Rabbi Gabrielle Ignites a Tempest (16 page)

"I've already taken steps, Your Grace."

"And what might those be?"
"I beg your
indulgence here. I live in a very violent part of the world. Car
bombs are detonated by suicidal youngsters almost every day.
Ambulance sirens are as consistent as the muezzin's call to
worship. The Israelis retaliate with harsh measures. These days,
violent Jews from the former Soviet Union live in Israel. They're a
damnable scourge on the Holy Land, but when you need an unpleasant
job done, they know how to do it. I don't believe it is in the
interest of the Holy Father to be privy to details of how they
operate. I'm asking for your trust in my judgment. As we speak I'm
taking all steps to procure the fragment in Matternly's
possession."

"Shouldn't we pursue a diplomatic solution
with the Jewish government?" Cardinal Laghi asked.

Benoit had already prepared himself for this
question. "By all means, but with patience and prudence. I would
advise that we settle the matter with Tim Matternly first. He's a
loner. There are only so many places he can hide. My people will
find him."

"And if they fail?" Cardinal Fornenti
asked.

"He is the only person besides me who knows
what was taken from Qumran. He may never get an opportunity to
publicize the document."

Cardinal Fornenti leaned over the table in
the direction of his academicians. "How soon can you have our
linguists unscramble what Father Benoit has brought us? The job
must be done fast and discreetly. Before Matternly beats us to
publication, if that's his intention."

Reverend Monsignor Erwin Nebdal and Cardinal
Laghi had had no more than five hours to review Benoit's material
from the Holy Land. They were scholarly men accustomed to taking
their time on projects, years if necessary. And the scholars they
trusted were of a similar ilk. To pluck them from academic duties
and their pet projects was impractical. And to require that they
work in absolute secrecy, wholly unrealistic. Both men of learning
tried to conceal their lack of enthusiasm for their superior's
demand.

Cardinal Laghi finally broke the awkward
silence by saying, "I note that Father Benoit has brought with him
a scroll, intact and readable. Shouldn't we tackle that first?"

To avoid confusion, Benoit interrupted. "It
is not in Hebrew or Aramaic, but Greek. I have already taken the
liberty of making an Italian translation." From his briefcase, he
withdrew a manila folder containing a single sheet of cream-colored
paper and handed it to Cardinal Fornenti.

The supreme cardinal lifted both hands in
refusal. "No, please read it to all of us, Father."

Benoit pulled out a pair of reading glasses and
studiously hooked them behind his ears, clearing his throat before
reading with artificial pauses so that nothing would be lost.

In the 23rd year of the
Emperor Germanicus, son of Caesar Tiberius Augustus, corresponding
to 19 Tishri, 3787, SPACE, UNKNOWN CONTENT

Be it known this decree of
Caesar Tiberias, supreme magnate of the Western and Eastern Empire,
through the Roman Procurator in the Province of Judea, Pontius
Pilate.

The school located on the
eastern escarpment of the peak known as Ein Arugot, Judah, 300 amma
from the level of the Salt Sea, west of the oasis at Ein Gedi.
Legion commander, Digius Silban, is ordered to take into custody
all faculty and students, bringing them to Jerusalem for immediate
trial. Digius Silban SPACE, UNKNOWN CONTENT will take twenty Jews
currently in custody to help demolish this school. Tents will be
torn down and burned. Stone SPACE, UNKNOWN CONTENT foundations must
be scattered and any wooden implements also burned. No physical
record of this school is to be left for future
generations.

Faculty and students will
be shackled until sold for service to the empire in a distant land
from which return is impossible. Resisters will be crucified in a
well-trafficked place as a warning to other rebellious
Jews.

Records of the school,
student rosters, curriculum, scrolls, and any additional items used
for teaching purposes must be confiscated and brought to Jerusalem.
The Procurator is ordered to publicize this to the Jewish
population throughout Judea and Samaria to discourage messianic
teachings. If members of this institution have fled, they must be
pursued immediately.

Digius Silban will be held
accountable for the execution of this order.

Under the seal of Pontius
Pilot, Procurator of Judea, Idumea and SPACE, UNKNOWN CONTENT
Tyre.

Cardinal Fornenti reached across the table to take
from Benoit the paper and confirm what he had just heard. The
others waited while he reread, processing the words with great
care. Finally, he said, "A school with messianic teachings? Now
what do you suppose this refers to?"

No one ventured a guess.

Cardinal Fornenti then said, "This is foreign
to me. I will see that the Holy Father learns of this immediately.
Perhaps the unread fragments will clarify it."

"They present a great challenge," said
Monsignor Nebdal. "Before they can teach us anything, they must be
assembled. It will take time, Your Eminence."

The supreme cardinal adopted a patronizing
tone he used when prodding lethargic staff into action. "Time is a
luxury we don't possess. We must not allow Professor Matternly to
publish his findings before us. I'm certain you understand
why."

Both men nodded that they did, though it was
problematic.

Benoit had purposely waited for the right
moment to offer information he knew would be welcomed. "Reverend
Fathers. This Greek document speaks of a school in the wilderness.
I have plotted it on a map with the approximate location of Ein
Arugot. What's important to understand is that, while I have
brought with me the original Greek text, Matternly possesses a
digital copy. And if I were he, I would do exactly as we have and
read it first. I'm convinced he already knows about the school at
Ein Arugot and will want to visit the site. It wouldn't be a
surprise to learn that he was planning an expedition at this very
moment."

"I'm not following your thinking, Father,"
interjected the supreme cardinal.

"Of course," Benoit said. "We may not know
where Tim Matternly is right now, but we know where he is certain
to go in the near future."

Cardinal Fornenti was beginning to show his
frustration. Impatiently, he asked, "So are you suggesting we mount
an expedition first?"

"I'm suggesting, your Eminence, that if we
don't find Matternly in Jerusalem, he'll come to us. The wilderness
at Ein Arugot is remote and desolate. Men are known to disappear in
such places."

"That would provide us with more time to
decipher what we have," added Erwin Nebdal.

Benoit was gratified that his fellow
churchmen did not pursue his last remark. To move the conversation
forward, he said, "Tim Matternly is not, nor ever was, a schooled
linguist. His contribution to
Fragments from the
Dead Sea Scrolls
was a software program he wrote to assemble
the fragments into readable form. For years, he never shared this
with the academic community. But now I possess a copy of his
program to expedite our work."

"How is that possible?" pursued Nebdal.

"His code was loaded in a laptop computer he
left behind at the Monastery of St. George."

The supreme cardinal again entered the
conversation. "The Holy Father wants extraordinary efforts made on
these fragments. And this includes DNA analysis to help match the
pieces of text. We will provide all the computers and support
necessary. Money is no object. Whatever your people need, tell
Monsignor Pedro Quintana and he will arrange it. I expect a written
report every week and a progress report by phone more frequently.
Is that understood?"
"Does your Excellency appreciate the
complexity of what the Holy Father is asking?" pleaded Monsignor
Nebdal.

"He does," Fornenti thundered. "And He also
understands that Professor Matternly is holding the Church hostage.
Surely, you're not going to tell me that a single academic is a
match for the scholarly resources of the Church."

"I beg your pardon, Your Grace," Benoit
interjected. "Matternly has already performed the definitive work
on deciphering original fragments. He knows computers and he knows
how to assemble scrambled pieces of parchment. He has a significant
head start, regardless of how fast we gather church resources,
including our ability to make DNA matching. And that's why I took
the initiative and decided not to rely entirely on our own
scholarship."

"Isn't a copy of our fragments circulating in
the academic community equally dangerous?" asked Guido
Capalliani.

"Absolutely not," Benoit shot back without
hesitation. "Scholars will never accept a mere photocopy that could
easily be doctored. Only the original document, confirmed by carbon
dating, will affirm the true age. Without scientifically dating an
original, no photocopy is worth the paper it's printed on."

"Most men are persuaded by financial
incentives. I'm sure that the Holy See can find funds to make
Matternly an attractive offer," the supreme cardinal said.

"Afraid not, your Excellency" replied Benoit.
"Timothy Matternly is not only stubborn, he's proud. We could tempt
the world with money, but not him."

"If we can't entice Matternly, what do you
suggest?" asked Fornenti.

"Father, I have already taken this matter to
a higher level."

"What level precisely?"
"Not from my lips,"
Benoit warned with his hands uplifted over the table. "Throughout
my career, I have toiled for the most Holy Father in Bethlehem.
Only one man alive knows as much about the Dead Sea scrolls as I
do. Today, I am the only servant of the Church who claims to be an
heir of the Essenes. But I have only a few productive years left to
serve my Father in heaven and my Father on earth. I beg you,
Excellency, let me make a final contribution to the church that has
so generously allowed me to live and work in Terra Sancta, as close
as modern man can get on this planet to our Savior's living
presence. Trust me in this matter to defend the holy Church from
injury."

Cardinal Fornenti's surveyed those around the
table, then slowly lifted a set of heavy eyelids, dropping his eyes
upon the Dominican and saying, almost in a whisper, "Brother
Benoit, we need time to contemplate and pray. I intend to bring
this matter before the Holy Father later today. Return to your
apartment, please. I will send you an answer. You understand that
if you do not recover the document, we shall make changes in
Bethlehem."

Benoit bowed his head with deference, saying
nothing.

"It is possible that you'll be back in the
Holy Land by tomorrow."

***

Since it was both available and easy to
translate, Tim knew that Father Benoit would turn his attention
immediately to the Greek scroll found along with the many fragments
of parchment. For the same reason, the moment he booted up his new
computer in Rav Schreiber's apartment, he printed a copy of this
document from the DVD he had taken from St. George, determined to
make it his first priority. His knowledge of Greek, studied as an
undergraduate at Berkeley, had grown rusty once his interests were
drawn to Hebrew and Aramaic texts. But by contrast, Rav Schreiber's
familiarity with classical Greek almost equaled his understanding
of the Semitic languages. In a friendly exchange, Tim and Schreiber
agreed to prepare separate translations, then refine the inevitable
differences between them. Their final draft, concerning the school
at Ein Arugot, reflected closely the translation Father Benoit had
made for the cardinals at the Vatican.

A yeshiva in the Judean Desert? One destroyed
by the Roman administration? This was something utterly new to Tim.
He knew nothing about a school in the remote location called Ein
Arugot in the hills somewhere west of Ein Gedi, and didn't think
any other scholars did either. Nothing, to his knowledge, had been
mentioned in archeological journals; a disclosure of this nature
was something he definitely would have remembered. The subject
would have instigated heated disputes. Tim's colleagues would have
wanted to know what made this yeshiva the target of such Roman
contempt. And why, with all the taxing duties facing Rome during
the rule of Tiberius, was a remote wilderness school was so
important? To these quandaries, Tim added a new one, perhaps more
important than the others—what was this imperial decree doing in a
Qumran cave, some thirty-five kilometers to the north of Ein
Arugot? He could safely assume that a connection existed, but he
wouldn't be able to figure it out until the Qumran fragments had
been assembled and read.

"What do you make of this?" he asked of the
old man opposite him at the worktable they had set up for their
collaboration.

The rabbi made a whistling sound, as if to
say "nothing important."

Tim tried to engage him in speculation, but
with little success. While Rome ruled when much of the Talmudic
Mishna and Gemara were compiled, the history of imperial Rome was
of little interest to him. With each question raised, Schreiber's
eyes grew heavier with indifference, as though this groundbreaking
text were little more than a royal order issued in medieval England
or a Shiah fatwa in Iran, something wholly outside his sphere of
concern.

Tim put on his archeologist's hat: If he
could pinpoint the yeshiva's probable location on a modern
topographical map, it might be worth a visit. He would have liked
to rent a car and make a preliminary survey of the location, but
two thousand years of desert storms were certain to have buried the
school's remains in sand and rubble, even if Legion Commander
Digius Silban had failed to complete his destructive mission. Tim
harbored no illusions about finding archeological artifacts, but
just being in the vicinity was bound to stimulate his creative
energies. His guess was that Jews hoping to escape the hammer of
Roman rule in Jerusalem and Caesarea had attended the school.
Perhaps they were religious purists, like the Essenes mentioned in
other Dead Sea scrolls, men seeking the perfection of soul through
monastic self-sacrifice.