She was amazed at how much she appreciated the teaching. It rang with such logic and legal clarity that it appealed to her thinking, but it was changing her heart as well. She felt she was only now coming to know who she was.
“Tassie, something’s happened. Can you get over to the museum?”
“Jethro, did you see the Temple Mount?”
Jethro paused. He sounded out of breath. “I did. I saw it disappear. With my own eyes. It was incredible. No one can believe it. We were in Jerusalem and had just lifted off in an IDF helicopter to return to Tel Aviv. I saw the Golden Dome with just a hint of the morning sunrise glinting off the top. The Dome swayed. It didn’t make sense and then we heard a swoosh sound and a thunder type rumble. The Dome and the Mosque just sunk and disappeared. I rubbed my eyes and wondered if I was dreaming. Then the vibration shook the helicopter . . . and it floated up like a balloon. There was a moment when everything was still and silent. Then the sirens started, and people ran to the area. We didn’t see any fires or accidents, but watching the Dome disappear was so amazing. God, blessed be He, allowed us to see it.”
“Jethro, did you get pictures?”
“It was so fast, Tassie, but yes, one of the IDF guys got it. That is one of the videos you might be seeing on the TV. It was so stunning that we could hardly talk. And it’s such a short flight. I think we were all in shock when we landed.”
“Incredible.” Tassie turned to the Goldmans. “Jethro saw the Dome disappear from the helicopter.”
Jethro took a deep breath. “But there is something else. Come to the museum ASAP. Bring the Goldmans if you can.”
“Okay.” Tassie put her phone back in her purse. “Jethro wants us all over at the museum. Says it’s big, and it’s not the Temple Mount.”
Harvey Goldman picked up his car keys. “Let’s go. And then I need to go out to the oil well site. In the twinkling of an eye, all seems to be changing. And did anyone consider that the Feast of the Tabernacles is this week? I don’t know if anyone remembered. I knew it yesterday, but today, who can think of anything?”
Tassie stopped. She placed her hands on the counter to steady herself. “The Feast of Tabernacles. That’s the next blood moon, isn’t it? Tonight? It’s tonight!”
Sally stood in front of her husband. “Harvey, I love you. Of course you know, and we must hurry, but put your clothes on. We’re all in our night clothes.”
The Goldmans’ car pulled up in front of the museum. Tassie’s parents were just getting out of their car. A small planter that stood next to the door was toppled over and the sidewalk lay crumpled and cracked.
“Looks like the earthquake went right by here.” Tassie hugged her parents. “Did you see the Temple Mount?”
“The Dome of the Rock is gone. Swallowed right up. Glad to see the museum is still standing. Wouldn’t want the bottle with the tassel to get swallowed.”’
Tassie’s eyes widened. “Oh my, why didn’t I think of that? Now I don’t want to go in. What if something happened to it?”
Her dad placed an arm around her. “Chin up, probably some info on the Temple Mount.”
Tassie’s mom grabbed one of her hands. “I can hardly contain myself that tonight is the next blood moon. I’m so nervous and excited. And now, with the Temple Mount empty . . . what is going to happen?”
The door opened, and Jethro stood there gesturing for them to hurry in. They hurried through the door. He stopped them before they continued to the back of the museum. “Do you want the good news or the bad news first?”
Harvey and Sally just looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. Tassie’s parents said nothing.
Tassie looked at each face and back to Jethro. “You’re serious?”
“I am.”
“Okay, I guess the good news.”
Jethro clapped his hands. “We have found buried treasure. Great funding for great projects.”
Harvey Goldman cleared his throat. “Jethro we already know about the second oil well and the first one becoming a gusher.”
Tassie’s mom hugged Sally. “Oh my, how wonderful! With all the tensions, now Israel can produce its own energy.” She looked back at Jethro.
“Congratulations. I had not heard that yet. But we have even more treasures to add to that. However—”
“However, what?” Tassie narrowed her eyes. “Spill it, Jethro.”
“The bottle broke in the earthquake.” Jethro opened the door and led them to the back where the bottle was kept.
Tassie’s mom covered her face with her hands, and a tear tracked down Tassie’s face. Harvey and Sally hugged each other.
Tassie’s dad hung his head. “The earthquake, Jethro?”
“Yes, sir, but come see. We have moved nothing until you could come.”
The bell jar lay shattered with glass everywhere on one side of the pedestal. On the other side, the bottle rested on the floor in five pieces. The neck, where the tassel was still attached, lay in two pieces. The base was broken from the rest of the bottle and the main section of the bottle was also broken into two pieces.
“We have taken pictures. We will videotape our examination of it now. Please put on gloves so you don’t get cut or damage the tassel with body oils.” Jethro handed each of them thick plastic gloves.
Harvey Goldman was on his knees, leaning in to peer at the base of the bottle. “The base was covered in wax, which I had not really noticed before, but look here.”
Marge gasped and fell to her knees beside Mr. Goldman. “Is that what I think it is?” She glanced at Harvey and then back. “Can we have a magnifying glass?”
Jethro quickly retrieved one and handed it to her. Marge and Harvey took turns examining and sighing.
“Mother, what is it?”
Harvey rocked back so he was sitting on his heels. He shook his head and laughed. “It’s diamonds. Diamonds, I tell you. Where from you say. I will tell you. They are from Spain. But, of course they are. Where else could they be from?” He paused. “Well, I suppose from America, but obviously from the 1400s. Marge, what do you think?”
“I think they are Spanish diamonds, smuggled over just like the tassel. Probably worth millions. Oh my.”
“Mother, Harvey, do I see a ring or something in the neck? Is it just to connect the tassel?” Now Tassie perched on her knees and peered at the tassel. She looked up at Jethro. “May I pick it up?”
“You may.”
Tassel Lydia Stevens grasped the neck of the bottle. She ran her gloved fingers over the tassel, the first person to do so in over five hundred years. She looked at her mother again. “This just blows me away.”
“Can you pull it out of the neck?” Jethro handed her a pair of tweezers.
Tassie carefully dug at the wax a bit and it slipped out of the neck exposing a solid gold ring.
“I think I’m going to faint.” Harvey sat back on the floor and put his head in his hands.
Tassie held the tassel in one hand and with the other hand worked at the gold ring. “Oh my . . . ” She looked up, bit her lip, and shook her head. Everyone held their breath and could not break their gaze from the history being dug out in Tassie’s hands.
“There are two rings here.” She displayed the rings and it became clear that the tassel was looped around the rings. She held out her hands cradling the rings and tassel for the others to see. Jethro snapped a picture.
Her mother scooted across the floor closer to Tassie. “May I?” Tassie placed the relic in her hands.
“I thank You God Almighty for bringing us to this moment. For determining this moment to reveal the treasures of the tassel.” She passed the tassel to her husband.
“The Psalmist has said, ‘It is the set time to favor Israel’. The Dome of the Rock is swallowed up and perhaps this is the time to rebuild the Temple of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And these gems and precious gold, along with the oil, could probably pay for the building of this Temple.”
Harvey Goldman stood up and
held out his hands for his turn to hold the precious tassel. “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one . . . ” The others stood and prayed the shema with him.
Halfway through the shema, Rabbi Welcker came in and joined his deep baritone voice to the prayer. He seemed to almost sing it and Tassie sensed the moment had forever etched itself in each mind.
As everyone talked at once, Tassie’s mother fell to her knees again. “Wait, I think there is more.”
Immediately it was silent. Harvey knelt beside her. The two relic experts poked at a rather large piece of wax that had held the diamonds.
“Jethro, make sure you video this.”
“Yes, ma’am, I’m here.”
The two looked like kids digging in the sand. Harvey examined what was being uncovered in her hand.
“Is it a coin? I think it’s a coin. Oh my, it has the image of Queen Isabella on it. Ooooh, look at this. I think again I’m going to faint.” Harvey sat back and rubbed his face.
Tassie’s mother held out the coin. “See, this side is Queen Isabella, and on this side . . . ” Marge shook her head. “On this side is the name and image of Cristobal Colombo and the date 1492. The Queen must have had this made to go with him on the journey to authenticate his authority or just to commemorate or honor him and the journey.”
Harvey nodded his head. “This is the documentation, the certification, for the age and place of the diamonds. It will increase their value. We have millions here.”
Rabbi Welcker examined the coin. “One of my fellow rabbis is also a diamond and gold appraiser. With your permission, I will contact him. I’m sure he can be here in a few minutes.”
Tassie realized the rabbi was looking at her. “Most definitely. Call him.”
Rabbi Yosef arrived ten minutes later. The diamonds, tassel, rings, and coin lay on the table. The wax was in one pile while the glass was in another. Harvey and Tassie’s mother insisted that every piece be preserved and examined. Eyes wide, the Rabbi opened his mouth, and nothing came out. Regaining control, he glanced around at the others and then sat down. He put on gloves, placed the eyepiece in his eye and picked up one diamond and began mumbling.
Tassie whispered. “Is he saying something? Is he talking to us?”
Rabbi Welcker smiled. “Hebrew, and yes, he’s mumbling.”
There were eleven diamonds in all. The cut was a unique and simple cut that most certainly traced back to the time of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand in Spain when the Jews were the main diamond cutters and sellers. “How did these get out? I have read about these priceless jewels. When they kicked out the Jews in the Spanish Inquisition, they cut some of them open if they suspected they had jewels, thinking they had swallowed them. It was barbaric.”
He took a deep breath. “Just look at the brilliance. These are colorless and flawless, such rarity. Three of them have inclusions or blemishes to the side, but they would be graded very, very slightly included. The cut is exquisite giving them a brightness and fire that is outstanding. These two,” Rabbi Yosef looked up and sighed. “These two are the rarest blue with such depth of color I’ve never seen. I’m almost beside myself. I’ve rarely seen anything like these. I am so honored to examine them.”
Tassie and her dad put their arms around each other and said together, “How far is the sky blue? That’s how far God will provide for us.”
Rabbi Welcker pointed to the coin. “My friend, see the coin. Queen Isabella on one side, Cristobal Colombo, 1492, on the other. Is this sufficient documentation?”
Rabbi Yosef sat back. “I must catch my breath.” He examined the coin. “This was in the wax with the diamonds?”
Everyone nodded.
“Do not destroy the wax. There are means to date it, to further document it.” He studied the coin again. “This coin provides necessary certification as to the age of the diamonds.”
Rabbi Welcker placed his hand on Rabbi Yosef’s shoulder. “Did I tell you my niece’s husband, Harvey, here, is an antiquities dealer, and Tassie’s mother, Marge, is an antiquity expert?”
Rabbi Yosef stood up. “Oh, that’s wonderful. Do assist me in calculating the worth of these. The connection to Spain, Queen Isabella, and Christopher Columbus definitely puts these in a high worth bracket.”
The three sat down together and put pencil to paper. Fifteen minutes later, Rabbi Yosef looked at the others. “My honorable friends, I believe these diamonds are worth at least one point two million dollars.”
A collective sigh went through the room.
Jethro stepped forward. “What about the gold rings?”
The diamond appraiser looked up. “Gold rings? Really? Oh my. All I was looking at was the diamonds. Are they solid gold?”
Harvey spoke up. “I would think that from that time, there would be very few alloys, so more than likely. Marge?”
“I would agree.”
“Then, well . . . ” Rabbi Yosef ran his hands over his face. “These are priceless, of course.” He looked away. “Of course, priceless, but they need a worth, yes? A price. Of course, a price.”
Tassie placed her hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle. She did not allow her eyes to meet her mother’s knowing they would not be able not to laugh.
After another deep sigh, the rabbi examined the rings. “I would guess these two rings are of equal worth to the diamonds, assuming they are solid gold. A million dollars would be a minimum in my humble opinion.”
Harvey and Sally looked at each other. “Tassie.” Sally took both of her hands. “All of this is what you are named for, not just on a whim of Marge and Jack.” She smiled at Tassie’s parents. “But as a result of God’s intention for you. Jethro, Marge, Tassie, and Harvey are all the descendants of Christopher Columbus, Lydia Liebermann, and Gabe Goldman. The choice is yours as to what to do with the items or the funds.”
Tassie looked at her mother, Jethro, and Harvey, and realized they were looking at her. “What? What do all of you think?”
“We think you are the decider.” Harvey placed an arm around Tassie.
Tassie’s mother and Jethro nodded.
“I . . . ah . . . ” Tassie then heard her voice strong. “I think we need to use the funds from the diamonds and rings . . . not the tassel or the coin . . . they should be preserved . . . but the diamonds and the rings should finance the oil wells.”
Harvey squeezed Sally’s hand.
Tassie continued. “It’s time for Israel to become a huge oil supplier for not just Israel, but the U.S. and other countries. We need to build more wells to accommodate the veins that opened up. I believe that the oil wells will then do so well, that they can finance the rebuilding of the Temple on the now vacant Temple Mount.”
The two rabbis placed their hands over their hearts.
“God Almighty, Blessed be He, has given you wisdom beyond your years, my dear Tassie.” Rabbi Welcker took her hands in his. “I believe you have been given the words of God.”
Jethro stepped forward. “I concur, but now we need to get these in airtight bags, take more pictures, and get something to eat.”
Sally went into the small kitchen in the back of the museum as Marge, Harvey, and Jethro, according to antiquity protocol, bagged and labeled the diamonds, rings, tassel, wax, and the glass. Upon finishing they walked back to the kitchen, expecting to see food. Instead, Sally stood there crying.
Harvey ran to her. “My dear, what is wrong.”
Sally simply pointed at the TV. The group stood mesmerized. It was like a dream. Like a dream come true.
Benjamin Akeena shook himself and stood up. Confusion reigned in his mind. Dust was everywhere. He examined himself. A lump on his head and a bit dizzy. Other than that, he thought he was okay. What in the world had happened? Then it came back. A rocking, a rumbling noise. Must have been an earthquake.
“Rani, you all right? Where are you?”
Rani sat on the ground grinning. “I always liked roller coasters, but that was a little weird. How about you?”
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“Must have landed on my head. Got a little lump, feel a little dizzy.”
“Sure hope it knocked some sense into you.” Rani laughed and stood up. The dust was clearing, and sirens were beginning to sound in the distance. “Oh, man, what just happened?”
Ben was brushing the dust off. “C’mon, Rani. An earthquake just happened. Did you bump your head, too?”
“Look, Ben . . . where is the Dome of the Rock?”
“What? You lost your sense of direction, too?”
“No, Ben, look.”
Ben looked in the direction of the Dome, expecting to see the reflection of the rising sun pierce through the dust of the earthquake. “Where is it? Why can’t I see it?”
“It’s gone. Swallowed up.”
The two stood there, just staring. Then they heard the beep. Snapping back to military readiness, Ben read the orders on his phone. He let out a low whistle.
“Rani, we’re to storm the Temple Mount. The Prime Minister said this is the time to take it back.”
“This is God’s time to restore, blessed be He. Let’s go, bro.”
All Israeli Defense Forces in the area were surrounding the Temple Mount. Considered a holy place by Jews, Muslims, and Christians, this would not be an easy task. IDF guards were already on the grounds, to protect the Dome, an Islamic shrine built in the seventh century, from anyone of any belief who wanted to destroy it. Two hundred meters to the south, also on the Temple Mount, was the Al Aqsa Mosque, one of Islam’s most holy places. It had been built originally in 715 A.D. but had been destroyed by earthquakes several times.
Individual Jewish groups, attempting to force Israel’s hand or even God’s hand, had planned elaborate, but ill-thought-out, take-overs in years past. All had been thwarted, some with loss of life and all with lengthy jail terms. This time, though, the Dome and the Mosque were just gone, swallowed up, as if they had never been.
Benjamin Akeena had never been to the Temple Mount. Even though IDF soldiers were posted there, the duty was never his assignment. Tourists had been allowed, but only if they were Muslim. He knew that this was the place where Muslims believed Mohammed had risen to heaven. He also knew that Abraham had come here to sacrifice Isaac, only to be stopped by God from killing his son. God wanted to know if Abraham would obey Him. Recently Ben had heard a most interesting comparison on a TV program.
Blood Moon Redemption Page 24