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18 | Pioneers Eizerman glanced at Uler. He noticed neither his pale and emaciated face, nor his tattered and impoverished clothes, nor his worn-out boots with protruding toes—he saw only his eyes, on fire with ecstasy. And it seemed that before him stood a messenger from paradise, a man from the other world, holy, marvelous, and untroubled. Yielding to Uler’s mood, he also exclaimed with joyful excitement , “Well, then! Understood! We’ll live it up! We really will live it up!” 6 Ayoung man aged about twenty emerged from the house; he was frail, short, with an elongated face and anxious, delicate, chiseled features. His black eyes, with their somewhat enlarged pupils, shone with a soft light; and at the same time they possessed an insistent, serious, focused, almost ascetic expression. This look and his short beard conveyed a certain solidity to the young man’s small, fragile figure. “Here’s Mirkin now!” Uler said. “So, have you finished?” “Not yet,” replied Mirkin in a resonant voice. Halting by the door, he looked persistently and intently at Eizerman. “Kapluner was just here. . . .” “Yes, I heard his voice. Why did he come?” “He brought us some ‘produce,’” Uler replied, nodding at Eizerman. “He’s come here to study; he ran away from his parents. I’ve chatted with him, checked him out. . . . He’s not bad at all—there’s something to him!” With a broad smile and barely containing his inner ecstasy, Eizerman looked directly into Mirkin’s eyes. All of a sudden, as if drawn by a strange force, he took several steps toward Mirkin, extended his hand, and said with boldness and informality , which often mask internal timidity, “Accept a sholem aleykhem from a devout Jew!” Mirkin smiled, shook his hand firmly, and replied in the same tone of voice, “Aleykhem sholem! Where are you from, Jew?”1 “From beyond the back of beyond,” replied Eizerman, who’d prepared that response. Mirkin was completely satisfied with this answer; after a brief pause, he asked seriously, “Did you study at home? Do you know something?” 1. The conventional greeting in Yiddish. Pioneers | 19 2. A Wanderer on the Paths of Life (1876) by Peretz Smolenskin (1842–85), a RussianJewish novelist writing in Hebrew; The Love of Zion (1853) is the first novel (in Hebrew) by the Lithuanian-born writer Abraham Mapu (1808–67). 3. Isaac Baer Levinsohn (1788–1860) was a notable Russian Hebrew scholar, satirist, writer, and leader of the Haskalah who formulated a philosophy and described Jewish contributions to civilization in an effort to promote Judeo-Christian understanding. 4. Zerubbabel (1876) is a defense of Judaism and an exposition of the value of traditional law, as well as the wisdom and moral force of its expounders. Te’udah be-Yisrael (1828) argues for the necessity of studying secular languages, science, and literature and for the importance of engaging in agricultural and industrial pursuits. 5. Ha-Shahar (Hebrew), The Dawn, a Hebrew journal edited by Peretz Smolenskin, published in Vienna, that became the most effective literary platform for the Haskalah in its later period and for the nationalist movement in its early stages. Its aims were to disseminate Haskalah and fight against Hasidism and assimilationism. “Besides the Holy Torah—not a thing!” Eizerman replied cheerfully, even triumphantly . “Have you read anything?” “Read? I’ve read a lot! Hattot Ne’urim and A Wanderer on the Paths of Life; I’ve also read The Love of Zion.”2 “And have you read anything by Isaac Baer Levinsohn?3 “I’ve never even heard of him.” “You have to read his works: Zerubbabel and Te’udah be-Yisrael.4 They’ll give you a basis, a foundation, and help you make sense of things. . . . And, of course, you must read Ha-Shahar. . . .5 It’ll give you some direction. In general, I’ll tell you what to read. As for Russian lessons—we’ll have to think seriously,” he added anxiously. “Everyone gives so many free lessons already! Yesterday I spent half my day running around. . . .” “Kapluner promised to give him lessons,” said Uler. “Really? Kapluner?” Mirkin said, overjoyed. “That’s splendid! Kapluner’s an excellent teacher. Well, that means you’re all set!” he added reassuringly, addressing Eizerman. “Now, all that’s left is for you to begin work in earnest, to read and study. . . . Yes!” he remembered something else. “What about your . . . means?” “He’s brought along two pairs of magnificent tefillin!” Uler interjected. “Made of...

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