Midrash Agnon: Stories of the Land of Israel
3-part lecture series on S.Y. Agnon’s stories of Eretz Yisrael. “And in came Rabbi Shmuel Yosef, the son of Rabbi Shalom Mordechai haLevi of blessed memory, who was versed in the legends of the Land of Israel, those legends in which the name of the Holy One, blessed be he, is hallowed; and when he commenced lauding the Land, people could see as it were the name of the living God engraved on the tip of his tongue.” —In the Heart of the Seas
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Torah learning on WebYeshiva.org in Spring Semester 2017 is dedicated in the memory of Yehezkel and Sarah Lemel z”l by their loving family. יחזקאל בן אשר למל ושאשא יוכבד ז”ל ושרה מניה פייגע בת יום טוב וטשארנה רבקה ז”ל
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Midrash Agnon: Stories of the Land of Israel: Lesson 1
Lag BaOmer- The legends of Lag BaOmer loom large in Agnon’s writing and in his pseudo-autobiography. What role does the mystical holiday play in his stories and in his imagination? How does it connect to his portrayed vision of the Land of Israel? For our first session — on Lag BaOmer — you can start by reading the short story “To the Galilee” — available on the Tablet website (http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-arts-and-culture/190702/s-y-agnon-to-the-galilee) (in Hebrew as “HaGalilah”; email me([email protected]) if you want a copy).
Midrash Agnon: Stories of the Land of Israel: Lesson 2
Jerusalem of Agnon and Amichai: To mark Yom Yerushalayim and the 50th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem we will discuss the role the city plays in the prose of Agnon and the poetry of Yehuda Amichai — and explore points of contact between them. For the newest collection of Amichai’s work in English click here.(http://a.co/fj5icfd) You can sample some of Amichai’s poetry in translation here.(https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/yehuda-amichai#about)
Midrash Agnon: Stories of the Land of Israel: Lesson 3
Agunot: For our final session we will read Agnon’s “signature story” and his debut Hebrew publication upon arriving in Eretz Yisrael – “Agunot”. Please let me know ([email protected]) if you’d like the Hebrew version.
Rabbi Jeffrey Saks is the founding director of ATID – The Academy for Torah Initiatives and Directions in Jewish Education, in Jerusalem, and its WebYeshiva.org program. He is the Editor of the journal Tradition, Series Editor of The S.Y. Agnon Library at The Toby Press, and Director of Research at the Agnon House in Jerusalem. A three-time graduate of Yeshiva University (BA, MA, Semicha), Rabbi Saks has published widely on Jewish thought, education, and literature (see https://www.webyeshiva.org/rabbisaks/).