Free Only Yesterday by S. Y. Agnon Page B

fell on, as he pondered to himself, It wasn’t on a big, handsome ship like this that my ancestor Reb Yudel traveled, for in the days of Reb Yudel Hasid, there were not yet any steamships, but only sailboats that cruised the sea at the whim of the wind. Many troubles befell Reb Yudel at sea. Your common sense cannot grasp how he could endure them. But he did endure them all and accepted them lovingly, as if the Holy-One-Blessed-Be-He had been merciful to him by sending him torments at sea, so that he would enter the Land of Israel cleansed. Once a big tempest came at sea and the waves were about to swallow the ship, even though they knew the Hasid was going by the will of the Blessed-One. But that Hasid stood up and was not afraid, for he said, Whatever the Holy-One- Blessed-Be-He does, for good He does it, and if this be the will of the Blessed-One, it must be good. And with this knowledge, he grew greatly excited and became all joy. And the waves saw his pleasure and were ashamed and went away. As they went away, the ship was standing in the middle of the sea and there was a danger that it would get stuck there and would not move. All the passengers on the ship were terrified and scared that pirates would come and take them into slavery or that they would die of hunger and thirst, and would be-come food for the fish of the sea. They howled and lamented and wept, Is it not bad enough that they wouldn’t get to the Land of Is-rael, but they wouldn’t even get to a Jewish grave. And there was great weeping on the sea, as if they had already fallen into the sea and all the creatures of the sea were coming to eat their flesh. And that Hasid was joyful, for all the acts of the Holy-One-Blessed-Be-He were equal in his mind, and hence it didn’t matter whether they moved or did-n’t move. He stood and chanted a wonderful melody, To the Lord for all His deeds . And the winds heard and came to appease him. They bore the ship, as porters bear burdens on their shoulders, until they brought it to the Land of Israel. And all the feats of Reb Yudel Hasid in the Land of Israel are told and retold in the courts of the Rebbes at the Melaveh Malkah Meal, the farewell to the Sabbath Queen on long winter days, and sometimes they get up from the meal and still haven’t finished telling the events that happened to Reb Yudel Hasid.
I
    Isaac strolled about, up and down, and looked hither and yon. A high sky stretched above his head and a great sea opened beneath his feet, and between sky and sea travels this ship we’re sailing to the Land of Israel. And like that firmament above, the sea below is all a mighty blue, that keeps breaking open at the bottom of the ship and raises white waves, and the white waves curl up, turn dark, and sink. Sometimes a white bird descends from the sky and hovers over the ship, then rises back to the firmament and disappears in the blue mist, and sometimes a sailor passes by Isaac and blurts out a strange word. Once or twice one of the lords of the first class emerged, came and stood with his lady next to Isaac and said something to him. When they saw that his conversation wasn’t likely to shorten their voyage, they left him and went on their way. Once again he was alone between sea and sky. And he didn’t know that on that same ship were other Jews who were also going to the Land of Israel.
    As he stood there, two people, an old man and an old woman, appeared. Isaac looked at them and was amazed, for he had thought there were no other Jews here but him. And they too were amazed, for they had thought there were no other Jews here but them. The old man took his pipe out of his mouth and greeted
    Isaac, while the old woman nodded fondly at him. The old man asked Isaac, What are you doing here? Said Isaac, I’m going to the Land of Israel. The old man was amazed, Was it usual for a young man to go to the Land of Israel? Said Isaac, I am going there to work its soil. The old man began to be even more amazed.