Now, we're about to enter the synagogue, so we quiet down.
11
a day spent in rest and peace
an evening of enjoying the end of the Shabbat
a night of more rest
The sun's not up yet, and we're already a couple of furlongs outside of town.
There are people along the side of the road here with horrid looking diseases. Some of them don't even have fingers and toes. I've seen some of these at a distance in some of the other towns, but this is the first time I've seen them this close.
'Lepers,' says Philip.
They get off the road to let us pass.
'They're not allowed to get close to people,' says Philip. 'They're not even allowed inside the town. They can't even beg. Their relatives bring them their food.'
While it doesn't look as bad as Thevsos, it's still a lot worse than most other places I've been to. Some of them are as poor as the ones in the brown mist, and yet, they're as fanatical as those that had a bionic upload.
It's hard to believe I'm here to find answers. So far, it's only giving me more questions. Everywhere I look, I remember what Blazz said about cockroaches and rats.
There are plenty of those here too.
weary adventurer, treading along side his espoused
the latter, though seated on a beast, equally weary
We can see the walls of Yerushalayim on top of the next hill. There are pinnacles and towers overlooking the walls. It looks like it must be pretty nice inside, but on this side of the wall it looks pretty dismal.
The whole landscape is a bit cluttered with this and that, some tumbled down houses, some almost dead trees. I can see posts stuck in the ground up ahead, along the way to one of the gates. They look ugly, whatever they are. Are they for processing some sort of food or hide?
It looks almost like -- nah, it can't be.
The smell's terrible here too. I hope it's better inside the city.
Now we're getting closer to the posts, and we can see them better.
The gods! It is people that's stuck to them! I think they're actually nailed there!
We're passing by a few now. There's a cross-bar at the top where the hands look like they're nailed through the wrists, and the feet are nailed at the base, and they're just hanging there, stark naked.
I've never seen anything so horrible!
'You see that?' says Nicanor. 'That's how the Romans executes bandits and terrorists.'
'How long do they keep them there?' says Tsaphar.
'Until they slowly die.'
They look like they're in intense pain. One is groaning. I think they'd be screaming, but it looks as though they can't get enough breath to do that. That's about the worst kind of death I can imagine!
Tsaphar is holding her shawl up to hide the sight from her eyes.
We're passed that now. It looks like we're going around the North side of the city.
I'm starting to see gold pinnacles off on the far side. Alexander says that's the Holy Temple. It looks as though it's made of solid gold! There's a castle on this side.
We're going to be staying with someone named Yakov ben Yoseph. He's the half brother of the one they think might be the Messiah, Yeshua ben Yoseph. He's of the tribe of Yehudah, not a priest, so he's allowed to live in Yerushalayim even though he's associated with the 'Sons of Light'. Whenever the priests of Tsaddok manage to get into Yerushalayim, they use his place as a safe-house.
We part ways from the caravan about here, so we can head towards the Eastern side of the city. That's where Reb Yakov's house is. The caravan with the soldiers go into the city from the North towards the castle. I can see guards walking along the ramparts -- Roman soldiers, like the guards with our caravan. Right now, the castle obscures our view of the Temple.
There are a few communities outside the city wall. They're just like the others, full of beggars and all that.
A lot of people are going in our direction. There's some action up ahead. People seem to be excited about something.
Someone near us shouts something.
'What?' says Philip.
'Messiah is coming!' says Nicanor.
'He must be entering by the Eastern Gate!'
'We're right on time, then, aren't we!' says Alexander. 'Let's go then!'
The main road going up to the gate is crowded. There's some sort of celebration going on. I see palm branches waving back and forth and flower petals flying in the air. People are shouting.
Nicanor, whose leading the donkey, calls out, 'You all go on ahead. I'll meet you at Yakov's house.'
I don't know where Yakov lives. We'd better stick with Alexander and Philip.
We're going through the crowd. I'm holding Tsaphar's hand, but it's hard to keep track of the other two.
I can barely make out what they're all saying: Hoshia-something-something-ha shem Adonai.
I've only got my leather shoulder bag. All our other stuff is with the donkey.
We're a bit smaller so we can squeeze through places easier than the grown-ups. Tsaphar's good at it, so she can follow me even if we don't have each other by the hand.
I think we've lost Alexander and Philip.
We seem to be at the crossroad, but we can't get any further.
There's a wall here.
'Let's get on this wall,' says Tsaphar.
She's good at climbing, so we both get up. There's other people already sitting up there.
We've got a good view.
Now I catch what they're saying. They're more together now: Hoshia ana! Baruch haba bashem Adonai!
Tsaphar and I are shouting it now too.
People have got coats and blankets spread out on the road. There's a group of people walking along, and one is sitting on a baby donkey, leaning against what's probably the mother donkey. Lots of kid are dancing about in front, some throwing flower petals.
The one on the donkey must be him!
That's a king?
The only living king I've ever seen is the emperor of Teknesh. Then there was the king of Nephtesh, who was only a bionic. He doesn't look like either of them at all. He's too fatherly looking for that -- as though he doesn't think of himself as a king at all! He doesn't even carry himself like the headman of my village in Fa-tzi-zhi-land. He's looking at everyone as though he were some sort of -- well -- if he were an Utz, his dome would be glowing.
Now he's looking this way. He's looking at me! It's as if he picked me out of the crowd!
They're going past us now.
The way he looked at me...!
Tsaphar and I jump off the wall and follow as best we can.
We've definitely lost Alexander and Philip now. I suppose I'd be panicking, but I'm interested in seeing more of the king.
We're walking up the hill to the big gate. Alexander said it leads right into the Temple.
All the people are following the king through the gate now.
Finally we're in.
This is a big place. It looks like a big market square. There's lots of stalls selling things like doves, sheep and goats. Some are dealing in some sort of coins. There's a wide space between, not exactly a road, but where they make sure people can pass by into the Temple.
Lots of people are dressed differently than they were outside. They look like they probably come from different places, sort of like in Alexandria, but there's even more variety. Not many of them are paying attention to the king. A few look like they're curious about what's going on.
'Let's find the Court of the Gentiles and pray to Adonai,' says Tsaphar.
Good idea. Where is it?
A crowd of people are still following the king about the place, but there's more room to move.
I see a long queue of people standing behind a big gate, some leading a sheep or a goat, but most of them are only carrying a dove or two with the legs tied up.
'Let's go to that gate over there,' I say. 'That looks like the way to get into the Temple.'
'We'd better ma
ke sure its the right place before we go waiting in a long queue,' says Tsaphar.
We cut across some of the aisles where people are buying and selling things.
We're looking at the gate.
'What does that sign say?' I ask Tsaphar. It's written in three languages.
'Er -- Oh no! The bit in Hebrew says, "All un-circumcised people are forbidden to enter, on pain of death."'
'Huh? Where is the Court of the Gentiles then?'
We start walking about, looking.
All I see is a great big market. People are haggling and even shouting at each other at some stalls. It doesn't look like a good place for bargains. I see one customer who's about to start swinging.
There are a lot more people over this way. I see the man who was riding the donkeys -- the king. He's also looking about.
Just about everyone nearby is watching, but it's not so crowded about about him any more.
Groups of kids are prancing about singing that song they've been singing.
There's the king, just ahead of us. He seems to enjoy looking at the kids. Then he turns his head and is looking at us.
It seems natural to walk up to him.
I say, 'Messiah ben David?'
'What can I do for you?' he says.
The way he said that! It's as though he were really waiting about just to do something for us.
He's looking at me with such pure eyes, I feel like I have to tell him the truth, even what Hyrcanah told me to keep quiet about.
'Please, Sir, we're gentiles. Where's the place of prayer for gentiles?'
The word 'gentile' doesn't faze him one bit. He looks about at the shops.
'What do you see here?'
'I just see a big market.'
'That's right,' he says. 'You see a market. It's the house of prayer for all the nations, but they've turned it into a market. Worse than a market -- a den of thieves by the looks of it!'
He's looking about again -- like he's got fire in his eyes.
'Bring me that piece of string there,' he points.
I pick it up for him.
'And that there, and that.'
Tsaphar helps. A couple of other people get more bits of rope. One of them isn't much older than me.
He's got a few pieces of twine, and he's tying them together.
Suddenly, he takes it and whips it across a table full of coins and scatters them all over the place. He does it to another table, and then upsets a cadge full of doves, and then a pen of sheep.
Every thing's suddenly in pandemonium.
He's roaring out, 'It's written, "My House shall be a place of prayer for the nations," but you have turned it into a den of thieves!'
He's going through the whole place doing that. People are clearing out, herding their sheep away before he gets to them.
There's a shaded area running along the edges of the square. He's cleared out a corner near the shaded area. He motions to us and points to it. He goes back to cracking his whip and turning over tables and stuff.
A lot of people are gathered about. Some look like teachers, like I saw in Alexandria.
There's a group of important looking men in white robes walking up really fast from the door where we saw the sign. They strut up to the king and stand there, blocking his way.
The one in front says, 'By what authority are you doing this?'
The king just stands there, looking at them for a moment. He doesn't look all that angry -- at least he isn't glaring at them hatefully as most people would who go on rage like this.
Everything's quiet.
Then, he say, 'Go ahead -- destroy this Temple. In three days, I will raise it up again.'
Suddenly, people are talking among themselves, as though this means something. Some people are cheering and yelling their chant again, 'Hoshia ana! Baruch haba bashem Adonai!'
Tsaphar and I go over to the shaded area. It looks as though it were made for people to have prayer services with a minyan and all. There's even the Seven Laws written on the wall in one place. It's quite peaceful, now there aren't people selling things nearby.
A few other people come along. They start praying.
We pray too.
I say some of the prayers I've memorised, I say the Shema, and then I say, 'Please, Adonai, show us the way to find the Golden Tablets.'
We keep it up for about an hour.
Then, I'm praying that we'll find our friends and get to where we're supposed to sleep tonight.
'There they are! Eetoo! Tsaphar!' it's Alexander with Philip.
We join them.
Things have pretty much died down now. There aren't many people selling things any more.
Alexander and Philip take us out another big door that goes through the city. There's a big wide staircase leading to the foot of the hill the Temple is on.
That's full of people selling things, especially the ones selling coins. At the bottom of the steps, the place is crowded with the people selling sheep and doves. There's only a tiny space to walk. Philip said they all just moved here from inside. It used to be all open space.
We make our way through the crowd off towards the city wall. The high wall on our left is like an extension of the hill the Temple is on, that we just came down by the steps. The wall of the city joins it and there's another gate.
'Ophel Gate,' says Alexander.
We go out that way. In front of us is a wide valley. There's a road leading along the side of the hill. It meets another road much further down. I think that's the road we were on before.
'Kidron Valley,' says Philip. 'That's Olive Hill over there. You can see Reb Yakov's house at the bottom of it.'
One whole area off to the right is full of racks with animal skins hanging out. Now and then, when a breeze blows, I catch a horrible stench!
'That's a tannery belonging to the High Priest's family, where they treat the skins from sheep and cows from the sacrifices.'
We finally arrive. The place is buzzing with people. Nicanor's there already, along with Reb Shim'on.
They introduce us to Reb Yakov. He seems like a nice man.
'I'm deeply saddened to hear you've been orphaned,' he says. 'Hyrcanah was a close friend of mine.'
It's a big house, but it's full, not only with the folks who came with us, but also men from Qumram and other places. A lot of them are talking about Hyrcanah. Some of them break out weeping and tear a bit of their tunic when they hear the news.
A older woman comes around with a basket of bread and offers us a piece. I hear Reb Yakov introducing her to someone else as his mother. Since lots of people are arriving, they don't bother with a formal meal. People are just eating their bits of bread as they dash about putting their things away and meeting other newcomers.
We're tired. We find where they've set our bedding down. It's in the corridor where a lot of other men are, but they have a different place for Tsaphar in a room with other women. We put down our mats and settle in.
12
Tsaphar had slept most of the afternoon so, even though the other women had settled down, she no longer felt sleepy. She got up and went into the corridor. An oil lamp hanging in the main room shown through the door so she could see the men sleeping along the wall facing her. Eetoo was snoring away at the end near the door. Next to him was Alexander. Separating them were the bags containing the parchments and the rubbing. The tent was rolled up near his head where he and Alexander each used a corner of it to cushion their heads.
There were several men talking just on the other side of the partition, but Tsaphar only recognised the voices of Reb Shim'on and their host, Reb Yakov. She didn't want to bother anyone, so she simply sat down at the foot of Eetoo's mat, leaned against the wall and let her mind reflect on what it had absorbed so far. What were they doing here? Why did so many people act as though they'd taken a bio-media upload? Was taking things in perspective even a natural human trait?
The one person she knew well -- her only shelter in this wasteland -- lay
sound asleep with his back to her, his arm caressing his shepherd bag.
Right now, she envied that shepherd bag.
Some day, she would lie next to him in that position. Would he caress her then?
In this place, they had to be careful. Some of the men who came from Qumram had sworn off all contact with women, and had the attitude that anyone fit for the Kingdom of God would be as they. That obviously put a barrier between them.
If only Eetoo would say more, something to reassure her -- make her feel less alone in this wasteland.
Men -- Akkadi men, especially -- pay so much attention to the focal point of their affection, the woman they seek to win, but only until they own her. Then, they go on with life forgetting she exists. Eetoo was no better...
Reb Yakov's voice pulled her out of her reverie, 'So the boy and the girl that came with you, I understand they're gentiles?'
'God fearing gentiles,' said Shim'on. 'The boy comes from a nation that has held to the Seven Laws since the days of their father, Ham.'
'Has no one attempted to persuade the boy to undergo circumcision?'
'Hyrcanah wouldn't think of it. It would violate his calling. His reason for coming to our lands has to do with his role as a son of Ham.'
'What calling?'
'It's a long story. It's all based on a prophecy written in the Book of Yoseph, and other sources.'
'From the Testaments of the Patriarchs?'
'No. It's a very rare manuscript written in an ancient script. But the prophecy was fulfilled before our very eyes by his actual arrival in a rather miraculous way, and he has a mission to fulfil as a son of Ham.'
A third voice said, 'If he took circumcision, he'd no longer be a son of Ham, but a son of Yisrael, wouldn't he!'
'Hyrcanah was open minded about such things. He tended to lean towards the opinions of the P'rushim.' said Yakov.
'What about Messiah?' queried the third voice.
'If you're referring to my brother, he likewise seems to follow the opinions of the P'rushim in most things, especially Beit Hillel,' said Reb Yakov.
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