by Nathan Erez
Alfred’s copy had evidently been in the possession of Nathan of Gaza, who was born in Jerusalem and moved to Gaza, and that was probably where this copy had been found. Elijah had noticed that there were comments on Alfred’s scroll which had been added at the time of Shabbetai Zevi, and which had evidently been written by him or one of his disciples. If Alfred was one of the donmeh, that might explain how the scroll had come into his possession.
The fact that Shabbetai Zevi had attempted to solve all the world’s problems merely increased Elijah’s fear that Norman was attempting to follow in his footsteps.
Very reluctantly, he returned to the Institute, but didn’t know what to do with himself there. On the one hand, he had to report back to Norman, but, on the other, he felt that under no circumstances should Norman find out what he had seen in this copy of the manuscript. He decided that he would send Norman only the added notes he had seen on the scroll and which he had not read to Orna, and would refrain from mentioning the part he had read to Orna the previous night. He sent this extra section in an e-mail.
Two stones build two houses. Three stones build six houses. Four stones build twenty-four houses. Five stones build one hundred and twenty houses. Six stones build seven hundred and twenty houses. Seven stones build five thousand and forty houses. Go out and calculate what the mouth is unable to say and what the ear is unable to hear.
Norman called him shortly afterwards.
“Thank you for sending the latest text,” said Norman.
Taking advantage of Norman’s call, Elijah asked, “Would you have any idea what this is all about?”
“All I know is that it’s a type of mathematical calculation,” replied Norman.
“Yes, yes - I can see that. But what’s the basis for the calculation? I tried to come up with some sort of formula, but it totally escapes me.”
“It’s known as factorials. In mathematical terms, a factorial is noted by an exclamation mark after the number. For example, ‘3!’ would mean “three factorial”. A factorial is the entire series of numbers, starting from one up to and including the factorial number, all multiplied together. That means that ‘3!’ would be 1 x 2 x 3, while ‘6!’ would be 1 x 2 x3 x4 x 5 x 6, and so on.”
“OK, but what does all that mean?” The impatience in Elijah’s voice was palpable.
“What it means is that if you have a certain number of objects, the factorial of that number is the number of possible ways those objects can be arranged. For example, if you have two objects, then ‘2!’, which is 2, means that there are two ways the objects can be arranged, namely A and then B or B and then A. If you have four objects, where ‘4!’ gives us the number 24, then there are 24 different ways of arranging four objects.”
“Marvelous. Your explanation couldn’t be clearer. But what do all these numbers actually mean? That’s what I want to know.”
“Who said there is any meaning?” responded Norman. “I have no idea. Still, be that as it may, we need to figure out whether it’s worth our while to purchase Alfred’s manuscript. Would our buying the manuscript provide us with a better understanding of Jewish history, and would it help the Institute financially? Keep up the good work, Elijah. Goodbye.”
Norman had brought the conversation to an abrupt halt, and Elijah was left holding the phone in his hand.
Elijah had realized by now that Norman was not really interested in buying any more copies of the manuscript. All he wanted was to obtain the seven allusions left by Nehemiah of Peki’in, one in each of the seven copies. Elijah was terrified of what Norman might do once he assembled all the information contained in each of the seventh lines and reconstructed the ancient message contained within them. He assumed that Norman was no less an expert than he in dealing with these ancient manuscripts, and that the only reason he had sent Elijah to obtain the information was because his failing eyesight made it impossible for him to read them himself.
As the day wore on tediously, Elijah became ever more concerned about the possible dangers involved in this project, but when he read his e-mail that night, his concern was raised from possible to real and immediate. He was as tense as an over wound spring, and tossed and turned the whole night long. Even when Orna embraced him, he could not shake his agitation. From that point on, he basically stopped eating, and his sleep was limited to at best to two or three fitful hours each night. The purple bags under his eyes grew more and more pronounced. Orna saw what was happening, but was powerless to help. She was afraid that Elijah was coming down with some mysterious illness.
An email message from Mei-Ling had left him petrified. It was terse, but terrifying. “My grandfather fell from the third floor of his bank and died on the spot. The police are investigating. It does not appear to be accidental. My grandfather was the most cautious man I had ever met. You and I both know who was responsible for this. Eliyah, take care!” Elijah tried to relieve the tension and wrote back to her: “Just keep your spirits up. I’m sure I can arrange for help from here. Take care of yourself and don’t cross the street on your own.”
He had no doubt that this was the work of the Chinese Mafia trying to blackmail Norman, but would their arm extend to Israel as well? If so, he himself was in very grave danger! And what about Norman himself? What was he really up to? And wasn’t Elijah equally at risk from whatever Norman seemed to be doing? Wherever he looked, all Elijah could see was that he was somehow in the direct line of fire.
Elijah began to vomit. Anything Orna persuaded him to eat, wound up being spewed into the lavatory bowl. In his heart of hearts he was glad that the only information he had given Mei-Ling about himself was his untraceable email address. Hopefully, that would keep the Chinese Mafia away from him - but who could tell? Their power could well have extended to locating him here, in Israel.
A few nights later, Orna arranged to have someone take her shift, and returned home. As soon as Elijah opened the door, she attacked him. “Who is that whore in Hong Kong?”
“Orna, what on earth are you talking about?”
“And she even has the gall to call you ‘Eliyah’, no doubt a lover’s nickname. Look at yourself. You’re obviously head-over-heels in love with her. You’re out of your mind. You’re sick. If you want to carry on an affair with someone in Hong Kong, that’s fine, but I will not tolerate lies. Let’s talk the whole thing over and then we can decide what to do with the girls.”
“Orna, what are you talking about, for God’s sake?”
“I’m talking about your email correspondence with Mei-Ling.”
Had Elijah not been so ill from lack of food and sleep, had he not been suffering from frequent dizzy spells and acute anemia, he might even have regarded the accusation as a compliment.
“You’re out of your mind! Have I ever struck you as a sex symbol? Would you believe that someone would fall in love with me after a two-day acquaintance in Hong Kong? Whatever gave you the idea that I’m having an affair?”
“I can read between the lines. All those imaginary troubles she writes about are really a kind of code between you enabling her to form a dependence on you, while you are the white knight in shining armor rushing to her defense, just like in the movies.”
“I’ve never heard anything so preposterous in my entire life, and I’m especially surprised to hear it from someone as intelligent as you. And I’ve always felt myself to be naive and inadequate compared to you.”
“That’s exactly the point. You need to compensate yourself for your feelings of inadequacy, so out you go and find some cheap little trollop to whom you can come across as the hero. Elijah, I know you too well. You’re totally transparent to me. I have absolutely no doubt that you’re hiding something from me.”
“Come with me,” said Elijah, and in a totally atypical action on his part, he more or less dragged Orna over to the computer and sat her down next to it. As soon as he logged on, he heard the distinctive sound indicating that new email had arrived - from Mei-Ling.
Without even bother
ing to see its contents, Orna jumped at him again. “You see, you write only to her.”
Elijah clicked the e-mail open.
“Dear Elijah, Rabbi Batzri collapsed outside the synagogue after the prayers. An ambulance took him to the hospital; he died on the way. According to the official version, he died of a heart attack. Elijah, I beg you, tell me what to do. Should I come to Israel? Yours, Mei-Ling.”
Elijah recalled the dream he had had of the two of them - he and Mei-Ling - flying over Jerusalem. Maybe the dream had foretold what seemed to be happening now?
“So?” said Orna, as if she had proven her point. “Does it seem logical to you that every time she writes to you she informs you of someone else dying? And at such short intervals? Now she has the gall to want to come to Israel!”
“Orna, I’ve got something to tell you.”
Orna missed a few heartbeats as she waited for him to go on.
“There’s no affair here. It’s much worse than you could possibly have imagined.” And even though he had signed an agreement forbidding him to discuss anything related to the Institute with anyone, Elijah broke down and told Orna everything that had happened ever since he had started to work for Luzzato. He told her of the murder of Kim in Hong Kong, of the Hong Kong crime syndicate with the naïvely romantic name “White Lotus”, of the pursuit of the different scrolls, of Norman with the American accent who was nevertheless totally adept at writing Hebrew in the southern Italian style. To top it all, he admitted - albeit reluctantly - that he had almost been kidnapped by the Chinese Mafia.
Orna was overcome with emotion, “You mean the Chinese Mafia almost managed to nab you?” It was impossible not to see her new found appreciation of him. All her anger had dissolved magically, and her concern focused on ways to protect him. “I can see now why you’ve been receiving such astronomical sums of money. Our finances have been going up exponentially, but everything has a price, and we have no way of knowing when you will be required to pay that price.”
“I never thought about it like that,” said Elijah, which just added another woe to the pack of troubles he was already carrying.
“I bet that’s precisely why they chose you for this job. You’re a very naive man, Elijah.”
“Orna, the fact is that I am not the only one in danger, the same applies to you and the girls. That’s why I’m so worried. I’m terrified that they’ll stop at nothing.”
Orna was a very pragmatic person, with absolutely no connection to the Kabbalah. “I have a theory,” she said. “Your Mr. David Norman - together with the Chinese Mafia - is in a race to find the treasures that were hidden at the time of Bar Kokhba, possibly including the Temple treasures. Elijah, how many scrolls have you already examined?”
“Four.”
“Why don’t you write down everything you’ve found out up to now, and let’s see where that will take us? Let’s see if we can beat Norman to the punch and find the treasure before he gets to it.”
“I’ve been thinking along those lines, too, and I have a slight advantage over him. I examined one scroll whose existence he doesn’t even know about. Nor do I intend to enlighten him.”
“I want to help you.”
“What I’ve managed to understand so far is that the seventh line of each scroll refers to both the cosmological realm in regard to the creation of the world and to the world as it is here. In other words, if we piece together all the seventh lines, this should tell us both when and how to bring about the ultimate redemption. One of the scrolls talks about the Even Shetiyah, which is across from the heart of the world. Another states that the Even Shetiyah is located on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.”
“That means that we have to find some very high place which is opposite the Mount, one where, if we descend from it, the Temple Mount can no longer be seen. That must be the reference to the slope. Go on.”
“The third clue states that redemption should come during one of those years specifically suitable for it. This year is one of them.”
“And roughly when in the year should that take place?”
“In the summer.”
“In the summer? We’re at the beginning of the summer right now. Can you pinpoint it any more closely?”
“No, I have no idea.”
“Alright then. What else?”
“Then we find the reckoning of the factorials. This evidently must be related to various letter or word combinations, which evidently constitute some type of Divine code. These have to be recited at a certain tempo, and one must stop saying them at a certain time. We don’t know any more details.”
“I still maintain that the genetic code is somehow involved here, but I can’t figure out how to connect it to the other clues.”
“There are a few more things you should know about David Norman. He is able to write easily using an ancient script, is interested in the Kabbalah, can foretell the future and read minds. He is the owner of Luria Investments, and runs the Luzzato Institute. Both ‘Luria’ and ‘Luzatto’ are the names of famous Kabbalists. In his to-do list, he prophesied the death of Kim, and was willing to accept this with cruel equanimity.”
“Elijah, you already have enough pieces of the puzzle.”
“Not really. It’s like a patchwork. We don’t know exactly when, where and how this is supposed to take place. I don’t know who John McDonald is, or Odel Weiss. Her first name, too, is connected to the Kabbalah, and it was she who wrote that article which seems to have disappeared after its recall by the magazine publisher. And, of course, there is one other name involved here. Norman’s list included ‘Visit Gardi in the hospital’. Who is this Gardi?”
“Well, to me, Gardi sounds Yemenite. If he’s still in the hospital, I’ll see if I can locate him through our computer at Hadassah Hospital. I suggest you continue going to the Institute and act as if nothing has happened. I daresay Norman will send you to see other manuscripts.”
“Well, tomorrow I’ll pay a visit to my friend Shlomo Nehorai, CEO of Text-Com, who was also mentioned in Norman’s list. Maybe he can give me another clue.”
“Now why does that name sound familiar?”
“We were at high school together and have been friends ever since.”
“I am absolutely fascinated to see how you’ve changed suddenly from a scholar who deals with ancient documents into a private investigator,” Orna remarked with her usual cynicism, but primarily to alleviate the tension in the air. “I have one basic question, though. Tell me, do you actually believe in all this mystical mumbo jumbo?”
“I believe that Norman believes in it and that, to me, makes him a person who is out of control. However, given the three homicides and other potential homicides that surround the whole case, any association with him is highly dangerous. Second, don’t forget that Isaac Newton was also very interested in alchemy and other strange phenomena, and he is considered the father of modern scientific thought. Now it’s my turn to ask you a question: Do you believe me now about my ties with Mei-Ling?”
“Absolutely.”
Elijah embraced her. “Do you know what Rabbi Akiba would have had to say about this?”
“And since when are you suddenly a disciple of Hasidic rabbis?”
“I’m trying to find out everything I can about the Kabbalah. It’s said that Rabbi Akiba was a great Kabbalist, and I’m curious to know why he gave orders to have all the copies of Sefer Yetzirah burned. However, that’s not what I wanted to discuss right now. One of Rabbi Akiba’s statements concerns the grounds on which a man may divorce his wife. According to him, ‘Even if a man found a woman who is more attractive than his wife, he has the right to divorce her’.”
“Yes, I figured that she must be very pretty. I felt that in the way you responded about her,” Orna remarked bitingly. Deep down, Elijah felt a certain sense of satisfaction at this turn of events.
Orna continued, “I believe you, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to let my guard down. If a woman does too many shifts at the
hospital, it makes it much harder for her to keep her husband.” Elijah was delighted. That would mean that from now on the burden of caring for the little girls would be distributed more equally, even though she was a medical doctor and he was only a doctor of ancient languages. Indeed, the next morning he was able to take the car to his meeting with Shlomo Nehorai.
Elijah had often passed the high-tech industrial park in Jerusalem, but had never actually driven into it. From the outside it was very difficult to see what the individual buildings looked like, but as soon as he drove in he was impressed by their beauty and elegance, and noted that each had its own individual character. Shlomo’s company was located in a building known as the Ivory Building. The elevators were all glass-enclosed, and large picture windows faced west. As with most large buildings in Jerusalem, this one was built on the slope of a hill, and it was difficult to estimate the number of floors it contained, which explained why it took him a while to locate Shlomo’s office. At least those few extra moments gave him the opportunity to look around and admire the architecture. The building was encased in white marble that made it glitter in the sunlight. It had been built on an incline, and each floor had its own private terrace with grass and shrubbery. Many of these gardens were even graced by modern, mostly marble, artistic sculptures. He eventually arrived at the right floor and walked over to the woman at the front desk, whom he took to be the receptionist.
“Good morning. I would like to speak to Mr. Nehorai.”
Without even bothering to look up from the document she was working on, the young woman mumbled, “Fourth door on the right.”
As he walked along the corridor, Elijah noted that the doors to all the rooms were open and that all were the same size. Shlomo was indeed in the fourth room on the right, as a plain sign on his door indicated, without even giving his title as CEO. He was deeply engrossed in the data he was reading on his computer screen.