Eetoo

by Robby Charters

  'Yes,' said Hyrcanah. 'The the commandments given to sons of Noach. We teach that gentiles who don't want to change their nationality through circumcision, can show their devotion to the Most High by keeping them.'

  Tsaphar remembered, 'My grandmother worshipped Adonai as well -- but she kept an image of a bull.'

  'Image of a bull --' Hyrcanah thought a while. 'Our people worshipped them at various times in our history. An early folk tradition was that the Most High rode on a bull. Many people, even since then, worshipped Him by bowing to a golden calf. However, in the wilderness, when Adonai gave us the Torah, He made it clear that we are not to make an image of any sort, even of a calf, nor to attempt to picture Him in any other way. Many people, however, did it in ignorance. Once one has begun to understand what Adonai requires, one must do repentance and follow the right way.'

  'How do we do that?'

  'Not long ago, a leader of one of our communities, also a priest named Yohannan, began proclaiming that the Messiah is coming. He instructed everyone to prepare themselves by undergoing immersion to signify repentance. He officiated the immersions at the Yardon river near the Dead Sea. He was put to death by Antipas, but we've continued the tradition. We have a miqva b'rit pool at our meeting place. If you wish, I will take you both there so you may immerse yourselves for cleansing of anything you may possibly cause you to be unworthy of Messiah's kingdom -- such as praying to the cow image. Now, it's rather unheard of to allow immersion to gentiles, but I'll go ahead and officiate for you if you desire it.'

  Tsaphar and Eetoo agreed to do that. Hyrcanah put away the manuscripts and brought some bread and stew.

  They washed their hands, Hyrcanah said the blessing, and they ate.

  4

  the young adventurers, accompanied by their host

  make their way down a busy street

  We're on our way back from the building they call a 'synagogue'. That's a word from a language neither the Akkadis nor the Egyptaians or Nephteshis knew, but a lot of people speak it, especially here in Alexandria. It's called Greek.

  Greek is spoken all over the place here. Another language is Latin, which is the language of the Roman Empire. They say the Romans control most of the planet of Red Earth now. A lot of people hate the Romans, especially in Yisrael. They make them pay out lots of money, and that's made life miserable for them.

  I guess they must be something like the Nephteshi Empire.

  There are lots of people in this city. It's sort of like Thevsos, but not as smelly and dirty. If I hadn't been there first, I suppose I'd be shocked about this place. This is just the Akkadi -- or what Hyrcanah calls, the 'Jewish' section. There's an even bigger section with other groups. The houses are all very close together, some with walls about them.

  There are a lot of other synagogues too. The name of ours is, Beit Tsaddok.

  Anyway, Tsaphar and I just took a special ceremonial bath. We said a prayer after him, and confessed some things we weren't doing right. In my village, we have the seven laws, but we don't always keep them. Some people pray to the spirits, and sometimes I've joined in with that. Also, I've eaten blood. I also came very close to doing what I shouldn't with Tsaphar. I confessed all that, and went down into the pool for what they call miqva b'rit.

  I feel better now.

  Hyrcanah's walking with me.

  'If you and Tsaphar stay with me until we go to Yerushalayim in a few months,' he says, 'I can teach you both to read and speak Hebrew as it is currently spoken, along with some of the customs that you would need to know. When we arrive in the Holy City, I can show you where to descend into the underground passages below the city where you can search for the Golden Tablets. As far as I know I'm the only one who could show you how to go down. I couldn't lead you to the Tablets themselves, but you could get a start in looking for them.'

  I gladly accept his offer. He goes on:

  'As far as I and my pupils, and those of Beit Tsaddok congregation are concerned, you're one of us. As a believing non-Jew, however, you won't be able to participate in everything we do. For instance, when we go to the Great Temple in Yerushalayim, you can go in as far as the Court of the Gentiles, which is a massive courtyard adjoining the Court of the Women and the Inner Court. However, you would be forbidden to proceed further than that. Also, when we meet for prayers, you can join with us, but you could not be counted to make up the required ten men, or the minyan. If there is already a minyan, you are free to pray along with us.

  'Now,' he goes on, 'our brethren in Qumram and other nearby settlements, being more isolated from the rest of the Jewish community, interpret the Torah by more strict standards. They call themselves the "Sons of Light". Others refer to them the "Essenes". Whereas we here accept gentiles who wish to follow Adonai by obeying the Laws of the Sons of Noach, our brethren in Qumram generally require that all be circumcised and follow the whole Torah, just as they do. I tend to keep quiet about minor differences of opinion, believing that Messiah will make all things plain. Some of them, therefore, assume that I believe as they, and some of them even regard me the rightful High Priest, being that my family descended from Tsaddok.

  'If you stay with me, I'm sure no one needs to know you and Tsaphar are anything but devout Jews. You're young enough that no one should raise any questions.'

  'Will Messiah come at the time we go to Yerushalayim?' I ask.

  'Some of us feel deeply in our heart that it is the time of Messiah. There is a man in Yisrael that we're keeping our eyes on and our ears open to. His name is Yeshua ben Yoseph, of Natseret. He has been making some profound announcements and performing great deeds. However, the house of Hanan ben Shet, who currently occupy the office of High Priest, have been opposing him rigorously. So have the Herodians, who support King Herod Antipas, and even, unfortunately, some of the p'rushim, especially those of beit Shammai, and other factions. I'm afraid they are going to try to pre-empt his ascension to the throne of David. That's why we are willing to risk the trip to Yerushalayim as a large group during Passover, despite the fact that Herod Antipas exiled all priests of the line of Tsaddok from the Holy City. It's our support of this man Yeshuah ben Yoseph that unites us and the sect of Qumram. We believe that our arrival will coincide with Messiah's entry to the Holy City to claim the throne of His Father, David. No one will have the power to stop us then. He will restore the rightful priesthood to the Temple.'

  All this sounds quite exciting. When I think back on all the things that have been happening that led up to this, the fact that Tsaphar and I are here now, I'm amazed.

  5

  Heptosh recognised the Thevsos spaceport when Neuryzh magnified it for him on the viewer. From there, Shan remembered the way to Tasha's roof.

  Neuryzh's ship was good in many ways. He could alter the atomic structure so that it was totally undetected as they made their descent, and then, after altering it back again, keep it in transflective mode, so that to the people on the ground, it looked like the brown mist above it.

  It was good of Neuryzh to respond so quickly to his twin particle communication. Heptosh would have never made it in and out of this planet alive in his own ship.

  Having landed, Heptosh got out and walked to the edge of the roof. He called Tasha's name.

  Tasha came out and looked. Her face expressed recognition.

  She came up and opened the trap door to the roof. Only then did she see the ship.

  Shan did the speaking, as Neuryzh had uploaded the Akkadi language into his head. Better not to let her see Neuryzh just yet. He was a mythical creature, as far as she was concerned.

  'We need to speak to one of your community leaders about the possibility of moving all of you to a new and empty planet,' he said.

  'I don't understand.'

  'We have found that the original planet of Nephtesh is vacant, and is once again safe for human habitation.'

  'But the empire will never let us leave.'

  'We have a way,' said Shan, 'but we need to speak to yo
ur community leaders down here so that the move can be arranged in an orderly manner.'

  She invited them downstairs to wait while she went to find Mr. Alef. He brought a couple of his deputies.

  As soon as they all sat down at the table, Shan spoke. 'We have brought a tele-gate for the purpose of moving as many people as would like, to much more suitable living conditions on the former planet of Nephtesh. First, we need to know, how many people live on the ground in Thevsos?'

  Half of the community leaders were suspicious as to what possible reasons Heptosh and Shan could possibly have in mind. The other half thought that whatever awaited them, at least was certain to be better than their present state. In the end, they agreed that, at least, there would be more room in Thevsos for those who chose to remain.

  After some discussion, it was determined that there were enough people to fit comfortably into four planets.

  'We have reason to believe,' said Shan, 'that there are enough vacant planets in the Milky Way Galaxy to fit all of your people. One is now ready for new residents. There is a large staff of robots that can assist in distributing the population to places suitable for farming and other trades. I suggest we begin moving them as soon as possible as, I'm sure, getting them all through the tele-gate with all their possessions will take some time. The the powers-that-be in the upstairs portions of Thevsos are bound to realise sooner or later that something is up. They may try to stop the exodus. Hopefully, we can get a major proportion of your population through the gates before they try to stop us. In the meantime, we can work on securing some of the other planets in the former Nephteshi empire.'

  The next item of business was to find a location suitable for setting up the tele-gate.

  Heptosh and Shan had found a pair of them while exploring an old storage depot on Nephtesh. Shan had got them into working order, made sure the built in twin particle transmitters were functioning, they had tested them at close range, and then got hold of Neuryzh.

  Everything was finally in place. Families carrying all their belongings were already lining up.

  Neuryzh had already left. As agreed, Heptosh and Shan were the first ones through. They informed the robotic staff at the other end that the exodus was beginning, and the people began pouring through.

  6

  Tsaphar enjoyed her studies because it helped keep her mind off home.

  On Shabbat, the one day a week they rested from all work and study, she was left with her thoughts. She had to remind herself that this was the life she had asked for when she chose to become engaged to Eetoo.

  But was this what she had expected?

  If she'd learned anything from her mother, it was that some of the steps towards those things the heart most yearns for may be more difficult than they looked at first. At those times, one has to remind oneself what it is one wants out of life, and choose to stick with it. But what if it turns out that the thing one yearned for wasn't so grand after all?

  That's what she was wondering about now. She wasn't sure if she now saw Eetoo the same way she did in Tok.

  There, he seemed a quiet thoughtful sort of boy who acted decisively -- sometimes heroically -- when he knew the time was right. Now, he sometimes seemed too quiet, and she'd wonder if there was any thought going on inside his head at all.

  He did need encouraging sometimes, and Tsaphar had done her share of that. She only wished he would encourage her in return.

  Other times, he'd be sitting quietly, looking as though he were disturbed about something, and Tsaphar would break in, only to find that he was meditating over some piece of Jewish history or something else he had been learning.

  Though Eetoo hadn't had the chance to do much of it in his life -- compared to others Tsaphar knew -- he had made the best of what learning opportunities did come his way. Tsaphar appreciated that about him.

  * * *

  the young adventurer muses - he reviews the facts at hand

  Here's the way I understand it: There were three people who changed history big-time for Yisrael. The first was Moshe, who received the Torah from Adonai (whom we called Elkhem) and wrote it in Akkadi, sort of what Tsaphar and I speak, but using the writing form he learned in Egypt, which is about the same writing system as Nephteshi. Four hundred years later, there was Sh'muel, who got more people to learn the Torah. Hardly anyone but the priests could read the original copies, so he wrote it in the phonetic script the people had learned from the Philistines. He also made David King. Then, four hundred years after that again, there was Yeramiyahu, who sort of shut down the Kingdom of David, but prophesied that it would come back. He also wrote the Torah in his language so everyone could read it. A bit later, Ezra wrote it using the new phonetic script they learned in Babylon.

  That's the one I've been learning to read. Tsaphar's doing a lot better than me, because her Akkadi is so much better anyway. She can recognise words quicker.

  I also spend a lot of time reading the older Torah scroll and the rubbing of the Ten Words. Reb Hyrcanah lets me keep them near my sleeping area, but I have to be really careful when opening the old Torah scroll, because it breaks easily. I just leave it open on my little table.

  Anyway, it looks as though we'll be going off to Yerushalayim next week to be there for the feast of Passover. A lot of the people from the synagogue are going too. Most of them are also priests, sons of Tsaddok.

  This place reminds me a little bit of Tok. On Tok, there were the Akkadi, the Nefzedi, and the different species of non-humans. Here, there's the Jews, the Greeks and the Romans, the local people, and then, there are people from the South that look like Nefzedi. Some of them consider themselves Yisraeli as well. Even with the Jews, there are different types. Each group has their own synagogue. Most of the people at this one are priests. There's another synagogue of Jews who are mostly from Babylon, and another, where they do it in Greek. There are a lot of those.

  Every group dresses different. The Greek usually have plain tunics and togas and capes, the same styles as the Greeks and Romans. Some of them shave their beards, or parts of them, and others cut them so they're pointed. Some of them weave their hair at the back. The way the Jews from Yisrael and Babylon dress seems to have lots of curved lines -- when they're all dressed up, that is. Some of them have turbans wrapped about a tall hat in the middle. Their shoes curve up at the toes, and they have wavy patterns on some of their overcoats. Their beards are even combed into wavy patterns, and sometimes braided. Most of the folks at our synagogue just wear plain tunics and coats. They don't shave their beards at all, nor even braid them.

  A lot of them, even a few from our own synagogue, remind me of the way the people of Teknesh were with their emperor. That sort of bothers me.

  Today, there was a visitor at our synagogue that wore all the curvy lines. He even had a curved dagger stuck in his girdle -- a wicked looking thing. He seemed interested in meeting Reb Hyrcanah.

  7

  Tsaphar was still in the corner of the sleeping quarters that had been curtained off for her, when she heard people talking in the main room. She went out to see who the visitor was.

  'I'm glad to make your acquaintance,' Hyrcanah was saying. 'Reb Mordecai ben Levi, is it?'

  'Yes indeed.' It was the ornately dressed visitor Tsaphar remembered seeing at the synagogue. 'Rabban Hyrcanus, son of Matthias, I've heard of your fame from the people of Qumram and the other Essene settlements, and I promised myself that on my next trip to Alexandria, I would look up the future High Priest of Yisrael.'

  'I wouldn't jump to any conclusions about that.'

  'But you must have aspirations, certainly!'

  Tsaphar didn't know what to make of him. He rather reminded her of a friend of Rav she once met in the market, whom no one but Rav ever trusted.

  'I concluded long ago that my aspirations tend to lead me astray,' Hyrcanah answered.

  This was not Tok, nor the Akkadi community. Tsaphar put the thoughts out of her mind.

  Eetoo entered.

&
nbsp; 'Your pupil?' Mordecai enquired.

  'Yes. Reb Eetoo, and Tsaphar, both my pupils.'

  'The young lady is your pupil?'

  'Does not the daughter of Rabban Gam'liel, a president of the Sanhedrin, accompany her father as a pupil? Is she not known to answer some of his enquirers?'

  'Gam'liel, grandson of the rabban Hillel, of the p'rushim! That's right. I've heard your named praised by the local p'rushim as well! But the p'rushim would pull a cow out of a hole on shabbat, but the Essenes would wait 'till sundown. The Essenes would extract an eye-for-an-eye from a one-eyed man, making him fully blind for making the victim only half blind; but the p'rushim would settle for equal compensation. And the p'rushim of Alexandria also look to you as their High Priest! Come! One who can unite the p'rushim and the Essenes; should not such a one have a claim to the honourable title?'

  'It is not I that unites them, but the hope of Messiah.'

  'Ah, but do not Messiah, and "Righteous High Priest" go hand in hand?'

  'Messiah will choose the High Priest. He must increase, the rest of us, decrease. He could even be the High Priest as far as it goes.'

  'Be the High Priest? Is he not of the tribe of Yehudah?'

  'Is it not written, I have made you a High Priest after the order of Melechi-tseddech? Of what tribe was he?'

  'Some say it was none other than Shem, son of Noach,' answered Mordecai.

  'If so, both Yehudah and Levi are of his tribe! Did not Avraham even paid tithes to him after the battle of the five kings? And was he not also King over the Holy City long before David?'

  'Messiah, as his own High Priest! That's a new one on me!'

  Tsaphar thought she heard him add under his breath, 'Sacrificed lamb, more likely!'

  As he got up to leave, he asked, 'Should I expect to see you in the Holy City at Passover?'