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We clapped our hands! This was wonderful news. James and I looked at each other. Even our cousins, Silas and Levi, were happy. Little Symeon was happy and he hardly knew what this was about.
We were to receive more education. And the house was to receive higher wages.
My mother was very pleased.
We had good wine with supper that night, and by the light of the lamps, Joseph read us one of the Greek stories we loved, from the scrolls we’d brought back from Alexandria, The Tale of Tobit.
Now everyone gathered round for this story, even the women, because we all enjoyed so much to hear of the angel coming to Tobias, the son of Tobit, and this angel, “in disguise,” telling Tobias of cures he might work with the i
We roared with laughter as Joseph read this part in Tobias’ i
Joseph went on as the helpful angel Raphael, his words in a rush. “Now before you get into your bed, stand and pray, asking that safety and mercy be granted you. Don’t be afraid, the girl’s set apart for you from before the begi
“That’s the way it goes,” said my aunt Esther, and all of them broke into laughing again looking at one another.
“Say no more to it!” cried my aunt Salome, and again they were all laughing as if they the mothers knew far more how fu
“And an angel should know!” cried my aunt Esther.
They all went quiet. All the laughter stopped.
I saw they were looking at my mother and then looking away at each other.
My mother was looking off at nothing, and then she smiled. She laughed. She shook her head, and laughed, and they all broke into laughing again.
There were many fu
When we came to the end of the prayer, Joseph, who was leading us, spoke the words more slowly, as they had a meaning for us now that they hadn’t had for us in Egypt.
“ ‘Jerusalem, our holy city, the Lord has scourged you for works of your hands, but He will have mercy on the children of the Righteous. Praise the Lord for He is Good, and bless the King of the ages, so that He will again pitch His tent in your midst…’ ”
We were sad thinking of the fighting going on. And as the prayer went on, I made the memories of the fighting go away; I saw the Temple as it had been before I knew that men were going to fight with each other.
I saw the huge walls, and the hundreds of people gathered there to pray, crowding through the baths, through the tu
We prayed now as Joseph led us:
“ ‘A great light will shine to all the ends of the Earth, and many nations will come to you from afar, the peoples of all the Earth, to dwell near to the name of the Lord, bearing in their hands gifts for the King of Heaven…’ ”
I saw the light in my mind, and I grew sleepy in a beautiful soft sleep in which I could hear the words of the prayer as I lay on my mat, with my arm crooked under my head. “ ‘And they will call you The Chosen One through all ages forever.’ ”
And so it seemed the pestilence had left our house. Death had left it. Unclea
Chapter 20
As soon as my mother said that I could, I bathed in the mikvah which was very cold now, with the water so high it went over my head, and I put on freshly washed clothes, and I went up the hill to the house of the great Rabbi, Berekhaiah. The servants told me he was at the synagogue so I went there, careful to wash my hands in the stream for the sake of anyone who didn’t know I had bathed before coming.
I went in and sat down on the edge of the assembly, surprised to see so many there on this day of the week, but I soon saw they were all listening not to the Rabbis but to a man who had come to tell of events in Jerusalem. He was a Pharisee and dressed in the finest clothes, with plenty of white hairs beneath his shawl.
My brother James was there, and so was Joseph, and Cleopas. My older cousins were there.
Rabbi Berekhaiah smiled when he saw me and gestured for me to sit still as the man went on talking.
The man was speaking in Greek, and from time to time he stopped and spoke in our tongue.
He was in the middle of his story:
“This Sabinus, this procurator of the Romans, he had his men surround the Temple, and the Jews took to the roofs of the colo
I felt my fear come back. Though it was warm, I felt cold as he went on.
“…and the Romans, they went right through the flames to steal the treasures of the Lord before the eyes of those who watched helpless. They ran through the Great Courtyard right into the storehouses to steal in their greed, and they stole from the house of the Lord.”
I saw it as I’d seen it in my dream. I bowed my head and closed my eyes. As he went on speaking, I could see what he was telling us.
Battle after battle, and the Roman legions coming, and the crosses going up along the road.
“Two thousand crucified,” he said. “They went after those who had fled. They brought in those they suspected and executed them. Who knew if all these people were guilty? They can’t tell the good from the bad among us! They don’t know. And the Arabians, how many villages did they burn before General Varus finally sent them home, before he learned they couldn’t be trusted as peacekeepers.” Then came a string of names—places burned, families who had lost their homes…