by Lior Akerman
On his way to the shower, he passed by the front door and was surprised to see that the umbrellas were back in place. Could he have put them back during the night? Maybe it had just been a dream? Mike tried to recall what had happened. He looked up at the ceiling, waited a few more seconds and headed for the shower. The hot water woke him up completely but the occurrences of the night were still unclear to him.
Before leaving the building, Mike stopped by Jeffrey’s apartment, the maintenance guy.
“Good morning. I would appreciate if you could take care of the problem with the elevator and the lights on the top floor.”
“No problem, I will go up and check,” Jeffrey answered with a courteous smile. “I checked the elevator and the lights, as I always do, at night and in the morning. There was nothing wrong with them, but I will gladly go and check again,” he added.
On his way to work, Mike decided that after work he would pay a visit to the rabbi at the synagogue to try to understand what the late night visit was about. Fate, however, had different plans for him that evening.
Upon entering his office building, Mike met Alice. She smiled and they hugged and entered the lobby and the elevator together. She seemed to be a bit upset.
“Is everything alright, Alice?”
She refrained from looking him in the eye, she took a while to answer and finally smiled an uncomfortable smile and said:
“Ummm, yes, yes, everything is fine.”
When they reached the 22nd floor, he wished her a good day and walked to his office. Alice turned right towards hers. When he reached his office, John Michael, his colleague, walked in with a huge smile on his face. John was a nice guy and a fine businessman. He was 32 years old and came from a religious Christian family. He was very smart and slick but was always loyal to the company and to his colleagues. He was very fond of Mike and they would often have coffee together and talk at the Café beneath the office.
“Mike, I am getting engaged. The wedding is in a month and we are getting ready,” John gave him the big news. “I know you are Jewish but you are the closest person to me here, the only person I really trust. I admire and like you very much and I would love for you to be my best man.”
John was so happy and satisfied.
“With pleasure,” Mike answered in surprise. “I am so happy you are getting married. How didn’t I know? Who is the lucky woman?”
John’s face lit up as he answered proudly:
“It is Alice from across the hall. Our relationship began a few months ago and since we work together, we kept it quiet. Lately, we realized we were in love and want to get married and that is it…”
Mike was stunned but he tried to hide his shock and disappointment. He had noticed that the two of them had been having long conversations in the office and the corridor recently but he did not imagine it to be a romantic relationship. She was the only woman he truly enjoyed being with and it hurt to suddenly realize that she was going to be with someone else.
“Umm… wow. I am surprised,” Mike answered hesitantly.
He took a moment and then added:
“She seems like an amazing woman and I am sure you deserve each other. It will be my honor to accompany you on your wedding night.”
John hugged Mike tightly and patted him on the back.
“Terrific!, “he said. “We are meeting Father Mathew, the priest who will conduct the ceremony, at the church this evening. I would love it if you could come.”
“I’ll be there,” Mike assured him, ending the conversation.
Mike’s heart broke a little.. He sat down on his chair and stared out the window for a long time before he managed to start working. Another routine day of work began. Mike remained seated at his desk and it was clear he was not focused on work. His head was full of thoughts, of her and him and the strange occurrences of the previous night.
Rattling his usual routine, Mike left the office early with John and Alice, walking to St. Patrick Church on Maddison and West 51st Street where they were planning to have the elaborate wedding ceremony. As he left the building and met the couple, his eyes met Alice’s eyes. They exchanged a short uneasy glance. Alice was feeling very guilty for not sharing the matter with Mike. John was too happy to notice the looks on their faces.
They headed south on Maddison Avenue, turning west on East 51st towards the St. Patrick Cathedral. On 5th Avenue. They turned and entered the impressive old Gothic church. Despite the enormity of the church, somehow it still seemed small, standing amidst the skyscrapers around it, especially the huge Rockefeller Building across the street. Mike thought the place could use serious work and a renovation was actually in process but progress was very slow.
Entering the cathedral, Mike felt a gush of cold air and his eyes needed a moment to adjust to the darkness inside. There was no one there, except for two priests standing inside the chapel by the raised stage.
“Isn’t it freezing in here?” he asked John.
“Freezing? Mike, what are you talking about? I am sweating,” John replied.
The two priests approached them.
“Meet Father Mathew and Father John,” John said to Mike.
They shook hands and Mike smiled uncomfortably. When he shook the hand of Father Mathew, he held on to his hand for a long moment, looking deep into his eyes. Suddenly, he leaned over to Mike’s ear and whispered:
“You are the man. I knew it the moment I saw you. I feel it inside.”
He finally released his hand and stepped back. Mike was stunned but managed to snap out of it. Father Mathew surely meant that Mike was the best person to act as John’s best man. Father Mathew asked him to state his full name that he inserted in his notes: “Moses Joshua (the) Messenger.” Next to his name, Father Matthew he added the words “sponsor, patron, friend” and finally, “Seraph?!”1 This seemed very strange to Mike, but he decided not to ask the father about it. They discussed the course of the ceremony and set to meet again in another week.
That is when Mike realized that the religious ceremony would take place in the cathedral and the second event, with hundreds of guests invited, would be at John’s parent’s estate outside town. While talking, Mike felt intense heat and was covered in sweat on his face and neck but the moment the meeting ended and they were about to leave, he felt the freezing air once again. This time he refrained from asking John about it and thought that he must have caught some sort of virus.
John and Alice stopped a cab and dropped Mike at his apartment. They thanked him for everything and said goodbye. Alice and John came out of the cab to hug Mike. The hug Alice gave him was tight and long, too long Mike thought, wondering if John noticed. Before leaving, John called to him from the window and set to meet with him in the morning to give in their recommendations on the Atrium Corporation transition deal, a project they had been working on for months. John would never have imagined that he would never complete the deal.
Mike entered his apartment building and once again the elevator refused to accept his request to take him to the 6th floor. He thought of going over to Jeffrey’s office but he was too tired. He was forced to admit that the elevator had beat him again. He got out of the elevator on the 5th floor and walked up a flight of stairs to his floor. Once again it was completely dark.
* * *
1Another word for an angel.
5.
New York, July 16th- 17th
The night was uneventful, although the apartment remained freezing, while outside the heat was intense. Mike had a good night’s sleep, a night full of dreams of his parents and family.
The following day was a regular day at work. Mike gave his recommendations for purchasing and selling securities and bonds, earning the company another few hundred thousand dollars. He waited impatiently for the evening for his meeting with Rabbi Yochanan Aharon Hacohen to get an explanation about his surprisin
g visit during the night.
He attended a number of meetings with John and other colleagues, discussing the selling of the Atrium Corporation. He noticed Alice pass by his office several times and their eyes met. She was very uneasy, smiling without stopping.
At 20:00, after the last workers left for the day, Mike turned off the light, left his office and walked out on the hot street. He turned left on Madison Avenue and decided to walk the whole way. He headed south until he reached the park on West 23rd Street. There he turned right and headed west for a few blocks. He passed his apartment building and stood and examined the other side of the intersection. He saw the building where the synagogue of Rabbi Yochanan Hacohen was located and headed towards it.
Mike started to cross 23rd Street at the crosswalk heading north when the light was green, not noticing a vehicle approaching from the west at high speed. It was a black Ford Mustang crossing the intersection through a red light and heading straight at Mike. The driver appeared not to have realized he had run the red light. He looked like he was in shock and out of control. One second and ten meters before the Mustang would hit Mike, a big white truck suddenly appeared on 8th Boulevard coming from the south. The truck crossed at a green light and its driver did not seem concerned at all. The truck hit the Mustang, throwing it over to the other side of the intersection, overturning onto a fire hydrant. The truck hit the brakes and came to a stop with a terrible screech. Mike jumped towards the sidewalk, his heart pounding wildly. He was in shock, hardly beginning to understand the miracle that had just occurred. The driver of the Mustang was not as lucky as him and paramedics who arrived at the scene a few minutes later, declared him dead.
Mike sat on the sidewalk, trying to catch his breath and slow his heartbeat. A kind woman came out of her apartment with a glass of water for him. People gathered at the sight and the police took statements from those involved. Mike had no intention of staying there, he had had enough. After giving the police his name and his testimony and confirming he was not hurt, he hurried over to the synagogue, determined to meet the rabbi and find out what was going on.
The door to the synagogue was open and as Mike walked in, he felt another gush of freezing air like he had felt in his apartment and at the church. He looked for the office of Rabbi Yochanan Aharon Hacohen. The office was to the right of the synagogue, down a side corridor. Five small stairs led to the office and to the rabbi’s apartment. The office was empty and so was the rabbi’s apartment. Mike continued to look for the rabbi throughout the synagogue and did not have any luck. He was about to leave when he heard a voice from behind him.
“Good evening sir, can I help you?”
Mike turned around and saw a young man with a black kippa on his head.
“My name is Avraham, Rabbi Yochanan’s son. I am filling in for him here.”
Mike was surprised.
“Why are you filling in for him? Where is he?” he asked.
The answer he received stunned him.
“My parents flew to Israel a few days ago. They will only be back before Rosh Hashanah. Now, I am in charge of the synagogue.”
“But that is impossible,” Mike declared. “The rabbi came to me last night and talked to me.”
“That can’t be, sir. They have been away for a week. They went to visit the tombs of righteous rabbis in the Galilee but I will gladly assist you with anything you need,” Avraham responded calmly.
Mike was silent. He stared down at the ground for a while and then got up, turned around and left the synagogue without another word. For hours he wandered through the streets, lost in thought. He had the feeling that the occurrences of the last couple of days were somehow connected. The late night encounter with the rabbi, what Father Mathew had said, being miraculously saved from the accident, the freezing air he had felt, and the maintenance problems Jeffrey had not noticed. He slowly made his way heading west towards Chelsea Park, on the Hudson River. He continued south on 11th along the river, hoping to feel the warm ocean breeze. He turned east on one of the streets and kept walking. An hour later he found himself at Washington Square Park, at the end of 5th Avenue. Only then did he realize how far he had walked. He tried to pull himself together and headed north back towards 8th Avenue. He continued until reaching a familiar area, the West 23rd Avenue junction, the place he was almost killed a few hours earlier.
Walking in circles for hours, on the hot and humid streets, had not brought Mike any understanding and he felt he was back where he had started. The only cool place Mike could think of was his apartment. Mike headed home, only to discover once again that the elevator and the lights on the top floor were not working and his apartment was freezing. He was too tired to think about it and settled for a quick shower before getting into bed and falling asleep.
6
Israel, early to mid-20th century
Alice was the only person Mike was willing to talk to about his childhood. She heard the story, bit by bit, throughout the year, during their long talks over lunch in the office or coffee in the mornings.
Miriam Mashiach, his mother, was born in Jerusalem. Her parents, Yosef and Elisheva, were from Nazareth, where they met and married. They ran a bed and breakfast from their home, very popular amongst the many Christian pilgrims visiting the city. They were the last Jews on their street, until 1926, when they were forced to leave the city by the British authorities, who were in power at the time. Elisheva was pregnant with Miriam when they left. The respected Mashiach family had a long heritage in Nazareth. The guest house was a huge building, built by Yosef’s great grandfather in the time of the Turkish rule. The building was used by the Mashiach family for decades. As a child, Mike, who was called Moshe at the time, learned from his mother that hundreds of years earlier the family had lived in the large Jewish community in Kfar Kana and that the family had descended from the Levite tribe, serving in the Temple. When they were forced to leave Nazareth, her parents moved to Jerusalem, where Miriam was born. Her sister, Elisheva, named after her mother who died in childbirth, was also born in Jerusalem. The story fascinated Alice, since her family also came from Nazareth.
Mike’s father, Amram Messenger, came from the respected Meyuchas family from Jerusalem, part of the Meyuchas dynasty that built the first houses outside the walls of the old city of Jerusalem and the first houses of Tel Aviv. His parents, Yehoshua and Miriam, were the first to live in a house they built themselves outside the old city in Jerusalem.
As a young boy, Mike would sit on his father’s lap for hours, hearing the fascinating family stories. The stories were passed down from grandfather to father, according to which the roots of the family dated back to King David and his wife, Bat Sheva.
When he was born, his parents named him Moshe. At his circumcision ceremony, his parents gave him an additional name, naming him after his grandfather Yehoshua who died several years before. He was raised in the Mishkenot Shaananim neighborhood in Jerusalem and he described his memories of the walls of the old city of Jerusalem, the Tower of David and Mt. Zion and the Abbey of the Dormition church, opposite the tomb of King David.
Alice enjoyed hearing about the strange and unexplainable occurrences of his childhood. When Moshe Yehoshua was a year old, he fell from the top of the stairs of his home and rolled all the way down to the bottom. His mother was horrified and ran down to him after hearing the crash. She got there just as he got up, held on to the railing and wobbled over to her, with a cute baby smile on his face.
Two years later, at the age of three, his parents sent him to kindergarten in the nearby Talbiya neighborhood, in a special vehicle that picked him up from home every morning and brought him back in the afternoon. One of winter day in 1982, there was a terrible accident. A huge truck transporting fuel lost its brakes and slid down the road towards a vehicle taking children to kindergarten in Mishkenot Shaananim, hitting them with huge impact. The driver and four children in the vehicle were killed in
stantly and the vehicle turned into a mush of burning plastic and metal. The rescue forces that arrived 7 minutes later, were forced to cut through the roof to evacuate the bodies of the children and the driver. They were amazed to find Moshe sitting in the back seat, with his seat belt on, looking at them and reaching for them to pull him out. He was taken out of the burnt vehicle without a scratch on him.
At the age of 10, Moshe was on a field trip with his class at the Ramon Crater in southern Israel. The tragic story of his class became famous and his class was later called “the class of death.” The bus they were on lost its brakes on the steep descent to the crater and the large vehicle fell over the cliff diving far down and crashing at the bottom. It took time for the rescue forces to get to them and by the time they did, all they had left to do was count the 28 bodies of children, along with three bodies of adults including the driver, a security guard and the class teacher. Only two children survived - Mike and Yael, who was sitting next to Mike on the bus and who he embraced during the fall. The press could not get enough of the unbelievable story of the boy who had survived so many deaths, under such amazing circumstances. He was nicknamed the miracle child, a name that stuck for many years.
The good luck Moshe Yehoshua had had, did not spread to his family and his joyful childhood days did not last long. Alice sensed that Mike had a sadness to him and this background explained why.
When he was 12, Moshe lost his parents in a tragic accident. Amram and Miriam were on vacation in the Sea of Galilee, leaving him with the family of his friend from school. They set out on Friday evening, a short while before the Shabbat began, on a small motorboat, sailing to enjoy the pleasant evening breeze. They never made it back to the hotel. No one noticed until Saturday afternoon, when their boat was found overturned in the lake. Police and rescue teams arrived and began searching for the missing couple, who was never found. The investigators theory was that a sudden strong wind blew over the boat and Amram and Miriam fell into the water and drowned. Since the lake was so deep at that spot, they were never found and the case was closed.
