by Nathan Erez
“I see the wall from my window and I await the messiah,” said Gardi. His head flopped backward.
Naeel rushed over. “I was afraid he’s having another attack, so I gave him his medicine.”
“I see that you do an excellent job caring for him.”
“Thank you. Really, thank you.” Naeel insisted on escorting Elijah to the exit, and this time he thanked him profusely for the envelope. He had evidently had time to count the sum of money it contained.
Never in his wildest dreams would Elijah have imagined acting like this at the beginning of that summer, before all this began. In his professional life, he was always interested in finding the true facts behind every document, and had never needed to resort to lies. In general, he had very little contact with people. Yet here he was acting like a born - maybe even pathological - liar.
It was early afternoon, and Jerusalem was bathed in strong sunshine. As he stepped out of the hospital, Elijah was almost blinded by the sunlight.
He had seen the light, the other light that surrounded the entire case in which he had become involved inadvertently. Norman was Absalom Moreno, who had rebelled against his father, just as the Biblical Absalom had rebelled against his father, King David. In 1929, he, along with Gardi, had used the verses his father had taught him to repel the Arabs who had attacked them. It is a historical fact that the Arabs retreated after the first assault. What no one knew was that two small Jewish youths had been the ones who routed them, with the help of Kabbalistic verses.
The picture was finally clear, and the pieces of the puzzle were coming together. As the boys knew only some of the verses, and as they had not practiced saying them in unison, the deliverance from the Arabs had been only a partial one. Gardi had lost his mind, while Norman had been almost blinded by the forces they had unleashed. Absalom had stolen a scroll from his father’s yeshiva, and that was why he had fled. His father would never forgive him for the sin of using the verses to alter reality. Such actions by impetuous youngsters explain why it is forbidden to study the Kabbalah until the age of forty. Rabbi David Moreno had made a major mistake in teaching his son Kabbalah at a very tender age. Absalom Moreno had fled from Israel, and adopted the name John McDonald. He later adopted an additional name, Norman, an inversion of the family name of Moreno. This inversion, with slight modifications, had given him an American-sounding name, and he called himself David Norman.
He had devoted his life to finding the copies of the original Sefer Yetzirah, which included the seven hints. In order to do so, he had employed all his considerable wealth, which he amassed as a result of his remarkable ability to foretell the future; and that ability had evidently come from his knowledge of the Kabbalah. It was his aim to put together all the different words and word combinations, using the supercomputers he had bought and tried to smuggle out of the United States. By doing so, he would bring the fountain to the heart, and would change Nash’s equilibrium point. He would accomplish it in a marble building surrounded with water, in accordance with the legends of the Pardes. The computers had to be somewhere close to the Temple Mount, opposite the Even Shetiyah, and this must be done from a house from whose window it would be possible to see the Western Wall, part of the wall which had surrounded the Temple Mount. That house was one which had belonged to Norman’s father, Rabbi Moreno. Elijah was convinced that the scroll stolen by Norman, the only one that Elijah had not seen, specified the time of the equilibrium point. Elijah realized how naive he had been in thinking that he could conceal the knowledge of the scroll belonging to Rabbi Batzri. After all, as soon as Norman sat across from him he could read his thoughts, and he must have realized that this year was an appropriate one for the redemption. Maybe the reason Norman had summoned him to the Spanish island had not been to have him read the scroll, but for Norman to read his mind. The puzzle was almost complete. He was missing only one link: the seventh scroll! It, too, was apparently in Norman’s possession.
It was evidently time to confront Norman, but before doing so, Elijah did what every good academic would. He visited the university library and immersed himself in the abundant literature regarding messianic movements and messiahs. He was sure that in his confrontation with Norman all this information would be vital. Only when the university library closed, many hours later, did he pick himself up and head for home. At least he felt that he finally had a framework for understanding what Norman was planning.
The Sphere of the Infinite
When King Joash Conquered Jerusalem
About two hundred years after King David conquered Jerusalem, in about 1790 B.C.E., Joash, King of Israel, conquered Jerusalem. Unlike other rulers and madmen, Joash did so almost against his will.
A pragmatic king, Joash devoted most of his efforts to freeing his country from the yoke of Aram, which exerted great pressure on the Kingdom of Israel at that time. A short while before the prophet Elisha died, Joash visited him and expressed his admiration for the aged prophet.
"My father, my father, Chariot of Israel and its horsemen," cried Joash on his sickbed. This term for the prophet, as the source of the nation's strength and as equal in power to its military might, had hereto been said only by the prophet Elijah. King Joash was the first to use it in reference to Elisha. Elisha, who had been complimented, blessed Joash and told him that he would vanquish Aram three times - and that was indeed what he did.
After the monarchy of David and Solomon, the country was divided into two kingdoms - of Judea and of Israel. For two hundred years, up to the reign of Joash, King of Israel, and Amatziah, King of Judea, the two kingdoms developed side by side. Sometimes the relationship was one of peace, tranquility, and fraternal love; at other times there were bloody confrontations. Amatziah, though, was the first to dream openly of uniting the two kingdoms. And if that could not be achieved by peaceful means, Amatziah would do so by war. He sent messengers to Joash and invited him to wage battle. Amatziah was a dreamer and, like many Jerusalemites before him, hoped that hope would triumph over experience, a hope which was dashed on the rocks of reality.
Opposed to him, Joash moved away from Jerusalem and tried not to provoke Amatziah. He would not even have come close to the gates of the city had not Amatziah attempted to realize his dream at Joash’s expense.
Joash must be credited for having done everything possible to avert war. He warned Amatziah that he was in for a defeat and tried, to the best of his ability, to foil any attempt by Amatziah to wage a needless struggle.
"Rejoice and stay at home, for why you should meddle to your harm, so that you should fall, you and Judah with you?" asked Joash. However, Joash was a Jerusalemite and its stubborn climate affected him.
The armies of Judah and Israel confronted one another in Bet Shemesh. Joash gained a decisive victory over Amatziah. Not only did the men of Judah flee ignominiously in defeat, but, also, Amatziah himself was taken captive by Joash. Joash ascended to Jerusalem, and took as booty for himself and his men the treasuries of the Temple and of the Royal Palace. In order to prevent another war, Joash made a major breach in the walls of Jerusalem and took hostages of the royal family to Samaria with him. Joash eventually freed Amatziah and did not kill him, so as to prevent a hundred-year war between their heirs.
Amatziah lived to a ripe old age after his failed attempt, but his time was not a tranquil one. Fifteen years after this war, a conspiracy was hatched against him in Jerusalem. He was forced to flee to Lachish, but was pursued, caught, and put to death. His body was dragged by a horse to Jerusalem, where he was buried in his ancestral plot, and with him his dreams, too, were buried.
In spite of his overwhelming victory, Joash never thought of uniting the two kingdoms under one ruler. He did not even want to remain in Jerusalem, and immediately after his victory he returned to Samaria. But like all conquerors of Jerusalem, Joash did not find it easy going. Like the others, he found that it was easier to conquer Jerusalem than to flee from it. The city took its revenge on Joash, and less than a year
after his victory, he died the death of an ordinary mortal.
Elijah contemplated the idea of Jerusalem on High, as he wandered around Jerusalem below. Hundreds of years ago, the Old City, enclosed by the wall built by Suleiman, had already been divided into four quarters - Jewish, Armenian, Muslim and Christian - but the borders delineating each were never firm, with one quarter encroaching on another. Elijah reached the Jewish Quarter in order to search Norman’s home, which he had heard was located somewhere in the vicinity.
The Jewish Quarter as we know it was, in Second Temple times, the richest and most prestigious of the city. Ancient Jerusalem at the time of David and Solomon was built on the slopes of Silwan. At the time of the First temple you had to climb up a steep and winding road, in order to reach the Temple. In contrast, at the time of the Second Temple, the wealthy would descend to the Temple Mount.
The streets of the Jewish Quarter were, as usual, crowded. Like the rest of the Jewish Quarter, they were paved with rock, and only rock. The roads were remarkably narrow, only two or three yards wide, enough to accommodate pedestrians but not cars. The roads themselves sloped inward to the center, to allow rain to drain off. Elijah walked the length of one street after another, observing each entrance and seeking in vain some kind of link to Norman or Moreno. He had no specific plan of attack and merely placed his trust in luck.
Like all cities built in the Roman tradition, Byzantine Jerusalem had a central road spanning its entire length and another spanning its breadth. The road that spanned the length of a city was always called the Cardo, and the other was called the Decumanus. These streets, which were wider than the others, were used by carts to bring in merchandise, as well as by pedestrians, and they were the commercial centers of each city. Various stores plied their business along these streets. When the Jewish Quarter was rebuilt by Israel after the Six-Day War, part of the Cardo was unearthed and reconstructed, taking care to preserve the houses above it. In order to recreate some of the atmosphere of that time, shops were built on both sides of the Cardo, most of them selling tourist souvenirs and trinkets of the Holy Land. Elijah found himself walking along the Cardo and surveying the area. On his left he saw part of an old wall, which had been reconstructed. According to a plaque posted on the wall, it dated back to First Temple times, and most of it was probably destroyed at the time of Nebuchadnezzar. Above it stood a yeshiva founded a hundred years ago, and nearby a three-century-old mosque. They all stood close to one another, but had very little mutual tolerance.
Elijah thought about the fate of the city. Old Jerusalem is one big archaeological site. Wherever you dig you will find many kinds of antiques and relics. After all, of all the famous ancient cities of the ancient Middle East, Jerusalem is the one of the very few to have survived throughout the centuries, and it is still alive and kicking today. Shushan, Nineveh, Akkad, Abeilah, Ur, Zoan - all of them have disappeared or were swallowed up by other cities. Jerusalem is one stubborn city that refuses to roll over and die.
At the end of the Cardo, as if to add fuel to the fire, stood a golden menorah, a good seven feet high. The accompanying blurb claimed that it was a true replica of the menorah that had stood in the Temple. Although it did not say so, the underlying motive of the anonymous donor was evidently to make this menorah available for the Third Temple, if and when it is built. And that Temple, according to Jewish tradition, will come down from Heaven, along with the Messiah. When he came closer, Elijah saw that the menorah was enclosed in a reinforced glass case, along with alarms and sensors. Well, that’s what Jerusalem below is like, Elijah thought to himself.
Almost every entrance led to this or that institute of education, each with its own distinct ideology. There were spiritual seminars of every shape and size, available to anyone seeking them. An infinite number of yeshivot had opened their doors in the Jewish Quarter. Almost every building bore a sign, tracing the illustrious history of the site on which it stood. This building was built by funds supplied by Dutch Jews a century ago, the next by the Chabad Hasidic sect in the previous century, and the third by the generous contribution of David Tannenbaum of Toronto, and it had been completed but three months earlier. One building had been a yeshiva in Ottoman times, another had once been a hospital for the indigent. Elijah read each sign, some of which had been damaged, but he did not find what he was looking for.
He continued walking from building to building, from entrance to entrance. By now, he felt that he could easily qualify as an expert on building signs and their durability. “If I ever want a memorial plaque in my name,” he thought to himself, “it should be engraved into the wall itself.” Metal signs rust, ceramic ones break, and paint peels. Moreover, signs can be torn down. However, if something is engraved in the stone of the wall itself, it remains for generations. Ideally, too, the engraving should be at a height where it is not easily accessible. If it is too low, it invites graffiti - as he had seen in various places.
After wandering about unsuccessfully for two hours, Elijah decided to concentrate on those houses that faced the Temple Mount. Rather than continuing to go from building to building in the Jewish Quarter, he descended the steps leading to the Western Wall, assuming that from them, he would be able to see which windows faced the Temple Mount. Along the way he spotted a small garden, which amazed him, because probably the most striking feature of the Jewish Quarter is the total absence of greenery. During the Crusader era this area had once been a hostel, where Crusaders from Europe were lodged. Close to the garden, he saw three yeshivot. All their names contained either the word “central” or the word “world”. What is it about this city that makes everyone think it is the center of everything?
He remembered the flytraps of his youth. The first time he had seen one, it was at the home of his Uncle Joseph, on a kibbutz. The trap was a simple one: a paper plate on which Joseph had placed small strips of rotten meat. Above the paper plate was an upside-down clear plastic funnel. The funnel was connected to a wooden box, which enclosed a wire mesh structure. Once the flies flew into the wire mesh, there was no way for them to escape. They would fly about frantically, beating against the mesh on one side and then the other, until they would fall exhausted. Every few days, when the mesh became too full, Joseph would empty it. In his mind, Elijah saw all the conquerors of Jerusalem as flies flitting around the entrance to the city. Like the flies, they too did not know exactly what was happening to them and what they should expect. They all shared the idea that if they lived a better life, they would be able to discover the secrets of the city. However, they, too, ended their lives buried in the ground. Each conqueror would add a layer, which would then be covered by the layer of the next conqueror.
Elijah walked slowly to the Western Wall. The severe heat had gotten to him. He remembered his first visit to the Wall after the Six-Day War, and it was only then that he had found out that the Wall was not part of the Second Temple wall at all, but of the wall that surrounded the Temple Mount. From that time on, like most Israelis, he would visit the Wall only when accompanying foreign visitors, as part of a guided tour of the city. He entered the Western Wall plaza and wandered around, totally at a loss as to how to proceed.
Here, in this holy place, he internalized the holy experience: who will be the one who moves the fountain and the rock from their inappropriate equilibrium point? It must be a saintly person, who will come down to our lowly world and who will heal the vessels. It is an extremely difficult task, which most are ill equipped to carry out.
Suddenly Elijah saw a great light: Norman’s plan was much broader than he had imagined, and included the entire world, from the Big Bang to DNA. Elijah walked quickly from one end of the plaza to the other, and then climbed the steps leading up to the market. He had just spent three quarters of an hour in the hot sunshine on this segment. As he walked on, he was suddenly confronted by a simple door with a sign proclaiming that it was the “Alkabetz Institute”. Beneath it, in smaller letters, was the legend: “Institute for Research into
the Jewish Religious Poem.” And Alkabetz was the name of another of the famous Kabbalists! His heart told him that this was the correct door. He knocked on the door and rang the bell for some time. He had the impression that someone inside the building was observing him through the keyhole, but did not wish to open the door. He did not give up. The stakes were simply too high. After fifteen minutes of waiting, ringing, and knocking, he did something that would have been inconceivable to him a few weeks earlier - he tried the door handle. Amazingly, the door was not even locked, and it opened as he turned the doorknob. Norman stood there. Elijah was taken aback at the man’s appearance. His face was sallow, deep rings surrounded his listless eyes, and he was leaning heavily on a cane. He was wearing an Arab galabiyeh and wore a keffiyah on his head. He looked extremely strange and his dress seemed singularly inappropriate. Norman stepped into the interior of the small building. The living room was tiny, its furniture Spartan. Elijah, who followed him in, could discern a small kitchen next to the living room. At the side of the living room there were steps leading downward. With great difficulty, Norman sat down on one of the couches.
“I must apologize, Professor Shemtov. As you can no doubt see, I’m not in the best of health. I would very much appreciate if we could postpone this meeting until tomorrow.”
“Just one question,” said Elijah. “Where is the seventh scroll?”
“Professor Shemtov, I hired you to decipher manuscripts. You are getting involved in an area that has nothing to do with you. How did you get here? I must ask you to leave immediately!”
“Where is the seventh scroll? What does it say? I want to know.”
“I’m asking you politely to leave,” said Norman adamantly.
Elijah looked at Norman. He didn’t believe a word of what Norman was saying.
