Hebrew wind is not
only a force of nature, a movement of air, but also a nonphysical entity – a soul or spirit (Even-Shoshan 2484-8). In
The Struggle with the Wind as a Crisis of Faith
I would like, then, to suggest a new expansion of this
interpretation regarding the spirituality that inheres in this
story, but without linking it necessarily to pioneering
activity and the "nationalistic" interpretation. In my
opinion, the implied worship of God is connected to a
deeper stratum of the story. This represents a spiritual rather
than a material stratum, associated with a crisis of faith;
namely, building the house is related to a spiritual sense of
place rather than merely a physical one.
This duality of interpretation is reflected in the
duality of the word "makom" in Hebrew, which means not
only space or room, but is also a name of the Holy Mighty
God.19 This interpretation supplements the previous
19
The "place" as another name for God can be found in the writings of
Hazal, but it does not appear in the Bible. In his dictionary, BenYehuda explains the reason for calling God “Hamakom”: "Rabbi Huna
has already explained in the name of Rabbi Ami the reason for this
name: for what reason do we refer to God as 'Hamakom' (the "place"),
which is the place of a world and the world is not his place (Bereshit
Raba, 68, Psiktah Rabati, 21). And the poet said: "His very honor
encompassed everything and he was called Hamakom because no place
can encompass him (Rabbi Yehuda Ha-Levi, Splendid in his power)
and in Pirkey de Rabbi Eliezer there is another interpretation: "And
why He is called 'Hamakom' because wherever the righteous are He is
there with them" (PDRA, 35). And the Cabbalists said: "Because the
name ‘Havaya’ [the Hebrew letters H, O, Y] equals 186 in the
numerology of the letters as the numerology of ’Makom’.”
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the Talmudic legend, it is a name for a devil,20 an entity
with a diabolical nature. Indeed, already at the beginning of
the story Agnon says:
the world of the wicked, and therefore the place of the
righteous is not among those who mock: “Blessed is the
man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor
standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the
scornfulˮ (Psalms 1: 1). However, unlike the righteous, the
narrator wants to live in the land of the Wind – “in the seat
of the scornfulˮ – and his heart keeps pulling him there, to
the wild place which is not governed by moral and religious
laws.
In this way Agnon gradually builds a doubled image
of the wind both as a force of nature and as a demonic
power whose goal to induce people to sin and to doubt their
faith. In fact, when the wind attacks the narrator for the first
time, Agnon writes: “Since I could see that I stood no
chance against an adversary who was much more
aggressive than myself, I left” (112). This alludes to the
book of Ecclesiastes (6: 10): “…and it is known that it is
man: neither may he contend with him that is mightier than
he.ˮ According to Hazal, a force which is stronger than man
is the Angel of Death. That is, the Wind is a dangerous
force physically but, even more so, spiritually. The first
thing which the wind does is, indeed, “whipping my hat off
my headˮ (Agnon 112), and the meaning of covering the
head for a religious Jew is clearly understood as a
manifestation of faith. Thus, his struggle with the Wind is a
symbol of his struggle with the spirit of religious
skepticism.
Before the Jerusalem neighborhood of Talpiot, the
King of the Winds ruled over all the land: all his
princes and slaves were stormy winds who dwelt on
the mountains and in the valleys, on the hill and in
the dales, each doing as he wished as if the whole
land were his own possession given only to them
(112).
The wind clearly functions as an antagonist. The
adjective that Agnon relates to the Wind – stormy –
undermines the emotional neutrality that one would expect
to find in a description of a force of nature. Moreover, the
end of the sentence: “…as if the whole land were his own
possession” is not accurately translated. The Hebrew
wording is more correctly rendered as: “...as if the land
were given to him only,ˮ which is reminiscent of the Book
of Job (9: 24): “The earth is given into the hand of the
wicked.ˮ
Furthermore, the narrator says later that the wind is
“making a laughing stock of me. As I re-adjusted my
clothing, the Wind, howling with wild laughter, knocked
me down” (Agnon 112). Thus, he personifies the wind,
characterizing it as a jester. Biblically, the jester belongs to
20
There are obviously other meanings of the word "wind" in Hebrew,
e.g. side or direction as in the compass rose. Also "humanities" in
Hebrew are called the sciences of the spirit/ wind.
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From Hamakom (a place) to Hamakom (God):
A Physical Space Becomes a Spiritual Space
in Agnon's “From a Foe to a Friend”
Later, when the narrator goes and builds a tent in
order to protect himself against the Wind (embodying the
spirit of skepticism), he says: “Recalling what the Wind had
done to me, I took with me canvas and pegs, and pitched
myself a tent as a shelter from the stormy wind” (Agnon
113). In its Hebrew denotation the Wind is not only a storm,
but also a tempest, as is alluded to in Psalms: “I would
hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempestˮ (55:
8). Moreover, a storm can be perceived as a tempest of
feelings and not only as an external manifestation of the
environment.21
21
Of course, a tent protects one from the wind, and
the metaphorical connection between the tent and matters of
faith is alluded to in the Book of Psalms. In chapter 27
David asks God to help him conquer his enemies:
One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I
seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the
LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty
of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple. For in
the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion:
in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he
shall set me up upon a rock. And now shall mine
head be lifted up above mine enemies round about
me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices
of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the
LORD (Book of Psalms, 27: 4, 5, 6).
The expression "stormy and tempestuous wind" is also mentioned in
the story “The Sign” in which Agnon tells about a prayer book which
his father brought him:
Once my father brought me a prayer book and I found there a
request for Rabbi Shlomo Ibn-Gabirol. I read and I was
astonished, such a righteous man [Ibn-Gabirol] whose name is
written in the prayer book, is it possible that God is not
available to him at any time and any hour? […] Lying in bed at
night I saw this righteous man arise from his bed on a night of
a stormy and tempestuous wind. And the cold envelops him
and penetrates his bones and cold winds blow upon his face
and tear his clothes and entangle his tzitzit [the specially
knotted ritual fringes worn by observant Jews]. The righteous
man is asking for God [Hashem], but when he found him
panic befell him out of fear of God and the glory of His
greatness. For many days the image of this righteous man did
not vanish from my eyes. Sometimes he seemed to me as a
baby looking for his father and sometimes as a grown up whose
spirit was exhausted due to running so many times after God
(292).
The beginning of the story takes place during the day;
however, upon construction of the tent, the scene changes
from the day to the night: “One night I was sitting there and
the light was suddenly turned off. I went out to look who
turned it off and I found the wind standing outsideˮ (Agnon
113). Similarly, the shed which he had built was destroyed
at night: “Then one night he blew the whole hut awayˮ
(Agnon 113). After the narrator builds the big house which
resists the Wind, knocking on the windows, tries to
persuade him to open the door to him. And the narrator
says: “What does a neighbor want from a neighbour on a
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stormy night?” (Agnon 115). Here the narrator alters the
Hebrew wording of the this phrase, and instead of saying “a
tempestuous and stormy wind,ˮ he says: “a night of
tempestuous wind and a storm,ˮ placing the wind at night,
in actual and not merely metaphorical blackness. Indeed, in
the morning, "Once the sun had risen, I went to open the
door but could not find the Wind" (Agnon 115). Thus, the
last attempt of the Wind to harm the narrator also takes
place at night: “One night the Wind returned and attacked
those trees. And what did the trees do? They, in turn,
attacked the Wind. The wind returned to the attack, the trees
retaliated. Flagging in spirit, the Wind backed off” (Agnon
115).
In Hebrew the “flagging in spirit [of the wind]” is
expressed as: “the Wind was out of wind.” Since wind, as
mentioned before, is synonymous with spirit, what does
"out of wind" mean? This is a paradoxical formulation.
However, in the course of the story, this contradiction can
be explained by the fact that the crisis of faith is over and
the demonic significance attributed to the wind at the
beginning of the story is growing weaker. “From then on,
the Wind became moderate, learning the ways of the world”
(Agnon 115). The ambiguity of the Wind’s character is
softened, perhaps even masked, creating the happy ending
of a fairytale. Therefore, the aspect of a force of nature who
"brings with him sweet aromas from the hills and valleys,
and blows gently on me like a fan” (Agnon 115), is more
prominent than the demonic one; that is, the Wind is
transformed, as if he had repented. But, this is just the way
it looks – Agnon’s irony is veiled but it is still there.
The good fragrance that the wind brings, "reah," is
linguistically related to the Hebrew word "ruah" (wind)
since they share a common root (the triliteral root of the
word "le-hariah" [to smell] is R, U, H). That is, in addition
to the two main meanings of the word, the fact that the
word ruah (wind) and reah (smell) are grammatically
similar, explains the narrator’s passion to go out to that
place where the Wind abuses him: "my heart drew me back
to the place from which I had been forced to flee” (Agnon
113). The smell, in fact, is the most ancient among people's
five senses, drawing them nearer to their animal nature
more than to their human one. That is, faith always
struggles with the sensual within the spirit of the believer.
Another crucial point is the name of the story, “From
a Foe to a Friend,” which [Me'Oyev Le'Ohev – Hebrew]
alludes to Job.
As the Tanaim [Rabbinic sages of the Mishna]
preached the verse in Job (9: 17): “For He breaketh
me with a tempest, and multiplieth my wounds
without cause.ˮ Raba explains: Job (Iyov in
Hebrew) risked himself and tempestuously asked
God, and God tempestuously answered.
Tempestuously, asked Job: “Almighty God a
tempestuous wind passed before you and the words
Job (Iyov) and Foe (Oyev) became confused.”
Tempestuously, [God] answered him as written:
“Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will
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From Hamakom (a place) to Hamakom (God):
A Physical Space Becomes a Spiritual Space
in Agnon's “From a Foe to a Friend”
demand of thee, and answer thou meˮ (Job, 38: 1).
And God said unto him: “You fool – many blood
vessels small and big I created in a man's head and
each and every blood vessel I created a hole for
itself so that two will not drink from the same hole
for if two drink from one hole, they will obscure
man's vision; between one hole and another I was
not confused [but] between Iyov and Oyev I was
confused?ˮ
Raba continues and interprets another verse from
the Book of Job (38: 25): “Who hath divided a
watercourse for the overflowing of waters.ˮ [God
continues answering Job] “I created many drops in
the clouds, and each and every drop I created in a
pattern of its own, so that no two drops will come
out of one pattern. If two drops come out of one
pattern, they shall turn the land barren and it shall
bear no fruit; between one drop and another I was
not confused [but] between Iyov and Oyev I was
confused?ˮ “…or a way for the lightning of
thunderˮ (Job, 38: 25) – “I created many sounds in
the clouds and each and every sound I created in a
pattern of its own so that no two sounds will come
out of one pattern. If two sounds come out of one
pattern, they shall destroy the world; between one
sound and another I was not confused [but] between
Iyov and Oyev I was confused?ˮ
“Knowest thou the time when the wild goat of the
rock brings forth?ˮ (Job, 39: 1) “This wild goat is
cruel to her young ones and when she is about to
give birth she climbs up to the top of the mountain
so that it [the newborn] will fall out of her and die.
And I invite an eagle which receives the newborn in
its wings and places it before the goat, and the eagle
is never early and is never late even for one minute
because if it is early or late even for one minute the
newborn shall die; between one minute and another
I was not confused [but] between Iyov and Oyev I
was confused?ˮ (Babah Batra, 16; Ein Yaacov;
Yalkut Shimoni, Job, 9).
Summary
The crisis of faith, or "religious confusion" as Yaacov Katz
refers to it in his discussion of Tmol Shilshom was not
unfamiliar to Agnon:
In the theory of wandering as Yitzhak is doing in
Jerusalem those days, Agnon combines the analysis
of the religious crisis, as formulated by members of
the second Aliyah (wave of immigration). Doubting
the absolute value of the religious commands has
penetrated their heart already abroad “and since we
entered the house of doubt we started being
inattentive in our commands. If we performed some
of them, we did it in order to avoid the parents'
anger. Once we immigrated to the Land of Israel
and became free of our fathers' yoke, we threw off
the yoke of the Bible” (Katz in Barshai 263).
Agnon explains this attitude of throwing off the yoke
by saying that “most of the Mitzvot (Commandments) are
only consequences of the Diaspora.ˮ That is, the Mitzvot
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Galia Shenberg
were designed to protect us against assimilation: “Now that
we return and the danger of being assimilated with the
gentiles has been eliminated, there is no longer a need for
practical commandmentsˮ (Barshai 264). At the end of his
article about Agnon vis-à-vis religious confusion, Katz
says:
singing also. How come this old and weak man is
here as yesterday he was in bed suffering from a
severe illness […]. Since he felt my presence he
raised his voice and expressed some indecent words
with the same tune, the tune of the prayer. I scolded
him and told him, “Are you out of your mind?” He
smiled and answered me with a tune… “I am not of
the rashut [ruling authority] and you my friend are
also not from the rashut, so why do you care?” […]
and they went back to their singing and chanting,
songs of prayer with songs of indecency (Agnon
195).
Agnon is not a guide [my emphasis, G.S.] in the
religious confusion of the generation. He is one of
the greatest discoverers of confusion. This
confusion does not signify something empty and
negative. Were it not for Agnon's devotion to the
tradition, he would not have experienced the agony
of its agitation-agony (Katz in Barshai 299).
The design of the space in Agnon's children's tale
“From a Foe to a Friend” shifts, then, from the exterior to
the interior, from the tangible to the abstract. The realistic
reasoning is accompanied by magical argumentation since
designating the place as "the Makom" enables a different
view associated with a dilemma of faith. Thus, Agnon’s
narrative, seemingly designed for children, is not only for
them.
In other stories, Agnon also mentions a crisis of faith.
For example in his story “Hefker” [lawlessness] from the
Samoukh V'Nireh (Close and Visible) anthology, the
narrator is wandering in Jerusalem. A man grabs the
protagonist’s scarf, which he has wrapped around his neck
against the cold, and the narrator thinks the man has
mistaken him for another person, an "aher." It is difficult to
ignore the association with Elisha Ben Avuya, also known
as "Aher," mentioned above as the one who lost his faith in
the Pardess. Moreover, the narrator’s wandering in the city
streets and the fact that he comes across that house where
he hears words of prayer and indecency together indicates a
crisis of faith:
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