Jirí Langer (1894–1943), Czech-Jewish writer and poet, friend of Franz Kafka and Max Brod, became famous for his studies of the teachings of the Galician Hasidim. He wrote in Czech and Hebrew. The Hasidic legends of the collection “The Nine Gates,” which was published in 1937, captivate the reader with their utmost sincerity, poetry, and the author’s love for his heroes—rabbis and sages capable of performing miracles. Being in an extremely close relationship with the Lord, they allow themselves to be short with Him, almost insolent, and therefore another miracle performed by God looks like a favor done to a neighbor. The stories tell of the Hasidim, these special children of God who, thanks to their boundless piety, have the rare privilege of being able, through their saints, to ask the benevolent Heaven for everything they need for life. However, this life is so modest and their requests are so proportionate to this life that they could receive the gifts they asked for without any miracle.