by Lior Akerman
The only family that Moshe had left was his aunt Elisheva and she was the one who had to give him the terrible news. She arrived at his friend’s house, where she told him what had happened. At the funeral that took place at Har Hamenuhot in Jerusalem, two graves were dug, with two tombstones but the bodies of the missing parents were never buried there. Before closing the graves, some of his parents’ clothes and a few symbolic items that he chose were placed in them. Moshe and his friends never understood why God chose to take these two righteous and naïve people.
Growing up after the accident, he spent most of his time alone in his parents’ home in Jerusalem. The spacious house in the Mishkenot Shaananim neighborhood had an old style design. Its entrance had several large stone arcs, with huge windows overlooking the old city walls and Mt. Zion and the Abbey of the Dormition, built at the end of the 18th century by the Benedictine order. According to Christian tradition, this was the spot where Maria fell asleep before entering her eternal sleep.
Moshe’s aunt Elisheva was appointed guardian over him and the house, moved in with him and raised him on her own, until he graduated from high school. He would later hear her say that he was a pleasant, quiet and polite boy, who never brought friends home and never spent time with girls. He spent most of his free time walking around the old city, Mt. Zion, the church, the tomb of King David, the Wolfson Park beneath it and the narrow alleys of the Jewish and Christian quarters.
As an adult, despite losing the faith he had absorbed from his parents, Mike was still moved by the mysticism in the stories of the Jewish Temple and of the death and disappearance of Jesus, where the Church of the Holy Sepulchre now lay. Although he was not religious, he knew that the religious history was part of him and his family, and he was well acquainted with it.
At the age of 18, the army planned to exempt him from service. He was an orphan and underweight. He insisted on being drafted and chose to volunteer. He joined the academic Atuda pre-army study program. He began his university studies and completed them with excellence five years later with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Economics and Business Management.
In his spare time, he studied languages, a skill he had always been gifted in. As a child he learned English, Spanish and Arabic and at university he added French. Throughout his studies in the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, he continued to live at his parents’ home that had also become the home of his aunt Elisheva. One cold winter night, his aunt died of cardiac arrest, before reaching the age of 60.
After the death of Elisheva, he was left alone in the world. He had very few visitors and they only came to study. He did not have much of a social life and he remained isolated and introverted.
After completing his studies, he served as the head of the financial desk in the office of the General Staff monetary advisor in Tel Aviv. He was there for five years and was discharged at the rank of captain. In the military, he refrained from social ties with other soldiers and he had absolutely no relationships with women. After completing his service, he was offered a part time position at the EBDM broker firm, in a junior position collecting material for the senior analysts.
Moshe rented out his apartment in Mishkenot Shaananim to an older Jewish couple from America. This covered the cost of a modest apartment he rented on the second floor in a small and old apartment building on Cremye St. in Tel Aviv, not far from his work.
In his extremely modest manner, Moshe discretely gave his senior colleagues and managers wise professional advice, proving his financial skills and knowledge, without taking credit for his manager’s success. As a result, he became a senior analyst at a relatively young age and he was appointed director of the high-tech desk. Taking his friend’s advice, he took on the name Mike, to simplify his meetings with company clients overseas. His managers trusted his opinion and recommendations and he made the company significant profits. What they especially liked about him was that he never asked for anything. Whatever was offered to him, was accepted happily.
His colleagues did not know much about his personal life. Alice knew he was shy and introverted and that he was a very private person. She did not understand why he never used his vacation time or his sick leave. When she asked him about it, he replied that he never enjoyed going to pubs in Tel Aviv or New York and he did not go to parties he was often invited to by friends.
When she wondered how it was that no one at the office knew about his personal life circumstances, he said:
“I have always lived alone and I am happy that way. The only thing missing in my life is true love.”
Mike thought he may have finally found it, but he was careful not to say so out loud, especially as he realized that once again fate had been cruel, taking her from him and giving her to someone else.
7.
Iran, Bazargan, Turkish border, July 20th
The hot July sun was rising above the red hills across the deserted border with Azerbaijan. In the sleepy town of Bazargan, the semi-trailer truck drivers were awakening to another day, covering long distances to the nearby Turkish border. These trucks reached the Turkish border, unloading their cargo onto Turkish trucks. The Turkish trucks transported the cargo into Europe and out of Europe, through Turkey, back to Iran.
The only people who chose to live in this area were business owners who enjoyed the transporting of heavy goods between Iran and Turkey. These businesses included small hotels, gas stations, tax offices, restaurants and cafes, car repair shops and cleaners. The government officials living in this town resided in the villa neighborhood, built especially for them in the northwestern part of the town. This area was like any new neighborhood in a western city. The other residents lived in the center, in small and old houses, in very poor conditions. Most of the houses were low with flat roofs and only a few houses had more than one floor, but these too were in bad shape. The few shops and uninviting cafes were located on the main road, Route 32, crossing the town from south to north, leading to the Turkish border. The other streets were narrow, some not even paved, with sewage flowing openly.
The Jerondy clan lived in a poor complex on the corner of Madras and Bahaner, opposite the central mosque. The complex included three old, one story houses with paint peeling from them, connected to several unstable shacks. In the small courtyard between the houses, a number of goats and chickens roamed freely. Four large olive trees shaded the area, with the women sitting beneath them, gossiping, hanging out their laundry and watching the children playing. The trees also hid two of the family members from random American satellites that may be searching for them.
Five families with a large number of children crowded together in the complex. The entire clan made a living from the large family gas station on Route 32 The gas station included a large repair area, parking and a small store selling food. Two of the residents also had a side job.
Samael and Charnbog were brothers who had lost their parents at a young age, under mysterious circumstances. At least that is what they said. Takshan, the Jerondy family’s father, was a truck driver, in addition to running the gas station. He transferred products to the Turkish border and from the border inside the country, at least three times a week. On one of his trips, twenty years back, Takshan found the children stranded on the road. They did not know what had happened to their family and where they had come from. They seemed so desperate that Feruz, the family’s mother, felt sorry for them and decided to adopt them. They had been living with the clan since then and helped with the shifts at the gas station. They regularly attended the religious lessons of the Kadi in the mosque opposite their home.
Much to their sibling’s surprise, they never showed any religious inclination and did not keep the religious commandments. They did not become friendly with the other family members and other residents of the neighborhood. They were very respectful of Feruz and Takshan and honored their wishes and tradition.
The two brothers shared a surprising r
esemblance, even though they apparently were not twins. They were both dark, tall and strong, with short straight black hair. Their eyes were also very dark. Feruz swore she sometimes saw a strike of red in Samal’s eyes but she could not prove it.
As boys, the two brothers were mischievous and were constantly annoying the neighbors and their animals. Occasionally, one of the neighbor’s animals was found dead or injured and the two brothers were always suspected but never caught. Takshan always managed to make peace with the neighbors. Or perhaps it was the scary looks of Samael and Charnbog, as well as the fact that they never were hurt in a fight with other kids in the neighborhood.
The residents of the small town and the Jerondy family, did not follow world news. The only television they had was very old and mainly showed films in Persian on the Ayatollah regime channel.
Takshan was very sick by then. The lung disease he was suffering from was very difficult to cope with at his age and the family knew he did not have much longer to live. Feruz was 78 years old and also not well. Naturally their biological children, Haider and Ardashir, began to take on more of the family matters that needed to be taken care of. Their youngest daughter, Yasmin, was responsible for maintaining the house and was not involved in running the family business.
Samael and Charnbog did not ever really try to become part of the family or become close to them and they soon found themselves without any position or status in the clan. The brothers knew this day would come and they had been waiting for it. It was time for them to take their own independent path. They had been on a mission from the start and they had every intention of completing it. They waited patiently and when the time came, they knew they had to take action.
Haider and Ardashir also knew something was different about their brothers. They tried to maintain a proper relationship with them but the emotional distance and the distrust that grew over the years did not enable them to become close. They also noticed that Samal and Charnbog would often disappear during the night and go out of town for many hours and at times even for days. They would return before dawn or on weekends. Takshan once asked them what they had been doing, only to receive one of their dark and terrifying looks. After this encounter, no one dared ask them about their disappearances again. As their parents became older, Haider and Ardashir made sure to register the business in their names and that all the family’s monetary issues were only managed by them.
Little did they know that Samael and Charnbog had different plans for them. They also did not know that within a week, the two would be gone and they certainly did not imagine they would, too. The Jerondy family had filled its purpose, there was no longer any need for them.
8.
Downtown New York, July 22nd
Mike did not sleep well. He had a lot on his mind and the icy air in the apartment, in spite of the terrible heat wave in New York, did not help. He did not recall closing his eyes and falling asleep, when suddenly the doorbell rang and woke him up. He opened his eyes, slowly got out of bed and went to see who was there. He noticed that unlike the cold air that was in the apartment until then, it was suddenly very pleasant. The air conditioner was not even on. He opened the door and seeing the man standing there, he was speechless.
Rabbi Yochanan Aharon Hacohen was dressed exactly as he was in his last visit to Mike. He looked the shocked Mike in the eyes for a long time, finally looking down at the book he was holding. He opened the book at the place he had marked and began reading quietly, with a dreamy gaze, not moving a muscle in his face:
There shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse,
And a twig shall grow forth out of his roots.
And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,
The spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The spirit of counsel and might,
The spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.
And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD;
And he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes,
Neither decide after the hearing of his ears;
But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, And decide with equity for the meek of the land;
And he shall smite the land with the rod of his mouth,
And with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins,
And faithfulness the girdle of his reins.
And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
And the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together;
And a little child shall lead them.
And the cow and the bear feed;
Their young ones shall lie down together;
And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp,
And the weaned child shall put his hand on the basilisk’s den.
They shall not hurt nor destroy
In all My holy mountain;
For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD,
As the waters cover the sea.
The rabbi completed his reading, lifted his head from the book and looked into Mike’s eyes. He stood there for another minute or two and then turned around and left, without waiting for a response. Mike stood there stunned, staring into the dark stairwell. He closed the door, walked over to the small sofa near the window and sat down. The small orange pillow on the sofa fell on the floor but he did not have the energy to pick it up. He sat there staring at the wall. After a short while, he felt the freezing air that was back in the apartment, he managed to get himself up, returned to bed and fell asleep as he pondered the strange visit from the rabbi.
In the morning, Mike woke up as always and prepared his weak cup of coffee, ignoring how cold it was in the apartment. He decided to skip his usual yogurt this morning and got dressed quickly. On his way to the door, he noticed that the orange pillow was on the sofa in the exact position it was at when he went to sleep the night before. Could he have dreamt it had happened? He rushed down to the street, stopping for a moment at the intersection on his way to the subway station on 8th. He looked over at the Beit Yisrael building, the synagogue and home of the rabbi.
Suddenly, Mike changed the direction he was walking in, crossed over and entered the building. He walked up to the second floor and entered the synagogue. It was almost empty. The few worshippers were just folding up their Talits and were about to leave. Mike saw the young Rabbi Avraham standing at the other side of the synagogue, near the ark. Avraham saw him and headed over to him with a big smile.
“How are you?,” he asked. “Can I help with you with anything today?”
Mike was very troubled and restless, he was impolite and asked:
“Where is your father, the rabbi?”
He was not surprised by Avraham’s response.
“My father is still in Israel. He will not be back until September, before the holidays. Why do you ask? What is wrong?”
Mike was about to tell Avraham about what had happened that night but he stopped himself, thought about it and finally raised his hand in cancelation, turned around and started to walk off. He suddenly stopped, turning around to Avraham and asked:
“When was the last time you spoke to your father?”
Avraham answered patiently.
“I have not spoken to him. He is isolated at the tombs of the righteous in the Galilee. There is no way to talk to him.”
“Does anyone know how to contact him?” he asked.
"My father would not be happy about it but his brother lives in Zfat and may be able to find him, if it was urgent.”
Mike hesitated for a minute and then he said:
“I would appreciate if you could find out what is going on with the rabbi.”
H
e gave Avraham his business card and asked him to call the moment he heard from his father. His short trip on the subway on the blue line felt longer than ever and once again he was lost in thought.
When Mike arrived at the office, uncharacteristically late, John looked at him with a surprised look raising his hand from a distance as if to ask what had happened. Mike reassured him with a clear sign and went to his small office. He appeared troubled and tired, closed the door, sat down at his desk and turned his computer on. He had something to check before he logged in to the securities sales site.
He typed the search words “And there shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse “ on Google. The first result was a full text of the bible with this passage from Isaiah 11. He read the quote of the verses the rabbi had read to him that night. Mike read the verses but did not understand the context. He found many interpretations of the text and he started to read the explanations of the meaning of this text. He suddenly began to tremble and the hairs on his arms pricked up. Once again, he felt the icy air that he had in his apartment. He was afraid by what had happened but still did not understand why they were directed at him.
All the commentators discussing these verses agreed that the chapter had to do with the messiah and the acts he would be tested by. Mike tried hard to understand what this meant and why the rabbi was reading it to him of all people. He also had no explanation as to how or why the rabbi was on his doorstep twice, late at night, while his son claims he is in Israel.
Mike somehow managed to get through the last workday of the week without being focused on his computer screen and the stock market trends. John noticed that his friend was acting strangely, and he assumed he had not slept well. He took some of Mike’s workload that day and asked the other workers not to bother him. Mike was in a state of emotional turmoil. As an atheist who had lost his faith in God, he found himself spending hours reading biblical texts he only understood partially. This seemed amusing to him but he was unable to smile and enjoy the irony. He was hoping Rabbi Avraham would manage to locate his father in Israel.