THE DETROIT ,JEWISH,HBVS

Fisch's `Agnon' Worthy Guide to Yiddish Writer's Works

By ALLEN A. WARSEN

"S. Y. Agnon" by Harold
Fisch (Ungar Publishing
Co., 1975) is a small, but at-

JOE MILLER

and

HIS ORCHESTRA

Music For All occosions

LI 5-1244

tractively published mono-
graph._ It includes an anno-
tated' bibliography of
Agnon's works and works
about Agnon, and a compre-
hensive chronology.
Agnon was Yorn in 1888
in Buczacz, Galicia, and be-
gan publishing poems in He-
brew and Yiddish in 1903. In
1907 he immigrated to Is-
rael and settled in Jaffa.

A year after his arrival in
Jaffa, Agnon published his
novel "Agunot," and
adopted the name Agnon.
His original name was
Shmuel YoSef Czaczkes.

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reilkille

k

e

ri PLACE

OPEN
MON-SAT
9:30-5:00

Agnon was twice awarded
the Israel Prize for Litera-
ture. In 1966, he received the
Nobel Prize for literature
which he shared with the
poetess Nelly Sachs, Agnon
died in 1970.

North Park Plaza , Room 120
17117 W. Nine Mile Road
Southfield, Michigan 48075
(313) 559-6140

The Semi-Annual Meeting of the

JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY
OF MICHIGAN

will be held

--

SUNDAY,
DECEMBER 7, 1975

11:00 A.M.
At Congregation Beth Achim

21100 W. 12 Mile Road, Southfield, Michigan

GUEST SPEAKER:

WALTER KLEIN

Former Executive Director of the Jewish
Community Council

who will talk on
"WHAT IS JEWISH ABOUT IT?"
Jewish Community Reaction to Public
Issues—An historical Prospective

President's Report
by Dr. Henry Green

A Sumptuous Brunch will be served

For Reservations call:

Dr. Henry Green 559-5288

Dr. Abraham Rogoff 424-8808

Reservations before December 3rd

Donation: $3.00 per person

All are Welcome

The publication of the
novel "And the Crooked
Shall Be Made Straight"
gained him recognition in
the world of Hebrew
belles-lettres.

The author of the mono-
graph contends that Ag-
non's literary style is re-
lated to the "Hebrew of the
Midrash," i.e., the classical
rabbinic homily of the early
"Middle Ages," and not to
Yiddish as some critics—
maintain.
Fisch also claims that-the
aguna motif is central to
Agnon's writing. An aguna,
it should be noted, is a
woman whose husband dis-
appeared, and according to
Jewish law, is not allowed to
remarry until definite proof
of his death is obtained.

However, the term
aguna also has a symbolic
connotation. It may even
refer to alienation, and
include individuals es-
tranged from their ethnic
and religious origin. By
extension, the aguna
"theme has clear -meta-
physical overtones also,
for the absent father (in
Agnon's stories) suggests
the absent Lord of Jewish
history, who leaves his
wife or child, i.e., the Jew-
ish people, bereft of his
spiritual authority."

Another -motif in Agnon's
stories is "the childhood
oath." An excellent example
is S. Anski's "Dybbuk." In
this drama "Lea and Hanan
are promised to one another
before birth." However, as
Lea reached maturity, her
father broke the promise,
and betrothed her to a weal-
thy young man. The result
was tragic as both Lea and
Hanan died.

Although the play is real-
istic, yet it signifies spirit-
ual conflict.

It is significant to note
that spiritual conflict is in-
trinsic in many of Agnon's
stories.

Another problem in the
works of Agnon is a matter
of time, especially the re-
lationship between past
and present. Whenever in
his works the present is in-
tertwined with the past,
the conjunction is purpose-
ful and meaningful. But
the past is portrayed "as
mere past, i.e., unendur-
ing, romanticized," it be-
comes unreal. Similarly,
the, present becomes a
nightmare when it is de-
picted without the past.
A significant aspect of
Agnon's creation is his con-
cern with the inner world of
reflection, memory, sensa-
tion, and dreams. Dreams,
in particular, are essential
to Agnon for an understand-
ing of life. Oftentimes, it is
difficult to tell when dreams
end and reality begins in his
works.

There are other aspects in
the writings -of Agnon, too
numerous to consider. Nev-
ertheless, we will comment
on a characteristic aspect of
Agnon's personality — his
view of Zionism. Ideologi-
cally Agnon was a "no non-
sense" Zionist. He opposed
the "Berit Shalom" (Peace
League) headed by Dr. Ju-
dah Magnes, first president
of the Hebrew University,
which advocated the estab-
lishment of a bi-national
state in Palestine; and after
the Six-Day War in 1967,
Agnon was one of the sig-
ners of the Land of Israel
Movement which demanded

November 28, 1975 27

_

ONE MAN
ORCHESTRA

that the conquered territo-
ries be forever retained by
Israel.
The monograph "S. Y. Ag-
non" is a valuable guide and
aid to a better comprehen-
sion of Agnon's literary,
creativity.

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