Do you want to know what
the rabbi did? He disguised himself as a peasant, went out, and
walked the streets with the rolling gait of a drunkard. The night
guards stopped him, and asked him what his business was. "I am a
thief," said the rabbi. Then the guards arrested him, and put him
into the prison with us.
In the darkness of that night the rabbi never ceased talking to us,
swallowing his own tears all the while. He told us the story of
Joseph the righteous. It had been decreed in Heaven, said the
rabbi, that his brethren should sell Joseph into slavery. And it
was the will of the Almighty that Joseph should come to Egypt, to
show the Egyptians that there is only one God in Heaven, and that
the Children of Israel are the chosen people.
Then the rabbi examined us: Did we know our Modeh-Ani by heart?
did we know our Shema?
He told us that we should be taken very, very far away, that we
should be away many, many years, and should become soldiers when
grown up. Then he warned us never to eat of any food forbidden by
the Jewish law, and never to forget the God of Israel and our own
people, even if they tore our flesh with thorns.
Pages:
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34