Rabbi Gabrielle Ignites a Tempest (31 page)

Itamar was more circumspect, cautioning her
to control her enthusiasm. Since the Antiquities Authority had not
lost hope of retrieving the original fragments, its personnel did
not want to deal with the press or the academic community. Itamar
had seen dozens of scholars rush to publish the results of their
research, only to learn later that their initial judgments were
unwarranted. Academicians who dashed into print usually regretted
their impatience. "Remember, Gabby," he said, "that while we may
think your texts have profound implications, others will question
their authenticity. People will always criticize scholars who work
from unverified copies."

"Tim wouldn't have been fooled by fakes," she
repeated a tired mantra.

"You knew him personally. Your critics might
never have heard of him, much less read his book."

She half-growled with sarcasm, "So, what do
you suggest I do with this stuff? Bury it?"

"Not at all. First, I recommend you finish
what you've started. Refine it as best you can. In the meantime, my
agency will keep searching for the originals. Look at it this way:
It will take years for the academic world to tool up. At this
point, you're light years ahead of everybody. What more of a head
start do you need?"

"It could be years before the originals turn
up," she said, an edge still in her voice.

"Okay, Gabrielle, then how about this? We
have a committee of scholars who receive lucrative fees to consult
with my agency. I've handpicked experts I can trust, who are also
personal friends and will do just about anything I ask, including
keeping absolute secrecy. Let me select four or five to share your
preliminary results with. Let's give each of them a different set
of fragments and then bring them to the Authority to hear their
reactions. This could save you heartache later."

Gabby wasn't convinced, but when the
conversation ended, she agreed to consider the proposal. Clearly,
it wasn't her first choice. But in the end, she saw no practical
alternative. A cautious approach to a potentially explosive subject
seemed prudent. The only immediate danger was that, despite
Itamar's assurances to the contrary, one or more of these scholars
would leak her material to the press. But sooner or later, she
knew, even that was inevitable. There was no way to keep a
discovery of this magnitude secret for long.

CHAPTER TWELVE

You could feel the anticipation in the
conference room of the Antiquities Authority building on Rehov
Davidson, within walking distance of the Israel Museum. Five of
Itamar's colleagues had positioned themselves around a rectangular
table, avoiding sustained conversations. By the time Gabby and
Itamar arrived, the consultants had gotten over their surprise at
discovering who else had been invited.

In attendance were: Professor Thomas
Dillingham, a Christian American holding the Guggenheim chair of
archeology at the Hebrew University; Dr. Pincus Avraham, professor
of ancient history at Tel Aviv University; Dr. Sarah Eisenhart,
executive curator at the Israel Museum and a trustee of the Shrine
of the Book; Rabbi Dr. Menachim Barak, professor of rabbinics at
the Nelson Glueck School of Archeology at the Hebrew Union College;
and Dr Daniel Stern, professor of ancient history and philosophy,
Bar Elan University in Tel Aviv.

Dr. Shmuel Navid, scientific director at the
Antiquities Authority, formally greeted his colleagues in English
because he knew Thomas Dillingham had not yet become fluent in
Hebrew. Being a retiring man who disliked making speeches, he
quickly turned the meeting over to Itamar, who surveyed those
before him, including each individually, in his opening
remarks.

"You'll have to admit," he said, smiling to
create a sense of camaraderie he anticipated might soon vanish,
"that the texts presented to you by Rabbi Gabrielle Lewyn, are
extraordinary. You'll note from the memo she wrote about how these
documents were found and assembled that the Antiquities Authority
faces a great challenge. To be frank, we're uncertain how to
proceed. That's why Shmuel and I have convened this meeting. We're
seeking your advice. Rabbi Lewyn has agreed to answer your
questions."

Gabby interjected, "
If
I can answer them. For now I would prefer not to
say more about
how
these fragments came
into my possession. I expect to be entirely forthright about that
in the near future. But for the time being, I would be pleased to
learn your evaluations of the material Itamar has shared with
you."

Since Gabby was unknown in Jerusalem's
academic circle, Daniel Stern's tone rang with mistrust for an
outsider making controversial claims on his turf. "So we're not
allowed to go there, is that right? I don't see how we can be
expected to comment on these documents without knowing more about
their provenance."

"Do your best," Itamar responded, "and be
patient. There's still much more to come. I've placed a translation
of this Greek Ein Arugot scroll in each of your packets. Except for
that, all your documents are different. I'd like to begin with a
short comment about the Greek scroll, then listen to your
evaluations of the others. To me, it seems authentic for the time
and place. The year we date as 22 or 23 of the reign of Augustus
Caesar or 26 of the Common Era. On a reconnaissance expedition to
the Negev, a team from this agency has located the tentative site
of Ein Arugot and discovered stones coated in carbon that
laboratory tests from the Hebrew University confirm as dating from
the second decade CE. We don't want amateur archeologists ruining
the site for future excavation so we cannot identify the precise
location. As you can imagine, I'm not thrilled about paying for
round-the-clock guards there. The Authority has no budget for this
and the site might require watching for years."

"Can you confirm that this scroll was
discovered at Qumran?" asked Sarah Eisenhart.

"It was among the scans found on Timothy
Matternly's CD disks," answered Gabby. "As far as we know, all
these fragments were found in the cave now labeled as Number
Twelve."

"So, do you conclude that a yeshiva existed
at Ein Arugot and that it was destroyed by Digius Silban?"

"Yes," said Gabby.

Sarah Eisenhart then asked, "And since the
names you've provided in Aramaic were also found in Cave XII, do
you conclude that these individuals were students at this
yeshiva?"

"That's my working hypothesis," Gabby
answered. "Does anybody recognize the names? We have made a
preliminary search without success. The name
Yahonatan
might refer to John the Baptist, but that's
conjecture. As far as I know, John's family was never
identified."

"Yes," said Rabbi Menachim Barak in a firm,
baritone voice, "I recognize the name of Noami bat Nadab who is
mentioned in Josephus's
Wars
. Book III,
Chapter 7. Her name is cited, but without additional biographical
information. So this won't help."

None of the others offered to identify people
on the list.

"Well?" asked Itamar. "Can we assume these
were students at Ein Arugot?"

"You can assume anything you want," responded
Pincus Avraham, a towering man, curled over the table like an ape
in a cage, "but it's a long, long stretch of imagination and far
from proof. Matters would be different if you possessed the
original docs. I'm always wary about working from unverified
copies. You never know what you've got. And that is what all of us
must conclude. You've found carbon from the first century at this
place, Ein Arugot, but that doesn't prove that an actual yeshiva
existed there. Copies of student names just aren't enough to
convince me that your hypothesis is sound."

Sarah Eisenhart from the Israel Museum felt
compelled to counter Pincus Avraham's negativism. "Of course, we'd
prefer the originals, but does that preclude us from admiring what
Rabbi Lewyn has provided? Yeoman's work, I say."

"Stolen documents?" asked Menachim Barak.

"Yes and no," answered Itamar. "If Rabbi
Lewyn's work were based on the originals, you'd be right. The
documents were stolen property belonging to the state. But are
copies of stolen artifacts by nature stolen, too? That's a legal
conundrum. Whether Timothy Matternly took the originals from Cave
XII is an open question. But what he started working on were only
copies. For that, I can't charge him with theft. Or Rabbi Lewyn for
working on what he passed on to her. It behooves us to be more
generous in that respect and let lawyers debate the legal issues
later." He looked at Sarah Eisenhart, her light complexion slightly
flushed. "We'd like to hear your translation of the Aramaic
document I asked you to concentrate on. Could you please read us
your new text, Sarah?"

She lowered half-frame reading glasses from
her forehead to her nose, glancing over a translation of the
document Itamar had placed in her packet. She had learned to read
aloud slowly as a participant in the Museum's monthly lecture
series.

ONE HOUR BEFORE SUNRISE EACH STUDENT WILL BATHE IN A
POOLOF COLD WATER, FIRST WASHING [sic] FEET, WORKING UP TOWARD THE
[SEXUAL] ORGAN, FOLLOWED BY THE TORSO AND HEAD. WHEN COMPLETED THE
SEXUAL ORIFICE WILL BE TWICE REWASHED WITH CLEANSED [BOILED] WATER.
THE CLOTH USED TO TOWEL OFF WATER MUST BE CLEANED BY TWO DEGREES
STRONGER THAN WASHING THE SHROUD WORN DURING THE DAYTIME. FOUR SETS
OF BLESSINGS MUST BE RECITED DURING THE MORNING BATH, TWO BLESSINGS
SAID WHEN DRESSING. IF A STUDENT OR HIS CLOTHING BECOMES SOILED AT
ANY TIME DURING THE DAY OR NIGHT, HE MUST BATHE IMMEDIATELY
REPEATING THE ENTIRE SEQUENCE.

AFTER VOIDING URINE OR WASTE, A STUDENT IS
REQUIRED TO WASH THE GENITALS TWICE, DRYING COMPLETELY BEFORE THE
SECOND APPLICATION OF WATER. WHEN VOMITING, ALL CLOTHING WORN AT
THE TIME MUST BE BURNED. AFTER RECOVERY, SICK INDIVIDUALS MUST NOT
COME INTO CONTACT WITH ANYONE FOR SIX DAYS, EXCLUDING THE SABBATH.
THEY ARE REQUIRED TO BATHE EACH DAY AFTER SUNDOWN. NO HEALTHY
PERSON MUST COME IN CONTACT WITH WATER THEY USE.

End of Document

Sarah Eisenhart removed her reading glasses to
survey the reaction of her colleagues. She expected at least one to
nit-pick her translation and to nip this in the bud, she said,
"Ritual purity through baptism. The students at Ein Arugot
apparently adhered to a strict code of bodily cleanliness. Not
identical to, but then not unlike, practitioners in the Essene
cult. Indeed, the document suggests that there was linkage between
the Essenes from earlier scrolls and these students. Their code of
cleanliness is the most stringent that I have encountered from this
period. You can imagine the difficulty of adhering to a regimen
like this in an arid desert. Much of the school's ration of water
must have been dedicated to fulfilling requirements of this code.
I'd appreciate Rabbi Lewyn's comments on this because she has a
more comprehensive understanding of this material than the rest of
us."

Gabby would have preferred to hear what the
others thought before commenting, yet reluctantly responded,
"Ritual bathing was a common practice among Jews seeking physical
and spiritual purity. I note that John the Baptist, who just might
have been among the students at Ein Arugot, is identified by his
trade rather than his family pedigree, suggesting that baptism had
become an established practice. But what I find extraordinary about
this document is how serious ritual cleanliness was taken. I
believe the additional documents will show how cleanliness of body
was considered a precondition for the perfection of the soul, and
that is central to establishing the overall significance of these
discoveries."

Itamar looked at Professor Thomas Dillingham,
who wore his glasses at the tip of his nose, his eyes bifurcated by
the upper rims. His head appeared to sit on his shoulders without a
neck. Itamar said to him, "The document I've sent you, Tom, deals
with food. Could you tell us about it?"

"A weight watcher's delight," he said,
opening with a humorous remark that his colleagues seemed to enjoy.
"The diet at Ein Arugot was guaranteed to remove any and all excess
body fat. In a remote location that must have been difficult to
provision and supply, you would expect a meager, even austere diet.
Recall that, at the same time, Nabateans were patrolling the
neighborhood, and they were known to be diligent tax collectors for
their Roman overlords. Everything that was brought to the school
was probably highly taxed. So the students, if that's what they
were, restricted their diet to the barest essentials: wild dates,
bread, locusts when available, water, and wine, fermented from wild
grapes, we might assume, to avoid Nabatean taxation. The document
mentions a single meal each day eaten precisely four hours after
sunrise. No cooking is cited. And no Julia Child recipes. Brunch,
if you like, lasted less than twenty minutes. The diet was so
sparse, I wouldn't judge it to be more than subsistence. I rather
doubt that many could survive for any length of time on so few
calories. Rabbi Lewyn, since you have a wide-ranging view of all
the texts, and we are limited to those snapshots provided by
Itamar, I'd like to hear your thoughts."

"Exactly as you characterize it, Dr.
Dillingham," Gabby said. "I think what's important here is not the
sparseness of the culinary offerings per se, but how this
minimalist diet dovetails with the ritual bathing for
purification's sake. I think the disciplined diet and bathing
regimens were designed for a specific purpose."

"And what's that?" asked Dillingham.

"With deference, I'd like to wait until we've
heard from everybody," Gabby said in a quiet, unpretentious tone,
then flashed a devilish smile that poked deep dimples in her
cheeks. "The documents speak more to me as a whole than do the
individual parts. I believe you'll agree that, when we see them in
their totality, they present a fairly clear picture of life at Ein
Arugot."