by Roger Herst
Gabby interjected, "If I can answer them. For now I would prefer not to say more about how these fragments came into my possession. I expect to be entirely forthright about that in the near future. But for the time being, I would be pleased to learn your evaluations of the material Itamar has shared with you."
Since Gabby was unknown in Jerusalem's academic circle, Daniel Stern's tone rang with mistrust for an outsider making controversial claims on his turf. "So we're not allowed to go there, is that right? I don't see how we can be expected to comment on these documents without knowing more about their provenance."
"Do your best," Itamar responded, "and be patient. There's still much more to come. I've placed a translation of this Greek Ein Arugot scroll in each of your packets. Except for that, all your documents are different. I'd like to begin with a short comment about the Greek scroll, then listen to your evaluations of the others. To me, it seems authentic for the time and place. The year we date as 22 or 23 of the reign of Augustus Caesar or 26 of the Common Era. On a reconnaissance expedition to the Negev, a team from this agency has located the tentative site of Ein Arugot and discovered stones coated in carbon that laboratory tests from the Hebrew University confirm as dating from the second decade CE. We don't want amateur archeologists ruining the site for future excavation so we cannot identify the precise location. As you can imagine, I'm not thrilled about paying for round-the-clock guards there. The Authority has no budget for this and the site might require watching for years."
"Can you confirm that this scroll was discovered at Qumran?" asked Sarah Eisenhart.
"It was among the scans found on Timothy Matternly's CD disks," answered Gabby. "As far as we know, all these fragments were found in the cave now labeled as Number Twelve."
"So, do you conclude that a yeshiva existed at Ein Arugot and that it was destroyed by Digius Silban?"
"Yes," said Gabby.
Sarah Eisenhart then asked, "And since the names you've provided in Aramaic were also found in Cave XII, do you conclude that these individuals were students at this yeshiva?"
"That's my working hypothesis," Gabby answered. "Does anybody recognize the names? We have made a preliminary search without success. The name Yahonatan might refer to John the Baptist, but that's conjecture. As far as I know, John's family was never identified."
"Yes," said Rabbi Menachim Barak in a firm, baritone voice, "I recognize the name of Noami bat Nadab who is mentioned in Josephus's Wars. Book III, Chapter 7. Her name is cited, but without additional biographical information. So this won't help."
None of the others offered to identify people on the list.
"Well?" asked Itamar. "Can we assume these were students at Ein Arugot?"
"You can assume anything you want," responded Pincus Avraham, a towering man, curled over the table like an ape in a cage, "but it's a long, long stretch of imagination and far from proof. Matters would be different if you possessed the original docs. I'm always wary about working from unverified copies. You never know what you've got. And that is what all of us must conclude. You've found carbon from the first century at this place, Ein Arugot, but that doesn't prove that an actual yeshiva existed there. Copies of student names just aren't enough to convince me that your hypothesis is sound."
Sarah Eisenhart from the Israel Museum felt compelled to counter Pincus Avraham's negativism. "Of course, we'd prefer the originals, but does that preclude us from admiring what Rabbi Lewyn has provided? Yeoman's work, I say."
"Stolen documents?" asked Menachim Barak.
"Yes and no," answered Itamar. "If Rabbi Lewyn's work were based on the originals, you'd be right. The documents were stolen property belonging to the state. But are copies of stolen artifacts by nature stolen, too? That's a legal conundrum. Whether Timothy Matternly took the originals from Cave XII is an open question. But what he started working on were only copies. For that, I can't charge him with theft. Or Rabbi Lewyn for working on what he passed on to her. It behooves us to be more generous in that respect and let lawyers debate the legal issues later." He looked at Sarah Eisenhart, her light complexion slightly flushed. "We'd like to hear your translation of the Aramaic document I asked you to concentrate on. Could you please read us your new text, Sarah?"
She lowered half-frame reading glasses from her forehead to her nose, glancing over a translation of the document Itamar had placed in her packet. She had learned to read aloud slowly as a participant in the Museum's monthly lecture series.
ONE HOUR BEFORE SUNRISE EACH STUDENT WILL BATHE IN A POOLOF COLD WATER, FIRST WASHING [sic] FEET, WORKING UP TOWARD THE [SEXUAL] ORGAN, FOLLOWED BY THE TORSO AND HEAD. WHEN COMPLETED THE SEXUAL ORIFICE WILL BE TWICE REWASHED WITH CLEANSED [BOILED] WATER. THE CLOTH USED TO TOWEL OFF WATER MUST BE CLEANED BY TWO DEGREES STRONGER THAN WASHING THE SHROUD WORN DURING THE DAYTIME. FOUR SETS OF BLESSINGS MUST BE RECITED DURING THE MORNING BATH, TWO BLESSINGS SAID WHEN DRESSING. IF A STUDENT OR HIS CLOTHING BECOMES SOILED AT ANY TIME DURING THE DAY OR NIGHT, HE MUST BATHE IMMEDIATELY REPEATING THE ENTIRE SEQUENCE.
AFTER VOIDING URINE OR WASTE, A STUDENT IS REQUIRED TO WASH THE GENITALS TWICE, DRYING COMPLETELY BEFORE THE SECOND APPLICATION OF WATER. WHEN VOMITING, ALL CLOTHING WORN AT THE TIME MUST BE BURNED. AFTER RECOVERY, SICK INDIVIDUALS MUST NOT COME INTO CONTACT WITH ANYONE FOR SIX DAYS, EXCLUDING THE SABBATH. THEY ARE REQUIRED TO BATHE EACH DAY AFTER SUNDOWN. NO HEALTHY PERSON MUST COME IN CONTACT WITH WATER THEY USE.
End of Document
Sarah Eisenhart removed her reading glasses to survey the reaction of her colleagues. She expected at least one to nit-pick her translation and to nip this in the bud, she said, "Ritual purity through baptism. The students at Ein Arugot apparently adhered to a strict code of bodily cleanliness. Not identical to, but then not unlike, practitioners in the Essene cult. Indeed, the document suggests that there was linkage between the Essenes from earlier scrolls and these students. Their code of cleanliness is the most stringent that I have encountered from this period. You can imagine the difficulty of adhering to a regimen like this in an arid desert. Much of the school's ration of water must have been dedicated to fulfilling requirements of this code. I'd appreciate Rabbi Lewyn's comments on this because she has a more comprehensive understanding of this material than the rest of us."
Gabby would have preferred to hear what the others thought before commenting, yet reluctantly responded, "Ritual bathing was a common practice among Jews seeking physical and spiritual purity. I note that John the Baptist, who just might have been among the students at Ein Arugot, is identified by his trade rather than his family pedigree, suggesting that baptism had become an established practice. But what I find extraordinary about this document is how serious ritual cleanliness was taken. I believe the additional documents will show how cleanliness of body was considered a precondition for the perfection of the soul, and that is central to establishing the overall significance of these discoveries."
Itamar looked at Professor Thomas Dillingham, who wore his glasses at the tip of his nose, his eyes bifurcated by the upper rims. His head appeared to sit on his shoulders without a neck. Itamar said to him, "The document I've sent you, Tom, deals with food. Could you tell us about it?"
"A weight watcher's delight," he said, opening with a humorous remark that his colleagues seemed to enjoy. "The diet at Ein Arugot was guaranteed to remove any and all excess body fat. In a remote location that must have been difficult to provision and supply, you would expect a meager, even austere diet. Recall that, at the same time, Nabateans were patrolling the neighborhood, and they were known to be diligent tax collectors for their Roman overlords. Everything that was brought to the school was probably highly taxed. So the students, if that's what they were, restricted their diet to the barest essentials: wild dates, bread, locusts when available, water, and wine, fermented from wild grapes, we might assume, to avoid Nabatean taxation. The document mentions a single meal each day eaten precisely four hours after sunrise. No cooking is cited. And no Julia Child recipes.
Brunch, if you like, lasted less than twenty minutes. The diet was so sparse, I wouldn't judge it to be more than subsistence. I rather doubt that many could survive for any length of time on so few calories. Rabbi Lewyn, since you have a wide-ranging view of all the texts, and we are limited to those snapshots provided by Itamar, I'd like to hear your thoughts."
"Exactly as you characterize it, Dr. Dillingham," Gabby said. "I think what's important here is not the sparseness of the culinary offerings per se, but how this minimalist diet dovetails with the ritual bathing for purification's sake. I think the disciplined diet and bathing regimens were designed for a specific purpose."
"And what's that?" asked Dillingham.
"With deference, I'd like to wait until we've heard from everybody," Gabby said in a quiet, unpretentious tone, then flashed a devilish smile that poked deep dimples in her cheeks. "The documents speak more to me as a whole than do the individual parts. I believe you'll agree that, when we see them in their totality, they present a fairly clear picture of life at Ein Arugot."
Professor Daniel Stern, his skin wrinkled from long exposure to desert sun and wind, presented his document, a delineation of prayers and incantations recited in the wilderness school. They were composed of praises and petitions, extolling Yahweh's supreme majesty. No mention of any Roman gods or of deities worshiped by neighboring peoples. In his words, "A full emersion into Hebrew monotheism. A single deity reaching out to downtrodden outcasts from society, with a demanding code of conduct.
He then addressed himself to texts Itamar had included in his packet, texts found in the new cave at Qumran that any biblical scholar would immediately identify. There were verses excerpted from the prophetic books of Isaiah, Amos and Habakkuk. Given the purported existence of a yeshiva at Ein Arugot, one verse seemed particularly important. Isaiah 42:1 which foretold, some six centuries before the yeshiva at Ein Arugot, that God would instill His spirit into a servant. And this servant would deliver a suffering people from Roman subjugation, just as Moses had delivered the Hebrews from Egyptian bondage, seven centuries before that.
Shmuel Navid was far too polite in dealing with his colleagues to inject his own thinking without first asking for permission from the speaker. He lifted a finger for attention that Daniel Stern acknowledged with a nod of his head. Navid cleared his throat, then re-cleared it in a series of grunts before stating, "In several texts from Cave IV and Cave V, we find mention of the prince of light. Is there any reference to this individual in your documents?"
"Good question," Stern replied, "because I found on two references to a prince, but not specifically to the prince of light mentioned in other documents. That puzzled me. On the one hand, there's no indication in my documents that students at the Ein Arugot academy had any political agenda. So I'm led to believe, on rather scant evidence, that use of the title prince does not refer to a member of a royal family. That would suggest that the prince at Ein Arugot refers to a messianic personage, like the Prince of Light from Caves IV and V."
"Could this prince be the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy of a coming messiah?" pursued Navid.
"The fit is reasonable, but we'll need more evidence to make a foolproof identification."
After the group discussed the extraordinary selection of biblical verses from Cave XII, Rabbi Menachim Barak read two passages describing the prohibition against sexual relations. He pointed out that the practice of celibacy was more than a theoretical prohibition against sex. Two female names appeared on the student roster, and it was likely that there were more females attached to this wilderness colony. A playful giggle introduced his observation that homosexuality wasn't uncommon in the ancient world, particularly in isolated societies, such as Ein Arugot. The clear and forceful prohibition against homosexual relations cited in his document was not there because homosexuality didn't exist. That prohibition was written precisely because it did.
Rabbi Barak next turned his attention to two smaller documents outlining a weekly fast in which students refrained from both water and food from sundown the day before the Sabbath until the beginning of the Sabbath the following sundown. This, he proposed, was preparation to purify the body and mind for the holy Day of Rest. The fasts, bathing, and celibacy appeared consistent with a monastic community described in the other documents. But why, he asked? And why at the remote Ein Arugot? The animus this school engendered in Rome and Jerusalem was an even greater mystery.
"Let's not get carried away with fanciful speculation," intoned Menachim Barak in a cautionary manner, "because, without the original documents, nobody is going to take this material seriously. I hope you don't, Rabbi Lewyn."
"On the contrary," she snapped, fully prepared to defend the authenticity of Tim's fragments. "I take this very seriously, indeed. My friend and your colleague, Tim Matternly, died because of these texts. He was a seasoned scholar who is no stranger to any of you. Those of you who knew him personally know he would not have toiled as he did for mere fakery. Nor was he the type of man to promote this venture without solid reason to believe the original documents existed. True, we don't possess them, but they exist somewhere and I predict that they'll eventually turn up. In the meantime, Tim left us with a copy scanned onto DVDs."
"Who made the scans?" asked Thomas Dillingham.
"I think Tim did," she answered, "but I'm not certain."
"Was he responsible for assembling these fragments as he did in his book?"
"In part."
"And you accomplished the rest. Quite a feat. Did you have help?" "Yes, but I can't reveal who."
"Why the secrecy? Doesn't that open you to suspicion?" "We have our reasons. For the time being, I'm not permitted to say more. I ask you to judge the documents on their merits, not the method used to assemble them."
"Well, all these concerns certainly figure in how they will be viewed by both scholars and laypeople. How wouldn't they?" Menachim Barak added. "I for one would advise extreme caution before publishing anything. The academic world will have a scathing response. Not to mention the Catholic Church."
"A political hot potato, Rabbi Lewyn," interjected Thomas Dillingham. "What these documents show, if I understand this material, is that this was not only a cloister for individuals seeking a monastic life, but a school where a form of messianism was being taught."
"Not just taught," said Gabby. "It was actively experienced there as well."
"Doesn't that contradict much contemporary theological thinking in the Christian and Jewish worlds?" asked Dillingham.
"Yes," responded Gabby, "I believe these documents turn much of our thinking on its head. I've been studying the mechanism of prophecy for a thesis at the University of Chicago. I'm trying to figure out how God communicates with humans. Tim Matternly's material has given me a clearer picture."
"I think you'd better explain that," Itamar interrupted.
Gabby knew that her views ran counter to both Jewish and Christian thinking, but also knew that before such scholars it would be foolish to hold back. "Prophecy, as I see it now, is not instilled by God. On the contrary, prophets in the first century underwent a rigorous regime of physical, spiritual, and intellectual training. What we have at Ein Arugot is a school where students lived monastic lives preparing themselves to be interpreters of God's will. I believe that this was revolutionary, even in the first century of the Common Era. People who lived like this threatened to usher in a new age. And this was bound to catch the attention of the ruling authorities, particularly the paranoid Roman government. Rome sought to appease the gods of peoples they dominated because they feared their wrath. But, at the same time, they feared even more the messianic movements that threatened to undermine their political authority. Pontius Pilate's regime destroyed the yeshiva at Ein Arugot, not unlike the way Rome's procurator crucified the Nazarene for promoting a new order in Judea."
"All the more threatening to contemporary Christians," Dillingham said, pursuing his previous train of thought. "Churchmen will not accept that
Jews trained to become prophets in the Judean wilderness. Schooling may be a means for mortals to acquire expertise, but not for communicating God's will."
"They can't hide their heads in the sand forever," shot back Gabby. "We can't have our faiths rooted in history and then, when we learn new facts about our past, ignore them. History isn't a buffet table from which to select what we wish and reject what doesn't appeal."
The meeting ended with each scholar arguing a point of view from the texts Itamar had provided. But there was unanimous consent that, for the time being, nothing should be done with the fragments. The problems associated with the premature publication of copied texts far outweighed the benefits. Until more information was unearthed, or until they had a better idea about where the originals were located, restraint was the only sensible policy.
At the end of the session, Itamar ushered his scholars through the Antiquities Building to the front door, later returning to find Gabby seated at the conference table, her eyes staring at the ceiling tiles. He dropped into a seat beside her and laid a hand upon hers, gently patting. "I know this is not what you wanted to hear," he said. "You must be disappointed."
It took her a moment before she replied. "To say the least. They weren't exactly enthusiastic, now were they?" He shook his head and applied pressure to her hand. "I don't pay them for enthusiasm. I pay them for their expertise. What they didn't say when they were here in this room, they indicated to me as we walked out. They're deeply impressed with your work and that of Matternly. Between you and me, I'd say they're downright envious. But their judgment on not going to press is still sound. It's just too early. You know that, don't you?"
"I suppose I do," she said, reluctantly. "I guess I can wait a bit longer. You told me earlier there's no rush."
"Now you've heard the same thing from the best minds in the business."