Fernheim
The name signifies “distant home” or “home is distant.” Such is the experience of the hero, a soldier and prisoner of war, who, returning “home,” finds his wife and family estranged. His quest for human contact fails. Home is not merely distant; it is non-existent.
The Night
The time: the period shortly after World War ii. The place: Jerusalem, to which many refugees from the death camps of Europe flocked. The central episode: the arrival of Moshele, the narrator’s relative, believed to have perished in Auschwitz. In awe of some nobility that have taken up quarters at the hotel where the narrator rented a room (he has no home), he refuses hospitality to Moshele. Soon, however, remorse sets in, and the narrator sets out to find his relative, to involve himself in his fate rather than relishing childhood memories (the bookseller Halbfried), the luxury of going to a concert, and the enticing graciousness of a young governess.
Notes on Additional Stories
First Kiss
The Sabbath transforms secular, natural time into sacred time; on that day time reaches fulfillment, presaging life eternal. (Note the references to “time” in the first part of the story.) Here, the Jew is in his very own sphere; an intrusion from the outside cannot but create a disturbance in the innermost sense. But the outside world does intrude, consciously; the three monks (note the number) are no innocent visitors; they suggest there should be three Sabbath candles, only to be informed that the two candles are “actually one.” The three monks are followed by two novices, one of whom confesses to be a woman (conversion — perversion). In fact, she is “the daughter of old age” of a hasidic master whose mighty New Year’s prayer for the unity of mankind in the service of the one God led his listeners to imagine this union to be a reality. The narrator, representing this tradition of Israel, and the “novice,” representing the return of the wayward, become one in a holy kiss. The transforming power of the Sabbath is restored.
Glossary
AMIDAH A sequence of nineteen petitionary prayers recited three times a day; also known as the Shemoneh Esreh or the Eighteen Benedictions. Together with the Shema, it is the most important Jewish prayer.
ARK, OR HOLY ARK (aron kodesh) An ornate cabinet in which the Torah scrolls are kept in the synagogue.
BAREKHU The beginning of the morning and evening statutory prayer, which can only be recited in the presence of the quorum of ten.
CHALLAH (pl. challot): The braided loaf of bread that is prepared specially for the Sabbath and for holidays.
COMMANDMENTS (mitzvot) The obligations of Jewish life as ordained in the Torah or derived from it by the rabbis.
DAYAN A respected rabbi who serves as a judge in matters of communal, religious, and legal disputes.
DAY OF ATONEMENT See Yom Kippur.
DAYS OF AWE The solemn holiday season including Rosh Hashanah (New Year) and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement).
DAYS OF JOY The festive holiday season immediately following Yom Kippur, including Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret, and Simhat Torah.
Glossary
EIGHTEEN BENEDICTIONS See Amidah.
ERETZ YISRAEL The Land of Israel.
ETERNAL LIGHT (ner tamid) A perpetually burning lamp hung over the ark containing the Torah scrolls in synagogues; it is a remembrance of the daily sacrifice offered in the Jerusalem temple.
ETROG A citron (a fruit resembling a lemon), one of the “four species” used in the celebration of the Sukkot holiday.
FOUR SPECIES Leaves from the palm, myrtle, and willow trees, together with the citron (etrog), are used to celebrate the holiday of Sukkot.
GEMARA The commentary on the Mishnah; another name for the Talmud, the compendium of post-biblical legal and scriptural interpretation.
HALACHA The corpus of Jewish law and jurisprudence; literally “the way” of life of the observant Jew.
HALLEL A liturgy of praise included in the synagogue service on festivals and New Moons.
HANUKKAH An eight-day winter holiday, observed by lighting lamps, which commemorates the repurification of the Jerusalem Temple after the successful revolt of the Maccabees in the second century b.c.e.
HAVDALAH A ceremony employing a candle, spices, and wine that marks the conclusion of the Sabbath and the reentry into the workaday week.
HEDER A private one-room schoolhouse for boys which was the basis of Jewish education in eastern Europe.
HOSHANA RABBAH A semi-festival that concludes the week of Sukkot; it is marked by beating willow branches against the synagogue altar.
INTERMEDIATE FESTIVAL DAYS (hol hamo’ed) The days that fall between the first two and the last two days of Passover and Sukkot; they have the status of semiholidays.
KADDISH A litany of praise for God; among other purposes, it is recited by mourners after the death of a parent or child or on the anniversary of their deaths.
KEDUSHAH A portion of the Amidah prayer that can only be recited in the presence of a quorum of ten.
KIDdUSH The sanctification of the wine that is recited when the Sabbath is ushered in Friday night and again at the midday meal on Saturday.
KING OF ISHMAEL The leader of Islam.
KOSHER The state of ritual fitness; often applied to foods permitted by Jewish law and the rules governing their preparation.
LAG B’OMER A day for picnicking and outings that occurs thirty-three days after the beginning of Passover.
MAARIV The evening service in the daily liturgy.
MAHZOR A collection of prayers and sacred poems used on holidays, especially Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
MEN OF THE GREAT ASSEMBLY The high court of sages that legislated matters of Jewish law in Second Temple times.
MENORAH (pl. menorot) A lamp, usually with seven branches, that is placed in the synagogue in remembrance of the candelabrum that stood in the ancient tabernacle and Temple.
MEZUZAH (pl. mezuzot) A piece of parchment containing biblical passages affixed to the doorposts of Jewish homes as a visual reminder of spiritual obligations.
MIDRASH The rabbinic interpretations of Scripture.
MIKVAH A ritual bath in which married women immerse themselves after menstruation.
MINHAH The brief afternoon service in the daily liturgy.
MINYAN A quorum of ten adult males required for public worship.
MISHNAH The code of post biblical Jewish law compiled around 20 °C.E.
MUSAF The additional service offered on the Sabbath and the festivals.
NEW MOON The first day of the new month in the Hebrew calendar and sometimes the last day of the old month are celebrated as semiholidays, with special additions to the liturgy.
NEW YEAR See Rosh Hashanah.
NINTH OF AV (Tisha b’Av) A solemn summer fast day commemorating the destruction of the Jerusalem Temples and other historic calamities.
Glossary
NOVELLA (pl. novellae; Hebrew: hiddush, hiddushim) Innovative interpretations of Jewish legal traditions.
OMER The forty-nine days that are counted between Passover and Shavuot, marking the passage from the liberation from Egypt to the giving of the Torah.
PASSOVER The spring holiday that commemorates the exodus from Egypt.
PESAH See Passover.
PILGRIMAGE FESTIVALS (shalosh regalim) The holidays of Sukkot, Passover, and Shavuot, during which pilgrimages were made to the Jerusalem Temple during biblical times.