The Lost Codex (OPSIG Team Black Series Book 3)

by Alan Jacobson

  Benny jumped off Uzi’s lap and went over to DeSantos, who grabbed the tennis ball and played tug of war with him.

  Roey set about pouring the coffee. “I haven’t discussed the scroll with anyone in many years. Honestly, I hoped it would just go away.”

  “Scroll?” Vail asked. “What scroll?”

  “Director Knox only told us we need to talk to you about something. You seem to know what it is.”

  Roey hesitated, then handed out the mugs. He pulled over a chair and joined them at the table. “Agent Vail, do you know who Uzi’s grandfather was?”

  Vail turned to Uzi, who shrugged. “He never mentioned him. He just told me he lived in Israel.”

  “My father,” Roey said, “was Eylad. A Mossad agent. He worked—”

  “Wait, what?” Uzi leaned forward. “What the hell are you talking about? Zayde wasn’t Mossad,” Uzi said, using the Yiddish term for grandfather. “He was a scholar, a professor—” He stopped himself and sat back in his seat.

  Clearly Uzi had not known about his grandfather’s activities as a spy—but he surely understood why he had been kept in the dark: spies did not share such information with their families. Many never spoke of it even after getting out of the business.

  “Sounds like it runs in the family,” DeSantos said. He lifted the tennis ball to shoulder height—and Benny maintained his grip. The dog was now a foot off the floor, but he was not relinquishing his toy.

  Uzi did not notice. His mouth was open and his gaze had not moved from his father. “Was he a kidon?” he asked, using the term for assassin.

  “No. Well, to be fair, I don’t know the things he did. I asked him a few times, but he never wanted to talk about it. Too dangerous. I only know about one case. But it’s a big one.”

  “And that’s the one the director sent us here for,” DeSantos said, letting Benny drop a short distance to the floor.

  “That’s the one. My father worked as a Hebrew and Aramaic translator on the archaeological team that excavated the Dead Sea Scrolls.”

  The Dead Sea Scrolls?

  “At the time, back in the early 1950s, the Qumran caves and nearby Essene ruins sat on land controlled by Jordan. The scrolls are thought to have been written by the Essenes, an ancient Jewish sect that settled outside Jerusalem to escape the Roman persecution. There are a number of interpretations as to why the Essenes were there and why they wrote the scrolls, so I’m telling you the one that my father felt made the most sense based on what he learned. The Essene scribes produced hundreds of scrolls, many of which were copies of one another. They contain the Hebrew Bible, so it’s likely the multiple copies allowed the people who lived in Qumran the ability to pray together. Basically, it was like having prayer books for your congregation.”

  “But some weren’t prayer books,” Uzi said.

  “Right. There were also biblical texts, biblical commentaries, and religious books that were later excluded from the Hebrew Bible when the scholars wrote the Aleppo Codex.” He stopped and his eyes flicked from one to the other. “Do any of you know about the codex?”

  DeSantos laughed. “We all do.”

  Roey eyed them again, then continued. “Some of the scrolls are manuals of the beliefs and practices of the Essenes, who were freethinkers. Ultimately, nine hundred documents were found. Archaeologists found a large room amongst the ruins that they believe was devoted solely to scroll writing.”

  “Nine hundred documents,” Vail said with a shake of her head. “They were very prolific.”

  “Some experts think they wrote down all their customs and beliefs because they feared Rome would one day sack Judea—which, of course, happened—and they didn’t want their culture to die alongside them. That’s why they hid them in clay jars inside caves. Others think the Essenes planned to return when it was safe and retrieve their holy scrolls.”

  Roey reached into a cabinet and removed a strip of duck jerky, then tossed it to Benny, who dropped his ball and scooped up the treat.

  “My father was sent there to observe the excavation process, to make sure rare pieces of ancient history didn’t disappear. I mean, there wasn’t anything like this ever discovered in the history of mankind. And there still hasn’t been, seventy years later. Those scrolls, written two thousand years ago, are our earliest written record of the basis of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—they can all be traced back to those core beliefs. The scrolls told how things were done. The same things you and I do today, Aaron, are written in these documents.

  “Unfortunately, a number of important scrolls were found before my father joined the archaeological team. But he was there on August 6, 1953, when a very special find was made. Inside a clay pot, like they were all stored, they found an intact scroll. It was exceptionally well preserved. When they unwrapped the linen covering, no one had touched that document in over two thousand years.

  “Your zayde and a French archaeologist named Alberi Michel unrolled the scroll a few feet at a time while he read it from start to finish. He knew then that he’d found something very important. At the same time, he knew it was very dangerous. But he didn’t know what to do about it. If it’d only been him there, he would’ve smuggled it to the National Museum and let them decide how to handle it. But Michel worked for Roland de Vaux, who was in charge of the excavation. The scroll could not just disappear. Michel might’ve suspected my father, and they might’ve discovered who he really was—a Mossad operative.”

  “His cover would’ve been blown.”

  “Exactly right, Hector. Since it was my father’s job to write a formal translation of the entire scroll, that’s what he did. He gave it to Michel that night. The next morning, the scroll—and Michel—were gone.”

  Vail picked up the tennis ball and tossed it to Benny. “Gone. As in he left? He stole the scroll?”

  “Yes, Karen, he stole the scroll, and the translation. But,” Roey said, lifting a hand and waving an index finger, “my father had made a handwritten copy of the translation. This he turned over to his boss at Mossad a few days later when he was certain Michel was not returning.”

  “Did they ever find him?” Uzi asked. “Or the scroll?”

  “Six weeks later, Michel turned up in Egypt. He claimed he had been ambushed and beaten.”

  “The scroll?” DeSantos asked. “Wait, let me guess: whoever attacked him took it. Right?”

  “Right.”

  “What was his reason for stealing it? To sell it on the black market?”

  Roey chuckled. “That certainly would’ve been believable. And he would’ve gotten a good sum of money for it, even back then before scholars knew what they had in the scrolls. Only a small fraction of them were made public. I think about 80 percent were kept hidden away by the Vatican for thirty to forty years. Christian and Jewish scholars kept asking to study them, but the answer was always no.”

  Vail splayed her hands. “So where was Michel taking it?”

  Roey shrugged. “He said he was hand delivering it to the Vatican because of what was contained inside. He didn’t want anyone to see what was written there.”

  “Which was?” DeSantos asked.

  Roey took a drink. He looked down and swirled his mug. “It’s still dangerous, all these decades later. Is it that important? Will what’s written in that ancient scroll really affect your case?”

  “Knox seemed to think it would,” Uzi said.

  Vail cradled her cup to warm her hands. “How can we answer that question if we don’t know what it says?”

  “Why do you think it’s so dangerous?” DeSantos asked.

  Roey took another drink. “Because, Hector, it has the power to change religion as we know it.”

  31

  I know what you’re thinking,” Roey said. “How could a document thousands of years old impact what people believe today?”
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  Actually, we already know the answer to that.

  “It’s because it was written so long ago that it has the power to influence the present day. Remember, this was before Christianity, before Islam.” Roey sighed. “I’m not a religious scholar, so I only know what I learned in talking with other experts a long time ago. To grasp its significance, you have to understand that many academics believe that Qumran, and the Essenes, gave birth to Christianity.

  “The Essenes were freethinkers. Some think they were rebels who were looking for new ways to practice their faith. Because of what’s written in the religious commentary of certain scrolls, some scholars believe that Jesus was one of the Essenes, or that he had visited them and shared his beliefs. Remember, Jesus was Jewish—a student of the Pharisees, a precursor to what we now call rabbis.”

  Vail finished her coffee and set the mug down. “So you’re saying that the Qumran community was where the divergence occurred between Judaism and Christianity. Since they recorded Jesus’s teachings, it was the birth of Christianity.”

  Benny put his front paws on Vail’s knees and growled softly, daring her to snatch the ball from his mouth.

  “You find this very exciting,” DeSantos said.

  “I’m not very religious,” she said, “but yeah.”

  “There are those who believe that Qumran is where the core Christian beliefs were born,” Roey said, “its early beginnings, the formation of those newer principles that became the foundation for Christianity years later. And there’s considerable support for that.”

  “Then what’s the problem?” Vail asked.

  “There was a very large scroll that Israel obtained in 1948 during the War of Independence. It was the most intact scroll discovered to date and they named it the Temple Scroll because it talked about daily life in the First Temple, the one that was destroyed by the Babylonians—how the sacrifices were made, what the structure looked like, its dimensions and layout, how it was used, and so on. Well, the scroll that was stolen by Alberi Michel? My father called it the Jesus Scroll. Know why?”

  “Because it’s all about Jesus.”

  “Right, Karen. But not in the way you think. Here’s an example.” He craned his head toward the ceiling as he tried to recall the text. “Ah, hell. Hang on a minute.” He walked out of the room and returned with a leather notebook bound on the side by leather strings. Roey carefully opened it and turned a couple of pages.

  “Here: ‘We will establish a manner of living for the whole, so that all may benefit from those around us. We will visit the ill of health, care for the ones whose bellies are not full. We are sent by the Anointed One to heal the sick, by our King to serve the poor, by the Prophet to proclaim hope.’ And then there’s this: ‘Miriam, the Anointed One, assembled the spices and oils for anointing the sick. Joel, the prophet among us, encouraged us to remember Elohim’s promises. Saul, whom the citizens of Jerusalem called the King of the Jews because of his knowledge of the Law, leads us with authority and discipline.’

  “And maybe the most important passage: ‘For the benefit of all, these three will be known as one to whom believers from all walks can follow, and we shall call this person Yesu the Messiah, who represents the anointed one, the king, and the prophet.”

  Vail, Uzi, and DeSantos were quiet.

  Roey added, “There was no distinct J in the alphabet until the Middle Ages. The J was a Y and Yesu, which means savior, was later interpreted as ‘Jesus.’ Just like Jerusalem was, or is, Yerushalayim.”

  Vail struggled to process what Roey had just read. I think I’ve got it. And I see the problem. “You’re saying that the Jesus Scroll talks about Jesus being a composite character, not an actual person.”

  “Right. The scholars, priests, and rabbis I spoke with—and it was a very carefully selected group for obvious reasons—felt we were witnessing the creation of a new way of thought, with the intention that it can be used to garner support amongst the Essenes as an offshoot to traditional Judaism. They weren’t aiming to create a new religion per se, but were trying to formulate their concepts into something with a slightly different way of life, and then making it simple so others could grasp its directives, ideas, and conventions.

  “One thing that a couple of the experts brought up was that scripture contains no true reference to the formal discussion of planned communities or even the concepts of communities. They lived in communities and they functioned as communities at that time and later on because it was commanded that they do so by God, Moses, judges, kings, prophets, Jesus, the Holy Spirit. But the descriptions of communal living came from outsiders. So in that sense this is a departure from all the other writings we found in the Qumran caves.”

  “I see the problem,” Vail said. “If this scroll is legit and dates to the same—”

  “My father was there when it was discovered, when it was removed from the cave. He took it from the clay jar with his own hands, he unwrapped it from the linen.”

  “Only way to know for sure,” Uzi said, “is to let science do the talking. Carbon—”

  “If they ever find it, I’m sure every single test known to modern science will be run.”

  “So,” DeSantos said, “the takeaway here is that there was no Jesus.”

  “It’s not a new concept,” Roey said. “It’s been theorized, according to what I was told. But this is proof. As close to proof as you can get. Back before the religion was founded, before anyone could judge it. Pure witness to the thoughts and plannings of a person or a group of people who wanted to put down in writing something that they hoped would resonate with others.”

  Benny got tired of waiting for Vail to play so he brought his ball back to DeSantos, who again grabbed it and lifted the dog off the ground.

  “Why keep this secret?” Uzi said. “Why haven’t you gone public with Zayde’s translation—with his story? It’s of great historical, archaeological, and religious importance.”

  Roey examined the inside of his empty mug. He rose and poured himself another cup, then did the same for the others. “Ask yourself this, Aaron: will it change anything?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “I mean in positive ways. There are those who’ll have their beliefs shaken. It could destroy their lives, shake them to their core.”

  “Oh, come on.”

  “Wait a minute,” DeSantos said as he lowered Benny to the ground and played tug of war with the ball. “I’m no expert, but my sister likes to dig into scriptures and I’ve gotten stuck in a few debates with her. One thing she’s pointed out is that the authors of the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke wrote to different audiences and painted different pictures of the person of Jesus—depending on what they wanted their audiences to understand. Seems to me that suggests Jesus wasn’t just one person, but a combination of people with diverse personalities who could appeal to many types of people by being different to each of them.”

  “I don’t know much of the New Testament,” Uzi said, “but we don’t have to look at this as just a religious concept. Isn’t each of us really a composite—husband, father, law enforcement officer, brother, son, friend?”

  “That’s true,” Roey said. “But the problem is you can’t strip out the religious aspect. This goes to the heart of Christianity. Jesus is the central figure. If you ‘prove’ that he never existed, it could shake people’s belief structure.”

  “I agree with your dad,” Vail said. “Faith is a deeply personal thing. It gives some the will to survive, a purpose, a focus in life. To others, organized religion is a community. What good would come of harming the very thing these people believe in?”

  “Not to mention the political damage to the Vatican,” Roey said. “It’s taken centuries to repair the relations between the Church and Judaism. The Church has apologized for declaring that the Jews killed Jesus. That was huge. And that’s just one example.” He shook his head. �
��No, the scroll’s best left hidden away.”

  Uzi considered that a moment. “You’re being judge and jury, Dad. I think you need to make it available and let the scholars and religious sages draw the proper conclusions. For the people, the followers, if their faith is strong, a document can’t shake their beliefs.”

  “But it can, Aaron. Religion is a very powerful thing, my boy. Trust me: the scroll’s best left ‘undiscovered.’”

  “Well,” DeSantos said, “that’s the problem.”

  “Why?” Roey looked at each of them. “You found it? You found the scroll?”

  “It’s been found, yes. But we don’t have it. Someone else does.”

  Roey waited, but no one volunteered additional information. “Well? Who’s got it?”

  Uzi turned to DeSantos, who shook his head, warning him off.

  Vail jumped in. “We can’t say. For now, let’s just say we don’t control them and what they do with the scroll.”

  Roey’s face flushed.

  “What’s wrong?” Vail asked.

  “Someone came by last week asking about the scroll—the translation, actually.”

  Vail, Uzi, and DeSantos glanced at each other.

  “Who was it?” Uzi asked.

  “Someone I knew many years ago. When you were a young boy.”

  “And why would this person ask about something he doesn’t even know exists?”

  “Because he does know it exists. He’s known about it for decades.”

  “Who is it?”

  Roey took another drink, then stared into the mug as he considered the question a moment. “Gideon Aksel.”

  32

  Gideon?” Uzi asked. “How the hell does a retired family physician know the director general of Mossad?”

  Uzi struggled to put it together. Then he thought of what his father had said: things were not what they appeared to be.

  “You were a Mossad agent,” Vail said. “Just like your father. Just like your son. Am I right?”