The Fable of the Goat

One of the foremost tensions of Agnon's work was the transition from diaspora Jewish life to living in the Land of Israel. In this story, which is often illustrated as a children's book, Agnon tells of a boy who follows a magical goat through a cave that leads him to the Land of Israel, severing his relationship with his father. Rabbi Saks interprets this story as a warning of the perils of leaving behind Jewish tradition when returning to the Jewish people's ancestral homeland.