Tehila

by Shmuel Yoseph Agnon

An adaptation to the famous story by Shmuel Yoseph Agnon, who was awarded  the Nobel Prize in Literature “for his profoundly characteristic narrative art with motifs from the life of the Jewish people”, in 1966.

This is a story which tells of a writer who is searching for the meaning in his life. After a prolonged absence he returns to Jerusalem and the reunion with the city and its inhabitants make him restless.

During his walks through the alleyways of the old city, he meets Tehila – an old pious woman who intrigues him and the two engage in conversation. He also meets other people of the city and these encounters raise questions about the relation between the past and the present and the meaning of a simple meetings between people.

When the writer coincidentally meets Tehila once more he begins to wonder whether these meetings are in fact coincidental or maybe a mysterious hand is directing their paths and maybe they have a need for one another.

Tehila’s past is revealed bit by bit and the true essence of their connection becomes clear, the core of which is redemption.

Duration: About 1 hour (without intermission)