‘Fire-coloured – that’s what they are! My friend, you saw my house in your dream! And I understand now who you are and why you came to me. You’re a sorcerer, aren’t you?’
‘All I can tell you is that I am who I am,’ Yeshua replied.
‘I could have encountered a hundred thousand other men but it was you I met. It cannot be an accident.’
Yeshua closed his eyes and said, ‘I remember other details now – in my dream the treasure was hidden under the bed of the owner of the house with fire-coloured roses.’
The man smiled, but then – sensing that this Jewish sorcerer might be trying to fool him – took a step back. Might he be lying in order to keep the treasure in the City of David for himself? ‘But if you have dreamed so clearly of a magnificent treasure in Isfahan,’ he asked, ‘why didn’t you go there to find it? All my neighbours would have recognized my house from your description and directed you there.’
‘It was only a dream and not a prophecy,’ Yeshua replied. ‘Can you really believe I would travel all the way to Isfahan, risking scorpions and snakes and bandits and desert-demons and tyrants, for a treasure that might or might not be under the bed of a man I have never met? Especially because if jewels and gold are indeed hidden there, they will belong only to the owner of the house and not to me.’
Impressed by Yeshua’s reasoning and encouraged by his story, the sandal-maker started back for Isfahan that very day. Three months later, when he reached his house, he lifted away his bedding and the jumble of possessions he always kept beneath his mat, including the bronze hand mirror he used to groom himself each morning. Since nothing resembling a treasure was immediately visible, he removed the mosaic floor with a hammer and chisel. Still he found nothing. So, over the next six weeks, he dug away at the cold, never-sunned earth below his bed. He did this work alone, since he was unwilling to share the treasure that he expected to find.
After all those weeks, however, he discovered nothing of value in the pit he had dug.
In despair, he concluded that he might have failed to notice a small jewellery box or purse in so many thousands of shovelsful of soil. He searched through the two enormous piles of earth he had made in his courtyard, but he discovered only the personal possessions he’d kept under his mat, including his mirror.
It was then – lost and exhausted – that he began to weep.
And he knew he must give up his quest.
Seated in his courtyard, he polished the mirror’s surface with his tears and the sleeve of his cloak. When he beheld his face, he realized for the first time that, in truth, a great mystery was looking back at him. Who am I, and what is the ‘I’ in my head to do with the journey I have been on? he wondered.
And then he laughed, for he suddenly understood why the Jewish sorcerer had sent him home.
You see, Yaphiel, what I need to tell you before you visit me is that our treasure is always with us, and it is a treasure meant for us alone, but only a sage who understands our deepest dreams can tell us where to look for it.
Lazarus ben Natan
1st of Sivan, Year 124 of the Roman Conquest
POSTSCRIPT
Dodee, if you are alive, or if your soul is amongst us, then perhaps you are reading these words as I write them. Have you intended all along to meet me in Yerushalayim?
We shall sit together by our stream and converse about all we have seen and done since we last parted company. I shall tell you all you wish to know about Ilana and Yaphiel. You will be proud of them, I know.
We shall become our island once again.
‘Love is as strong as death,’ we learn from the Song of Songs, and, if I stand on tiptoe at my bedroom window here on Rodos, I am reminded that it is true, for I can see your family home in Natzeret, and you are often chopping wood in the side garden with your father’s old axe, and when you espy me watching you, you smile and raise two fingers.
I still have questions about why and how you tested me – though perhaps I fear your answers. Not because they may change my ideas about you. No, it is simply that after all these years my doubts have become a part of you – a garment meant to protect me from forming too fixed an image of you in my mind.
Even in death, a man deserves room to change and develop.
If I met the Lord today, I would ask him only one question: Why did You not send a host of angels to rescue Your chosen one from the Lion’s Den?
Though perhaps I already know the answer: God wished to tell us that we are nearing the end of our era – and maybe even the end of time. Was that why you cited Daniel so often over our last days together?
If you prefer to have your secrets, then you need not reply. You do not need to give me answers or tell me what you have done over these past twenty-nine years. I shall not be overly inquisitive. I shall accept you as you are, just as you have always accepted me. And, when we grow tired of conversation, we shall return to Bethany and sleep in my old room together, side by side, as when we were boys.
There, in the grateful and final silence that comes to all those who have reached the journey’s end, I shall give you my dreams and you will give me your prophecies.
Know this: I shall never again let you face your fears alone. And should you ever grow uneasy at the descent of night, I shall curl up behind you and hold you in the hiding place of thunder, as I always have.
GLOSSARY
All words and phrases in Hebrew transliteration unless otherwise noted
Atman
Sanskrit for the spark of God in each person according to Hindu theology
Aleph
First letter of the Hebrew alphabet: א
Anax
Ancient Greek for king, lord or leader
Ar-garizim
Mount Gerizim, the mountain in Samaria where the Samaritans constructed their temple
Apotropaios
Ancient Greek for protective magic meant to ward off curses and spells
Aureus
Latin for golden
B’tselem Elohim
In God’s image; a reference to the Lord having made human beings in the divine image, as related in Genesis 1:26–28
Baal Nephesh
Master of the breath or soul; a holy man
Book of Names
Ancient name for Exodus, the Second Book of the Torah or Old Testament
Book of Words
Ancient name for Deuteronomy, the Fifth Book of the Torah or Old Testament
Caldarium
The hot room in a Roman bathhouse
Caseus
Latin for cheese
Chasidah
Stork
Chesed
Kindness
Cloaca Maxima
Latin for the principal sewer in ancient Rome
Derash ha-Torah
Hebrew for Torah study (derash = to seek to fulfil the Torah)
Din
Divine justice
Dodee
Beloved
Dupondius
Roman brass coin
Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh
I Am Who I Am, one of the names of God in the Torah
El Elyon
The name of the Lord, traditionally translated as God Most High
Elohim
One of the most common names of God in the Torah
El Roi
Literally the God Who Sees, a name of the Lord used in the Torah that first appears in Genesis
Etrog
Citron
Eruv
A ritual or spiritual enclosure
Garum
A fermented fish sauce used as a condiment in ancient Rome and its colonies
Ge Hinnom
Literally, the Valley of Hinnom, an area outside Jerusalem’s walls believed to have been the great rubbish dump for the city. Also, very possibly, a place for human sacrifice in ancient Israel. In medieval times, it was often the name given for hell in folk tales and kabbalistic texts.
Gephen
Grapevine
Golgotha
Ancient Greek for the place outside Jerusalem’s walls where, according to the Gospels, Jesus was crucified
Gevurah
Divine judgement
Havvah
Eve
Hametz
Foods which Jews are forbidden to eat during Passover, especially leavened bread
Charoset
A mixture of fruit, nuts and spices traditionally prepared for Passover; at the Seder meal, it represents the mortar with which the Hebrew slaves constructed the buildings of the Egyptian Pharaoh.
Hekhal ha-Melekh
The Palace or Sanctuary of the King
Hosen
Breastplate traditionally worn by the High Priest of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem
Ibbur
Ghost, spirit or spectre, especially the wandering soul of a deceased person that possesses a living person
Iesous Nazoraios Basileus Ioudaios
Ancient Greek rendering of ‘Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews’
Ilana
Oak tree
In the Beginning
Ancient name for Genesis, the first book of the Torah or Old Testament
Insula
Latin name for the huge apartment buildings in ancient Rome
Kakíaphas
Ancient Greek for evil or what is to be avoided
Kethoneth
A coat or robe
Kerioth
A town in the southern part of Judaea, near present-day Hebron; the follower of Jesus known today as Judas was probably from there, since Iscariot is now believed to mean Kerioth.
Ketubah
Marriage contract
Kesilim
Trickster spirits
Kinnamomon
Ancient Greek for cinnamon
Kittim
The name for the Romans used in the Book of Daniel; elsewhere in the Torah it generally refers to the inhabitants of Cyprus.
Koheleth
Preacher; the Book of Koheleth is the original Hebrew name of Ecclesiastes
Kore
Ancient Greek for girl or daughter, as well as the pupil of the eye
Kuklos
Ancient Greek for wheel or cycle
Lambda
Eleventh letter of the Greek alphabet: Λ
Lapis specularis
Latin name for a variety of gypsum that forms near-transparent crystal sheets; in Roman times it was mined in Spain and used to make windowpanes.
Lestes
Latin for rebel or revolutionary
Lethe
One of the five rivers that flow through Hades, the Greek Underworld; all those who bathe in it or drink its waters experience complete forgetfulness.
Malach Hamavet
The Angel of Death
Melekh ha-Mashiah
The Anointed King
Mashal
Parable master
Matzoh
Unleavened bread baked by the Israelites during the Exodus from Egypt and eaten during the holiday of Passover; the only ingredients are flour and water.
Mastuma
The Angel of Lies
Megillah
Literally scroll, but also a common name for the Book of Ester
Menorah
In ancient times, a six-branched candelabrum that was kept in the Temple; modern versions used to celebrate the festival of Hanukkah generally have eight branches plus a separate holder for the special candle used to light the others.
Mithras
Originally a Zoroastrian angel and divinity, Mithras later became the principal god of a mystery religion in ancient Rome.
Mitzvah
Commandment; it generally refers to the duties of each and every Jew and, by extension, any good deed.
Morah
Bitter trouble or grief
Moreh
Teacher
Moretum
A cheese paste made from curds, olive oil, garlic and vinegar that the Romans and those who adapted their eating habits generally ate with bread
Moria
Ancient Greek for stupidity or foolishness
Neshamah
The divine spark of God in man; the soul.
Netzach
Victory
Nissan
The month of the Hebrew calendar that falls in March or April of the Gregorian calendar
Ochlos
Ancient Greek for rabble
Ophel
A darkness that is gloomy or oppressive
Orkhis
Ancient Greek for orchid
Phasael Tower
One of three high towers in the north-west corner of the city walls of the Upper City of Jerusalem; the others were called the Hippicus and Miriamne towers. Built by Herod the Great, They were situated close to where the Jaffa Gate is today.
Philoromaios
Latin for a foreign supporter of Rome – literally a Rome-lover
Posca
A popular drink in the ancient Roman Empire made by mixing vinegar or sour wine with water
Poikiliphron
Ancient Greek for multi-coloured mind
Qalat
Deformed
Qelalah
A curse
Pappous
Ancient Greek for grandfather
Passover
The Jewish festival commemorating the escape of the Hebrew people from bondage in Egypt; traditionally celebrated for eight days during the spring
Peshar
Racham
Tender compassion
Reka
Empty-headed
Sanhedrin
The ruling council in each city of Judaea
Sappir
Sapphire
Seder
The traditional ceremonial meal eaten on the first and sometimes second nights of Passover
Sefer
Book
Sekel
Insight or, in a negative sense, cunning
Sha’ar ha-Rahamim
Golden Gate, one of the ancient gates of Jerusalem; the original meaning was Gate of Mercy.
Shalom Aleikem
Peace be with you
Shed
Demon or devil
Shema
The prayer that serves as the centrepiece for morning and evening prayers; it begins: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.’
Shepharphar
Aramaic for dawn
Shofar
A ram’s horn; it is sounded for certain festivities, including New Year. Joshua’s ‘trumpet’ was actually a shofar.
Shohet
A butcher trained in the techniques governing the slaughter of animals
Sivan
The month of the Hebrew calendar that begins in late May or early June of the Gregorian calendar
Sofer
A scribe and notary responsible for drawing up legal documents
Sukkot
Seven-day Jewish holiday beginning on the 15th of the month of Tishrei. The Hebrew word sukkot is the plural of sukkah, which means booth or tabernacle, a small structure covered with plant material such as palm leaves. Jews traditionally build a sukkah for the holiday, and it is meant to commemorate the fragile dwellings in which the followers of Moses dwelt during their forty years of wandering in the desert. Throughout the holiday, meals are eaten inside the tabernacle, and many people sleep there as well.
Sunkope
Ancient Greek for the onset of dizziness and loss of strength that can overwhelm worshippers
Tallit
A rectangular prayer shawl
Tau
Nineteenth letter of the Greek alphabet: Τ
Taw
Last letter of the Hebrew alphabet: ת
Tekhelet
Turquoise
Theophanus
Ancient Greek for an appearance or manifestation of a god (or God) to a mortal person
Theta
Eighth letter of the Greek alphabet: Θ
Torah
The Pentateuch or first five books of what Christians refer to as the Old Testament; in a broader sense, it can refer to the entire canon of sacred Jewish books or even all of Jewish teaching. For thousands of years, Jews ascribed the Torah to Moses.
Triclinium
Latin for the formal dining room in Roman-style homes
Tsalmaveth
Deep, penetrating shadow
Tsedeq
Justice
Tzitzit
The tassels or fringes at the corners of the prayer shawl; they are to remind us of the commandments of Deuteronomy 22:12 and Numbers 15:37–41.
Yamim Nora’im
Literally Days of Awe, this is the ten-day period of festivities and reflection starting with Rosh Hashanah (New Year’s) and ending with Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement).
Yaqad