Agnon’s Not–So Simple Stories

Start each week with a bit of Agnon! Join Jeffrey Saks for a Sunday morning study session of the Nobel laureate’s writing, reading in English translation as our instructor helps build a bridge to the original Hebrew texts and the rich rabbinic sources from which Agnon crafted his modern writing.

The series will run for 5 Sundays at 11:00am, starting January 25 (each session stands on its own and covers a unique story; enthusiastic attendance may allow us to continue the series, TBD).

We will be reading stories from the English anthology The Outcast & Other Tales (Toby Press, 2017), available for purchase (10% discount with code “agnon”), or at most Steimatzky bookstores. The stories in this collection paint lyrical portraits of traditional Jewish life in Europe and the Land of Israel—worlds on the cusp of seismic shifts and historic transformations—and is rounded out with a selection of Agnon’s nightmarish and surrealistic tales. Miniature masterpieces which caused a complete reevaluation of his art and helped his readers understand how profoundly modern the master of the old-world pietistic stories truly was.

This series talks place live at Agnon House, 16 Klausner Street, Jerusalem, starting Sunday, January 25 at 11:00am (no Zoom broadcast).

Rabbi Jeffrey Saks is director of research at Jerusalem’s Agnon House.

Price: 25 NIS for a single lecture, 100 NIS for the full series –– register below or on the spot.