by Shlomo Kalo
He and his three friends, Mishael, Azariah and Hananiah, stood on the roof of his house and watched the parade and heard the speech of the victorious King, and saw his sumptuous attire and the pathetic rags of the defeated King, the empty holes of his eyes and the bronze fetters binding his hands and feet. They witnessed the triumphal march of the army, and could not fail to see the seventy wagons, carrying all the gold and silver which had enriched the palaces and temples of Jerusalem since the days of Solomon.
Mishael exclaimed:
“The prophet Isaiah predicted everything that we are seeing today. Long ago, in the time of Hezekiah, the righteous King, he declared that all the wealth of Jerusalem would be taken to Babylon.”
“Which verses are you referring to?” Hananiah asked, and it was Daniel who answered the question:
“It was when the deputation arrived at the court of King Hezekiah, and to impress his Chaldean visitors he showed them all the wealth of the palace, as it’s written:
At this time, Merodach-Baladan son of Baladan, King of Babylon, sent envoys with a gift for Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been ill and was well again. Hezekiah welcomed them and showed them all his treasury, silver and gold, spices and fragrant oil, his entire armoury and everything to be found among his treasures. There was nothing in his house and in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them. Then the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and asked him: What did these men say and where have they come from? They have come from a faraway country, Hezekiah answered, from Babylon. Then Isaiah asked: What did they see in your house? They saw everything, Hezekiah replied, there was nothing among my treasures that I did not show them. Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah: Hear the word of the Lord of Hosts. The time is coming when everything in your house and all that your forefathers have amassed until this day, will be carried away to Babylon. Not a thing shall be left, says the Lord.
“Well, it is the will of God, the Holy One, so we should not be too despondent!” was Azariah’s comment.
And he reminded them:
“Judah will yet rise from its ruins, and Jerusalem shall be built – according to the prophet Jeremiah, who specified a period of seventy years. For seventy years the exiles of Judah shall remain in Babylon, and at the end of that time they shall be awakened and return to their land. And we must do all that we can for these exiles, so they remain united and are not destroyed or dispersed, perish the thought, or assimilated. We have to strengthen their faith and bolster their yearning for the home that they left behind. This is the task entrusted to us, by the grace of God and for the glory of His name!”
He turned away from the flat roof and went down into his house, taking leave of his three friends.
He went to his bed chamber and walked out on the broad veranda, all awash with flowers. He sat on a low bench and felt the gentle warmth of the sun, and saw nothing but the bright blue of the sky and the white clouds silently drifting.
And suddenly he felt a miraculous joy rising from his heart, a living bliss that took over his entire being.
The Seven Seasons
About a month after the King’s triumphal procession through the streets of Babylon, Or-Nego came to the gate of his house, pulled on the ring hanging from the mouth of a tiny lion’s head made of bronze, setting a silver bell jangling, and when the footman appeared, asked him to announce his arrival to his master.
He was glad of the visit and shook the army chief’s broad, bony hand warmly, ushering him to the veranda where Nejeen was sitting.
She rose from her place, bowed lightly to Or-Nego, picked up the embroidery that she was working on and left the veranda.
Or-Nego stood as if rooted to the spot, stunned and nonplussed, and it was only when Nejeen passed by him, and he dimly remembered having seen her on her wedding day, that he recovered himself and returned her salutation with a deep bow that convention and the circumstances did not in fact require. And although the woman had disappeared from his field of vision, and they both took their seats at the table, he was still agitated and he stared into the void, beyond the flowering bushes that swamped the veranda and gave it the appearance of a living garland. Finally, shrugging off the shock, he looked up and spoke:
“Your wife – a living angel of God! And she has the demeanour of a queen. She reminded me of my own wife – may her soul rest in the gardens of the righteous! Rare women such as these,” he added, “arouse in the heart a powerful aspiration to do what is most exalted, to sacrifice oneself for the glory of their name, fulfil their desire even before it is expressed, inscribe their names in letters of fire on the peaks of the loftiest mountains. And all this – out of a joy that is not to be believed, bliss that has no peer on the face of the earth! Surely, she is the woman meant for you!” Or-Nego declared, with more animation than was typical of him. “There is one such to a race, two in the entire universe! Like my princess, whom God bestowed upon me in His grace!”
“It is indeed as you say,” – something of the strange and pure exuberance was conveyed to him and stuck to him: “Love is divine and is stronger than all things, it will never be impaired nor fade away, and sacrifice – is its joy!”
“So praise be to God!” exclaimed Or-Nego, a look of mellow acceptance on his face, “God who has shown us the power of His love through human creatures of such perfection!”
“Blessed be He for ever and ever!”
They were served fruit and honey-water, poured into the delicate goblets of Egyptian glass, and after another benediction, they raised their goblets and sipped from them. And then there was silence, and the longer it continued, the gloomier was Or-Nego’s face.
He sighed, shifted in his chair and finally said:
“When we were in Jerusalem… with the knowledge of the King and at his explicit request, I inquired of your relations and members of your family.”
“You mean,” – he had tensed without realising it – “you were to locate them and bring them to Babylon?”
Or-Nego nodded his greying head.
“They refused and did not want to come?” he asked.
The guest lowered his head and did not say a word. A long moment passed.
His face turned pale, his heart seemed to stop beating.
“There was no one to bring?” he asked at last, his voice hollow.
Or-Nego looked up. His eyes were moist.
He mourned for his mother and his sisters, and his brother who was only a young boy when he was taken. He went down to the oratory that the exiles had set up outside the walls, with the King’s permission, where they used to gather every eve of Sabbath and end of Sabbath, and on festivals and holy days, and there for a whole month he recited chapters from the Psalms. For his benefit, the oratory was opened on secular days too. Mishael, Hananiah and Azariah joined him. And so, every morning, the four of them would set out to walk the five parasangs, crossing the wall and coming to the oratory, where a congregation awaited them. And the priest pronounced the blessing, and levites played the harp as he chanted one after the other the ringing anthems of King David, and the congregation answered “Amen and amen”. And at the end of the month he made a generous donation for the upkeep of the building, for the priest and the levites and the beadle, and for the poor of the community.
He did not neglect his pressing duties, and his days of mourning did not interfere with them. He also prayed at home for the souls of all his family.
About a week after the conclusion of the mourning period, he was summoned urgently by the King, who had once again dreamed a dream that troubled his spirit. Not one of his multifarious diviners and magicians had succeeded in interpreting the dream.
It was a hazy day, the air listless and the sun hiding behind low clouds, grey and looming, shedding warmth but only the dimmest of light on a world that was silent, devoid of life.
The King was waiting for him in the oval chamber. This time the King wore his full ceremonial regalia, which only served to underline the unease in his face.
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sp; He bowed to him, and while bowing the thought occurred to him that he was bowing to the murderer of his family and his relatives. But this thought did not take root, as it was essentially alien to his nature. Instead of this, the name of Zedekiah came into his mind and was fixed there. That Zedekiah, who heard the word of God and was warned by His holy prophet, Jeremiah, and was stubborn and refused to do what he was required to do, thereby denying succour and deliverance to himself and to all of his people, including Daniel’s family. Was Zedekiah, who broke his sacred oath, not the real murderer?
He cleared his consciousness of all these thoughts and looked again at the face of the King. No, he felt no resentment, certainly no hatred against this man, who by the grace and with the consent of God ruled over a great people. Even for the wretched Zedekiah, who brought about the destruction of his land and the slaughter of his people, he bore no grudges.
“Ah, Judah!” the King sighed as if reading his thoughts. “How I wish those people could have been left in peace, as it says in your writings – every man under his vine and under his fig-tree. But they did no heed the warnings and they left me no choice! It is not enough merely being a king, it is my duty to act as a king, before whom the whole world kneels, whose every word is obeyed. And sometimes,” he added, his voice changing and seeming to quiver, “the man before whom the whole world kneels, has to kneel himself before his heart’s delight, and still she is not content! And he is ready and willing to lay at her feet whatever she desires, and the one thing which it is not in his power to give her – to bring her homeland to his land – that is what she asks for? Does it sound to you like a reasonable request?” the King asked.
“No,” he answered him, sensing something of the intensity of the King’s pain.
“And I really did try!” he exclaimed. “I brought the landscape of her homeland here, to the very heart of Babylon, my capital. Those hanging gardens that I’m sure you have seen, reckoned one of the wonders of the world – I planted for her. ‘There are hills’ she said ‘in my homeland, and abundant flowers.’ I built her a hill of flowers, such as no eye has seen, no ear has heard described, that has no equal on the face of the earth. And she was happy – for a week! Then her face was sad once more. ‘Yes’ she said, ‘you have built a hill for me, with many flowers of glorious colours and delightful fragrance, and they closely resemble the flowers of my homeland, but the air is different, and the light is harsh and dazzling. I long for the balmy air of my homeland, and yearn for its gentle light.’ So she tells me. And obviously the air I cannot give her, nor soften the light of the sun of Babylon. Not even God Himself can bring the air of one land to another, or change the sunlight!”
“Nothing is beyond the power of God,” was his comment.
“Anyway, He hasn’t answered my prayers! Neither my God, nor the God of the princess, Temior, the most glorious woman on the face of the earth! And because I could not bear to see her in her grief, and despite my love for her, which will never falter or fail, I sent her back to her home. And she returns my love – in letters… and that is all!”
“What you have just described could be a unique expression of truly divine love!” he remarked after hearing the King’s heart-rending story.
“Meaning what?” the King demanded to know, his brow wrinkling.
“Working for her happiness and taking no account of your own pain!”
Nebuchadnezzar chuckled that surprising, melodious chuckle of his and his teeth flashed against the pitch blackness of his beard, and he knew how strong were his feelings of friendship and admiration for this man.
“I still miss her! And all my wives and concubines, and they are many, cannot expunge her image from my heart. But I don’t visit her, despite constant and repeated invitations on her part to go to the palace that I built for her in her homeland, that to this day I have not set eyes on!”
“Why does His Majesty not visit his heart’s beloved?” he asked.
“Too busy!” the King declared, turning suddenly serious as the matter that had troubled him and led to this urgent summons returned to the forefront of his mind. His face was grim.
And the King began:
“I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at my ease in my home in the luxury of the palace. As I lay on my bed, I saw a dream which terrified me, and fantasies and visions which came into my head dismayed me. So I summoned into my presence all the wise men of Babylon to make known to me the interpretation of my dream. Then the magicians, the soothsayers, the astrologers and diviners gathered together and before them I related my dream, but they were at a loss and could not interpret my dream. And lastly I have called upon you, Belteshazzar, named after my god, knowing that a spirit of divine holiness is in you, and there is no secret that is not known to you. Listen then, and hear my dream, and interpret it for me!
As I was looking I saw a tree of great height at the centre of the earth. The tree grew and became strong, reaching with its top to the sky and visible to earth’s farthest bounds. Its foliage was lovely, and its fruit abundant, and it yielded food for all. Beneath it the wild beasts found shelter, and birds lodged in its branches, and from it all living creatures were fed. And as I lay on my bed I saw a holy angel coming down from Heaven. And the angel cried out in a loud voice: ‘Cut down the tree, lop off its branches, strip away the foliage, scatter the fruit, let the wild beasts flee from its shelter and the birds from its branches, but leave the stump with its roots in the ground. Bind him in fetters of iron and bronze! He shall eat the grass of the field and be washed in the dew of Heaven and share the lot of the beasts in their pasture. And in place of the mind of a man, he shall be given the mind of a beast. And seven seasons shall pass over him. This is the judgment of the angels and the command of the holy ones. Therefore the living will know that the Most High is sovereign in the kingdom of men: he gives the kingdom to whom he will and he may set over it the humblest of mankind!’
“This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have dreamed and you, Belteshazzar, shall interpret this dream of mine and expound it to me! Though all the wise men of my kingdom are unable to tell me what it means, feeble and lazy as they are, and deserving to be cast out of my sight – you can tell me, since the spirit of the holy God is in you!”
He stood rooted to the spot, and what he saw in his mind’s eye shocked and dismayed him. He was silent a long time, until the King addressed him again, exclaiming:
“Belteshazzar! The dream and its interpretation should not alarm you. Speak, and I shall hear you!”
He looked up, and gazing intently into the eyes of the King, gave his response:
“My lord the King, this dream should be for your enemies and its interpretation for those who hate you! The tree which you saw growing and becoming strong and its top reaching to the sky, its foliage lovely and its fruit abundant, yielding food for all, wild beasts sheltering beneath it, and its branches a lodging for the birds of the air – it is you, my King. You have grown and become strong, and your power has grown and reaches the sky, and your kingdom stretches to the ends of the earth. And you saw a holy angel coming down from Heaven and he said: ‘Cut down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump with its roots in the ground. Bind him with fetters of iron and bronze, and he shall eat the grass of the field and be washed in the dew of Heaven, and share the lot of the beasts in their pasture, until seven seasons shall pass over him.’ This is the judgment of the Most High, imposed upon my lord the King. You shall be banished from the company of men, and shall live with the beasts of the field, you shall eat grass like oxen and the dew of the ground shall wash you, and this you shall endure for seven seasons, until you know that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men, and he gives power to whomsoever He chooses. And as for the commandment to leave the stump with its roots – this means that your kingdom will be restored to you when you have learned that God is sovereign over the heavens and the earth alike.”
The King’s face fell, and his mind was in agony, which he tried in vain
to suppress. And without waiting for Nebuchadnezzar’s response, Daniel addressed him again, the pain clearly audible in his voice:
“Therefore, King Nebuchadnezzar, my King, be advised by me! Atone for your sins with charity, and for your wrongdoings with magnanimity towards your captives, and if someone is unable to pay your taxes – pardon him! You may yet enjoy the favour of Heaven, and see your own debts cancelled!”
The King drew himself up to his full height, a strange flame flickering in his eyes as he cried:
“What kind of a king is he who is alarmed by prophecies such as these, softening his heart and abasing himself and becoming a laughing-stock among men! I shall pardon no man, nor give charity. If anyone should presume to punish me, then let him try. I am ready for him!”
He bowed sadly and left the oval chamber without saying another word.
Days passed, weeks and months. And at the festival of Bel, something happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. The King’s slaves and his loyal bodyguards told anyone who was prepared to listen, that suddenly Nebuchadnezzar had run up to the roof of his palace and cried out in a loud voice: “I am King Nebuchadnezzar, King of Kings, all peoples serve me and bow down at my feet, and there is no creature in the Heavens above or the earth beneath that does not bend the knee to me! I am Nebuchadnezzar who built the great city of Babylon for a royal residence, by my own might and for the glory of my majesty, the King who rules over all, the valiant and the wise, I am he!”
As the King was still speaking, a voice was heard from the Heavens: Your kingdom has passed from you! And the voice went on to tell the King, to the dismay of the slaves and the bodyguards who heard it all:
You shall live with the beasts of the field, and eat grass like the ox, and seven seasons shall pass over you, until you learn that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men, and he gives power to whomsoever he chooses!
