“And the reason why this relates is . . . ”
“It was on one of those mornings in the month of Elul that it all began. As the darkness of night faded into the first light of dawn, the prayers of judgment were completed, the prayers of dawn began, and then the trumpets, the alarm that warns of a coming attack, were sounded. All these things were taking place on the morning of 9/11 when a band of men from the Middle East were setting in motion their plan to bring terror on America. So the ancient rite marked the timing of 9/11—but also the place.”
“How could it mark the place?”
“The break of dawn and the sunrise are not just matters of time, but of space. On September 11, dawn broke on Asia, Europe, and Africa hours before it broke on America.”
“And why is that significant?”
“Because the ancient rites are timed by the dawn. They follow the dawn. The dawn of 9/11 came upon one specific place in America before it came anywhere else.”
“Where?”
“Maine.”
“And?”
“The attack began in Boston, in Logan Airport, with the taking off of the first planes that would bring destruction. But it had a pre-beginning, a flight before the flight. For reasons still unknown, Mohamed Atta, the leader of the attack, chose to begin the operation in Portland, Maine. September 11, 2001, dawned on America in Portland at 5:47 a.m. And thus the reciting of the prayers of judgment had to be completed there by 5:47.”
“And?”
“Because the mystery pinpoints a time and place, 5:47 in Maine. At 5:47, the leaders of 9/11 were in Maine, at the airport. At 5:45 a.m., two minutes from the moment of dawn, they were passing through the security check to begin their mission. It was then that they were caught on the airport’s security cameras. As they made their way to the gate to bring devastation upon New York City, the prayers of judgment, the ancient words that speak of the enemy coming in the form of violent men to bring devastation on the city, were officially completed.
“And then, the breaking of dawn moved westward from Portland, Maine, to Boston, Massachusetts. And so, Mohamed Atta and his accomplices flew from Portland, Maine, to Boston, Massachusetts. The dawn and sunrise continued to move from Boston to New York City and then from New York City to Washington, DC. So the calamity of 9/11 would likewise move from Portland, Maine, to Boston, from Boston to New York City, and from New York City to Washington, DC.
“And as the dawn and sunrise moved from Maine to Boston to New York City and Washington, DC, so did the ancient rite, the utterances of judgment and the sounding of the trumpets.”
“As the Jewish people in each place spoke the words and sounded the trumpets.”
“Yes. And in ancient times, it was the sounding of the trumpets that warned of the enemy’s approach. And so on September 11, 2001, as the enemy approached the city, the trumpets began to sound.”
“But those who sounded them didn’t know the attack was coming.”
“No,” said the prophet. “But again, the signs manifest regardless of whether those manifesting them have any idea. The sounding of the trumpets was an ancient biblical sign now manifesting to a modern nation.”
“And that modern nation,” I said, “had the most advanced and sophisticated early warning systems in the world. And yet on 9/11, it all failed. The government was caught unaware. The Defense Department was caught unaware. Everyone was caught unaware. And yet the biblical alarm began to sound.”
“Yes,” he replied. “The same sound that was heard in ancient Israel on the day of destruction was now heard in America on 9/11. When the terrorists passed through the gates to board their planes at Logan airport, the trumpets were sounding in Boston and throughout New England. When the first plane took off from Boston at 7:59 a.m., the first plane to strike New York City, the trumpets were sounding in Boston and New York City. When the second plane took off from the same airport at 8:14, the trumpets were sounding. When each of those flights was taken over by the terrorists, the trumpets were sounding. When the plane that would be flown into the Pentagon took off from Dulles airport in Washington, DC, the trumpets were sounding in Washington, DC. And when the last plane took off from Newark airport in New Jersey, the trumpets were sounding in New Jersey.
“On the morning of 9/11, the trumpets were sounding in all the boroughs of New York City and across the water in New Jersey. And one could almost hear the words of the prophet Amos echoing to New York City:
If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid?2
“The trumpets were sounding as the two planes that came from Boston changed course and headed to the towers of New York City. And the voice of the prophet Zephaniah echoed to lower Manhattan:
A day of trumpet and alarm against the fortified cities and against the high towers.3
“The trumpets were sounding as the first plane swooped down from the sky as an eagle to inflict destruction. And one could hear the words of Hosea’s prophecy to Israel:
Set the trumpet to your mouth! He shall come like an eagle.”4
“How long,” I asked, “did the trumpets sound on 9/11?”
“The trumpets sealed the shacharit morning prayers. Those prayers were to be completed within a four-hour window beginning with sunrise.”
“So when did the sun rise on New York City on 9/11?”
“Just after 6:30.”
“So the four-hour window would come to an end just after 10:30.”
“Yes, so the time for the trumpets to sound would end just after 10:30.”
“And when did the last of the two towers fall?”
“The last tower fell just before 10:29.”
“Just before the last trumpet.”
“Yes, the destruction ended, and the trumpets stopped sounding. The window closed. For the sound of the trumpets is the alarm of the watchmen—to warn of destruction. Thus when the destruction was over, the trumpets ceased to sound.”
“Except that these trumpets were appointed to sound on that day and until that particular minute . . . from ages past.”
“And so we have a mystery.”
“It’s overwhelming,” said Ana, “overwhelming and amazing and scary at the same time. So if no one took the sounding as a warning, why the trumpets? What does it mean?”
“Before judgment falls on a nation, God sends warning that those who will take the warning will be saved. The trumpets were a symbol of that warning. They sounded, but no one heard. They were a sign to a nation that has deafened itself to the voice of God . . . and to His warnings. And that, in itself, is another sign and warning. What happens to a city that doesn’t listen to the sound of the trumpet, that doesn’t hear the sound of its own alarm?”
“It’s destroyed.”
“So then what happens to a nation?”
Chapter 15
The Land of Two Towers
THE DREAMS CAME to an end.”
“So where did that leave you?”
“It left me with no idea. I didn’t know if there was more to be revealed or if that was it . . . or what I was supposed to do with what I was shown.”
“But it wasn’t the end,” she said.
“No. It was the end of the first revelations, the unrevealed, the revelations that had not been revealed to me in my first encounters with the prophet.”
“The first part ended as it began.”
“How?”
“With the watchman,” she replied, “just as it began with the seal of the watchman.”
“You’re right.”
“So then what happened?”
“The absence of revelation went on for some time. Every time I went to bed, I wondered if that would be the night when it would happen. But it never did. And then something else happened.
“I had just finished doing a television interview. There was to be a book signing for the studio audience at the end of the taping. They arranged for me to be sitting in the lobby behind a counter with a line of people coming from my left to have
their books signed. I was about halfway through the signing when it happened.
“I didn’t see her at first. She was standing in line behind a large man, who obscured her.”
“The little girl?”
“The girl with wavy blonde hair and blue eyes and in the same light blue coat. I was tempted to get out from behind the counter and question her as to what was going on. But of course, I didn’t. I knew that she had come to tell me something. And I would wait until she did.”
She approached the counter without a book for me to sign.
“He returned,” she said.
“He did,” I replied, “in a sense.”
“And you were given revelation.”
“I was.”
“And he showed you that which could not have been shown you at the beginning.”
“He did.”
“And now what?” she asked.
“You’re asking me? I was hoping you could tell me that.”
“There’s more for you to see, Nouriel, more for you to be shown. So now begins the next revelation.”
“And the next revelation is what?”
“A revelation different from the first,” she replied. “The first concerned that which was but had not yet been revealed. But the mystery hasn’t stopped. No. It has progressed.”
“So the next revelation concerns . . . ”
“That which came after.”
“After 9/11?”
“After 9/11 and after those things the prophet revealed to you in your first encounters.”
“After the harbingers?”
“Yes and no,” she replied. “The mystery never stopped, and neither did the harbingers. They’ve continued.”
“Up to when?”
“Up to the present time.”
“And all this will be revealed to me?”
“It will.”
“How?”
“Do you have the seal I gave you?”
In my first encounters with the prophet, I had learned to keep the seal with me at all times. And in the absence of dreams, it was the only thing I had to go on.
“May I have it back?” she asked.
So I handed it back to her, and she placed it inside her coat pocket.
“Here,” she said as she placed another seal in my hand. I didn’t look to see what was on it but immediately secured it in my pocket.
“So this will lead me to the next revelation?”
“It will help lead you,” she replied. “But you’ll need more than that.”
“Like what?”
“The next revelation will begin in the land of the two towers, around which flow the waters of the pure.”
“And what exactly does that mean?”
“I believe that is for you to find out.”
“Can you give me something more, something to go on?”
“There’s nothing more for me to tell. I’ve done what I was sent to do.”
At that, she turned and began to walk away. I knew there was no point in trying to follow her. I would not be told anything more than I was meant to know. But then she turned back to me.
“The prophet,” she said with a smile.
“What about the prophet?”
“The prophet will tell you more.”
“I haven’t seen him lately.”
“But you will. He will appear as he did before.”
“In the same way?”
“As he appeared then . . . in a way you don’t expect.”
At that, she turned around and disappeared into the crowd.
“And so what happened?”
“A veil was about to be removed.”
“How so?”
“I was about to see what was right before my eyes and that which I had been mostly blind to. I was about to be shown the mystery that never stopped, that which manifested or was revealed after I wrote the first book . . . the signs and harbingers.”
“The signs and harbingers . . . Tell me.”
“Ah,” said Nouriel, “that would be an entirely other revelation. We couldn’t possibly open it up now.”
“Then when?”
“Another time.”
Chapter 16
The Man on the Hill
SO IS THIS the ‘another time’?” asked Ana.
“I believe it is,” he replied.
It had been just over a month since his last visit to her office. She greeted him wearing a light outdoor jacket.
“It’s a beautiful day,” she said. “I thought we could go for a walk . . . to the park.”
He agreed. So they made their way to the elevator, down to the first floor, across the lobby, and out to the sidewalk. They would spend the rest of that day in Central Park, walking along its paths and sitting down to rest on its benches and grass. But Ana wasn’t about to wait to reach the park before asking her first question.
“So tell me what happened,” she said. “How did it begin?”
“It began, as before, with a dream. I saw a man with flowing black hair and a black beard. He was dressed in dark clothes with a large round collar of ruffled white fabric.”
“A ruff.”
“What?”
“A ruff,” said Ana. “That’s what they called it, a decorative collar they used to wear centuries ago.”
“That would be it,” he replied. “He was carrying a large white rectangular rock . . . not just white, but radiant white. In front of him was what appeared to be a small mountain. He ascended it. Upon reaching its summit, he laid down the stone. On the side of the stone were engraved words, but I had no idea what it said—it was in a foreign script.
“He then backed away from it. Around the stone there began to rise a structure, as if it was meant to house it, a chapel or shrine. Then around the chapel arose other structures, buildings, homes, churches . . . until resting on top of the mountain was an entire city. After the last building had risen, the man turned around and began descending the mountain. When he reached the bottom, he turned back to gaze up at the city, which was now not only radiant but bathed in brilliant sunlight. He turned around once more and departed.
“Then everything changed. Clouds began filling the sky, obscuring the sun, darkening the city. Its radiance was gone. Its white stone was fading and now filled with stains. I could now hear the sound of revelry, conflict, and chaos.
“The man with the black beard reappeared and once more ascended the mountain. I saw him walking its streets. He appeared startled at the transformation that had taken place in his absence. The city’s walls were now chipped and in disrepair and decay. Its buildings were covered with graffiti. I saw the man trying to read the writing on one of the walls, but he had stopped and turned away. He gazed up at the high buildings that towered above him. Along their walls were moving images, carnal and vulgar.
“I saw him searching for the chapel or shrine that housed the stone he had laid. But when he found it, he became especially grieved. Its roof was gone, about half of its walls were broken down, and the half that remained was covered with graffiti. He went ‘inside’ to see the stone. But it wasn’t there. It had been taken away.
“He exited the structure and sat down by one of its remaining walls, staring out into the city and weeping. Finally, he looked up toward the sky and said, ‘It is this of which I warned. But they’ve turned away. They’ve removed the stone. And now what will become of them?’ And with that question, the dream came to an end.”
“And there was no prophet,” said Ana, “to tell you what it meant?”
“The dream had no prophet. He never showed up.”
“But I thought the little girl told you that he would.”
“She did.”
“But he never showed up.”
“It troubled me. What was the point of being given a dream if there was no one to help me understand it?”
“So what did you do?”
“I waited. I thought maybe the meaning would be given in another dream. But nothing came. I looked a
t the seal the little girl had given me.”
“The seal,” she said. “You never told me what was on it.”
“It was the image of a city, the same city I saw in the dream, with the same exact shapes and outlines. But that didn’t help me. It pointed to the dream, or the dream pointed to the seal, but I still had no idea what it all meant.”
“And?”
“And then I remembered the words of the little girl. The next revelation, she said, would begin in a land of two towers, around which flow the waters of the pure. Perhaps that was the missing piece. If I could figure out what she was referring to, I would have the answer.”
“It’s New York!” Ana exclaimed. “Manhattan! The land of the two towers, the Twin Towers. And water flows around it.”
“Yes,” said Nouriel, “that’s what I thought at first. But one thing didn’t fit: ‘the waters of the pure.’ New York City isn’t usually associated with purity in any form.”
“Maybe the city has a water purification plant with two towers?”
“No. So I tried to figure out where there would be pure waters. What places would be known for that . . . and have two towers? I went over what she said again and again. And then it hit me.
“She didn’t say ‘pure waters’ or even ‘waters of purity.’ She said ‘waters of the pure.’ It wasn’t about pure waters but the waters of the pure.”
“I’m not getting it.”
“The pure can refer to people—a pure people or people associated with purity.”
“I still don’t get it.”
“The Puritans! That’s how they got their name . . . because they were associated with purity.”
“And the water?”
“The Puritans were linked to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The waters of the pure are the waters of the Massachusetts Bay.”
“And where did that lead you?”
“Nowhere. I couldn’t connect it to the other clue, the land of the two towers.”
“So what did you do?”
“I decided to make a journey. I would drive to the coast of New England, to Massachusetts Bay, and see if I could find anything that would answer to the land of the two towers. And if I could, then perhaps I could begin to unlock the mystery. So I drove to the southern end of the bay near Cape Cod. Then I headed north to Plymouth and Boston, then up to Cape Ann. I was now at the northern end of the bay and had found nothing.
The Harbinger II Page 10
