In Those Days | Page 7

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. He told us also the story of the Ten
Martyrs, who sacrificed their lives to sanctify the God of Israel. He told
us of the mother and her seven children that were killed for having
refused to bow before idols; and he told us many more such things. All
those saints and martyrs, he said, are now in Paradise, enjoying the

bliss of the Divine Presence. That night I really envied those saints; I
longed with all my heart to be forced to bow to idols, to have to
withstand all sorts of trials, so as to enjoy, after my death, the bliss of
the Divine Presence in Paradise.
Many more stories the rabbi told us; many more words of warning,
encouragement, and praise came from his lips, till I really believed I
was the one whom God had picked out from among my equals, to be
put through great trials and temptations. . . .
Morning came, and the guard entered the prison. Then the rabbi turned
towards us, and said: "Lambs of the God of Israel, we have to part now:
I am going to be lashed and imprisoned for having entered this place by
a trick, and you will be taken into exile, to undergo your trials! I may
hardly expect to be found worthy of surviving till you return. But there,
in the world-of-truth, we shall surely meet. May it be the will of God
that I may have no reason to be ashamed of you there, before Him and
His angels, in Heaven!"
We parted, and the words of the rabbi sank deep into my heart.
Then they began dumping us into wagons. The obstreperous boys, who
tried to run away, were many of them bound with ropes and thrown
into the wagon. Of course, we all howled.
I did not hear my own voice, nor the voice of my neighbor. It was all
one great howl. A crowd of men and women followed our wagon--the
parents of the boys. Very likely they cried, too; but we could not hear
their voices. The town, the fields, heaven and earth, seemed to cry with
us.
I caught sight of my parents, and my heart was filled with something
like anger and hatred. I felt that I had been sacrificed for my brother.
My mother, among many other mothers, approached the wagon, looked
at me, and apparently read my thoughts: she fainted away, and fell to
the ground. The accident held up the crowd, which busied itself with
reviving my mother, while our wagon rolled away.

My heart was filled with a mixture of anger, pity, and terror. In that
mood of mixed feelings I parted from my parents.
We cried and cried, got tired, and finally became still from sheer
exhaustion. Presently a noise reached our ears, something like the
yelling of children. We thought it was another wagonload of boys like
ourselves. But soon we found out our mistake: it was but a wagonload
of sheep that were being taken to slaughter. . . .
Of course, we ate nothing the whole of that day, though the mothers
had not failed to provide us with food. Meanwhile the sun had set; it
got dark, and the boys who had been bound with ropes were released
by the guard: he knew they would not attempt to escape at that time.
We fell asleep, but every now and then one of the boys would wake up,
crying, quietly at first, then louder and louder. Then another would join
him; one more, and yet one more, till we all were yelling in chorus,
filling the night air with our bitter cries. Even the guard could not stand
it; he scolded us, and belabored us with his whip. That crying of ours
reminds me of what we read in lamentations: "Weeping she hath wept
in the night. . . ."
Morning came, and found us all awake: we were waiting for daylight.
We believed it would bring us freedom, that angels would descend
from Heaven, just as they