Judah stared down from where he crouched concealed on the mountain ledge, at the valley below. His gaze slid first over the sandy expanse of brittle, sunkissed, hillside and then along the sparse greenery below where he found cattle grazing peacefully until finally coming to rest upon the four shepherds who protectively watched over their herd. Who were they?
He’d been out here wandering the desert for nearly two days already and he had to admit he was lost. His throat was parched, his muscles ached and he longed to find his way towards Jerusalem and civilization already; yet prudence dictated that he hesitate. His mind fixated on the men before him, obsessing over every detail he observed,~~ in attempt to parse the question of their identity. The longer he observed the more he began to suspect that they weren’t Judean.
Five days ago he’d left Egypt with a caravan of travelling merchants laden with merchandise. When the time came and the caravan was as close to Jerusalem – or Yerushalayim as the Judeans themselves called it- as they planned on getting, he bid them goodbye and split from them. The merchants themselves went left, making for the coastal cities where they planned to hawk their wares. He struck out to the right, northeast, making a beeline for what his maps had told him was Jerusalem.
Finally Judah decided there was nothing more to be learned by observation and it was time to reach a decision. Whoever the shepherds were, he saw the smoke of fires one mountain over and guessed that they had families over there. Perhaps a whole settlement. He decided he really had nothing to lose by approaching them for help.
Slowly he descended down the craggy mountainside. As usual on one side he girded himself with his short dagger, on the other, his sword, in the roman fashion he was used to. In contrast to that, he was clothed in the coarse Judean fabric that he had chosen for himself back in Egypt before he left. He planned his look this way on purpose; it was designed to maintain neutrality. Now he could claim to be whichever side he wanted. The way he calculated it, he had no way of controlling who he passed by, on his travels towards Jerusalem, and so he chose a flexible look which would allow him to pass for either side if he needed, with whatever story he would concoct to go along with it.
As he entered the valley the cattle took notice of his presence, alerting the shepherds as to his intrusion. An excited Jabbering went up between them before one of them went scurrying off in the direction of the settlement which Judah observed. All the rest converged to intercept him.
Judah held up his arms in an unthreatening manner. “I mean no harm,” he said, the Hebrew feeling strange as it rolled off his tongue for the first time in years. It was like tasting a dish that was both strange and familiar at the same time. “I need help.” He began, I am lost and have little water left. I need to get to Yerushalayim.”
“Jerusalem is not far and you should be able to reach it yourself however we are hospitable with people who we deem friendly and can help you. But first our elders must decide if and what we can do to help you.”
As soon as the shepherd opened his mouth Judah knew he had guessed right; he recognized they were Idumean. It wasn’t that they had an accent or sounded very different from his own countrymen, rather it was cultural. Something about the way they used words just told him who they were and it wasn’t something that he could explain to others. He hadn't realized Idumean territory stretched so close to Jerusalem.
After a short wait the shepherd who had hurried off to the settlement came back with an old wizened man bent over his stick hobbling after him. The Mans face was like old crinkled leather and he pulled his lip back baring yellow teeth into a smile. For a long moment he looked Judah up and down. “You’ll be looking to get to Jerusalem, aren’t you?”
He was mumbling, more to himself than to Judah.
“You look like a fighter so that much is clear. Ehh, the question Is, who are you?” he darted his finger in a bee line towards Judah's chest. “You clearly aren’t from around here or you would have arrived already. Jerusalem is really not far. This desert isn’t large enough to wander for very long, so your lost.
You are a puzzle. Both a foreigner and a Judean fighter. What am I to make of you?”
He broke off suddenly and only belatedly did Judah realize that this older fellow expected his rambling mutter to be a two people conversation.
“Oh Chacham,” Judah said, “I am a Gallilean who has never seen the negev and who has been out of the country for nearly twenty five years. And yes I seek to join the fight for Jerusalem."
Judah felt challenged and felt the urge to turn the tables and show off his own powers of deduction. “Actually I’m wondering about you shepherds and your settlement. What are a bunch of Idumeans doing over here in Judea, as I recall all of your cities are way more southernly” suddenly Judah was suspicious they might have a whole tribe tribe over here with them and he wondered whether they were trying to use the turbulence of the Judean war to make a land grab.
The old man looked back at him benignly, “our tribe has come here annually with our cattle for nearly two centuries. I guess you really don’t know much about the negev.”
Judah flushed red at his ignorant mistake, wishing his hasty words hadn't sounded so accusatory. He reminded himself that he was a stranger to this part of the country even in his youth. He was a northerner. Wanting to look peaceful and knowing he needed Idumean help, Judah hurried to tell more I about how he came to be here seeking Jerusalem.
“I’ve traveled up from Egypt,” he explained, “yet I tarried here at the edge of the desert, for I don’t know how things stand in the war. I know not where the war is holding nor where I run the risk of encountering Roman soldiers. It’s only been since midday since I found myself lost, I’ve never been down here in the negev before.”
The old man gave Judah a peculiar look, glancing briefly at his weapons and nodding quietly to himself. “Would you take a bit of freindly advise,” he finally wheezed out?
“Yes, Chacham. You look like one who has seen many moons and I would do well to hear you speak your mind.”
The old man paused searching for the right words before he responded. When he spoke Judah heard in the words, the care the old man had for him, even if he disliked what was said.
“I see before me a healthy man of middle years. I can see you are armed with Roman weapons and though I know not how such I thing came to be I can see you have been trained by the Romans. What am I to think, that you are a Roman spy come to Yerushalayim for nefarious purposes?” the old man scoffed out a wheeze at Judah's look of consternation. He spat out a wad of flem in emphasis, before assuring him that he in no way took it that way.
“Oh no,” he said, “ you have nothing to worry about on that score. Your accent tells me you speak the truth, you are a Gallillean child as surely as I am Idumean. Your tone tells me you are sincere in your belief in your cause. What I think is that you are a fool. I know something of the Jerusalem… what do you think you will find there? A noble cause worth fighting for? A nation united in determined defense? You think you will find brave men looking to gain freedom and prosperity but if that is truly what you expect, then you know not your own countrymen. You will find yourself feeling deceived until the day of the Roman victory that we both know is coming. You will rue the day you decided to throw in your lot with a bunch of ignoble cowards or with a bunch of decadent fools neither of which has any substance. It will be a pitiful story”
Judah was totally taken aback by the cynical tenor in the old mans voice. He also had no clue who the ignoble cowards or the decadent fools the elderly shepherd was referring too.
“How can you say that,” Judah asked, indignant, about the rudeness in the fellows tone, “ are not the Idumeans allied with us in this war?
“And that is why I laughed,” The old man explained, brandishing his walking stick passionately in Judah's direction while leering at him. “ I see your stubborn naiveté! Why you cling to this foolish but brave path I know not, nor do I care. I simply warn you. You say you have left this country in the distant past? Well I am simply attempting to update you on all that you have missed. Know that the country you have returned too is now much changed from the one you think you remember.” The man gave him a toothy grin as if to be conciliatory, “However, since this is what you want, I can help you get to Jerusalem. Come walk with us towards our camp while I explain.”
As Judah watched, bewildered and taken aback by the sudden about face. The old man took a moment to send the shepherds scurrying to round up their herd before turning around and hobbling back the way he’d come with a motion for Judah to follow. Judah saw the toll the physical effort the movement was taking and so as the elder spoke, Judah respectfully offered his hand for the other to lean on, which the elderly man gratefully took, before resuming where he’d left off. Taking this for his acquiescence to go on, the old man continued right where he had left off.
“There is a nearby Judean village sheltered on the other side of the mountain and I happen to know that a large group of Nazarites have been gathering there for days. They are departing at dawn tomorrow to make for Jerusalem and go the temple to offer up their sacrifices. If I ask they will gladly take you along.”
“ A group of pilgrims?”
“Yes Ollim, Is that a problem? They are a friendly welcoming bunch and they will gladly take you with them.”
As his agreement was already assumed and Judah had no actual reason to turn the offer down he reluctantly accepted that he was going with them. The Idumeans themselves turned out to be quite friendly and they took Judah up with them to their settlement- which turned out to be a temporary one- giving him a cozy place to spend the night and sharing their abundant but simple fare with him. As he lay awake, later that night, on a pile of animal skins layed out on the floor for a sleeping mat, he couldn’t help but dwell on the advise he had been given earlier and was ignoring.
The elderly Idumean's words didn’t seem to reflect any actual knowledge of the soldiers and their war, he reasoned- how could he know much out here and away from everything- but it did highlight for Juda that he himself really didn’t know too much about what he was getting into. It was unsettling to realize that his whole path that he’d chosen came with no knowledge or facts about the situation. Finally as he drifted off to sleep he reminded himself that he was a wandering soldier and this was how he’d done everything in his life so far and things had worked out hadn’t it?
The next morning ,about after sunrise the Idumean elder brought Judah down to the neighboring village as promised. There Judah found feverish excitement in the air, as the group of about twenty or so nazarites gathered in the village center with families milling about them chaotically, to see them off.
People whooped and hollered as they greeted each other. All the traveling men were garbed for the occasion in their finest, completely disregarding the natural wear and tear their half day journey would take on their clothing. Children ran all about, everywhere underfoot, finding their friends or huddling in groups. A group of giggling little girls, stood off to the side, watching with wide eyes the gathering nazarites, each with long luxurious unshorn locks of hair which swished majestically along their necks, with their every movement. Everyone was gripped by the holiday like atmosphere that had descended on their village and amidst it all, livestock romped about with complete abandon. They waltzed right in the middle of the gathering villagers, indiscriminately bumping into backsides, filling the air with their loud obnoxious baahing. No one around them seemed to give a hoot. Each Nazarite had to each bring to two sheep offerings and one goat offering and apparently they were bringing along a veritable flock of sheep with them.
The Idumean elder left Judah's side for a brief moment, to hold a quick conversation with someone else. Then, before he knew what was happening, Judah found himself being swept into the revelry within the mix with the nazarites.
“Your coming with us,” they said, accepting him with no qualms into their midst; just another pilgrim to to the holy city.
Then, they were finally off. They travelled with much pomp and a lot of Psalmist singing. Though it was quite a plodding journey – sheep and all- by midafternoon the walls of the city together with the temple outline loomed large. As they traversed the final valley the silhouette of the temple dominated their view. The sunlight, coming from due west, glanced of the golden spikes adorning the temple roof in a dazzling display of blinding light which made it hard to look at, even as the temples majesty beckoned the eye to peer strainfully at its intricate detail.
Just outside the city walls they had to join a long queue of people. The Nazarite pilgrims were good natured and perhaps they expected this. Their response was to break into yet another religious hymn from Psalms with gusto. This one rolled all their ferver into one melody filled with evocative valleys and peaks that attempted to convey the depths of their tremendous devotion.
Yet for Juudah, the whole queue was a source of irritation. Over the course of the day, he’d grown weary of his travels as well as of his companions endless joy. Now stuck in this endless line of people seeking entry to the city, he found himself constantly craning his neck to see what the hold up was by the city gates. Earlier he was approving of the way the city’s leaders had set up armed guards to man the gates, but now, the more he saw the more he began to be filled with grim disapproval. What he’d first assumed was responsible soldiering, very quickly showed its true colors. The men with swords at their hip, lounged around in no hurry to keep the queue moving - they seemed to be doing whatever they wanted. People were being stopped indiscriminately. As far as he could see there was no rhyme or reason why they kept one group for an eternity and let another group just walk right in. To Judah's great distaste he periodically caught the glint of gold or jewels changing hands as desperate people attempted to negotiate their way into the city.
All the while different groups of armed men pranced through the gateway making their way outside the city limit, out on patrol or training or food gathering party. These man didn’t seem to follow any rules. Sometimes they snatched food off carts waiting in line. Sometimes starting arguments with the soldiers keeping the gate. This hinted to Judah of the anarchy that must reign in the city and filled him with disgust for whoever their leaders were. To his skilled eye, these prancing rogues who thought they could act like lordlings and bureaucrats were like poorly trained mercenaries, Hooligans.
Growing bored with the wait as things dragged on, Judah, took too watching the walltop and the men who patrolled it. He wondered what they were feeling? Were better trained than their fellows below? What would it be like to man such stout imposing defenses, He was hoping to find out soon enough. He wondered what his friend Abba thought of the situation, fully confident that his competent friend would never let things be run this way if he had had the power, he could only deduce that his friend must have only a limited say with the authorities running the city.
When it was finally his party's turn at the city gates, the soldiers took to treating him in a comradely manner. Taking in his Jewish companions they assumed he’d obtained his Roman weapons off the enemy dead and had come to join their fight so they gustily cheered him on,
“One less enemy to fight! You already make a good addition to our side.”
Repulsed by their general behavior, Judah, cooly ignored their attempt to banter and yet was careful not to anger them or in any way cause them to turn on his party of nazarites. He inquired of them where he could find a place to spend the night?
“Oh, everywhere,” they said, “this city is made to house pilgrims. Wherever you do settle you'll want to ask around for Reuven. He's in charge of recruitment.”
Judah nodded politely despite having no intention of following their advise. He had received specific instructions while in Egypt, how to locate Abba. He was far from being just “any other” recruit.
It seemed that being polite had its benefits because the soldiers sped him and the nazarites through the entry process at double the speed of the other folks. Once inside the Nazarites milled about waiting, apparently someone was supposed to come and meet them. Judah thanked them profusely for their help and then taking their blessing, he departed. He simply followed along with the general traffic of incoming visitors through the marketplace and rode the sea of humanity deeper into the city.
Wandering the city streets was both fascinating and astounding due to the the vibrant hue of the market all around him however he really needed to figure out where he was going. Yehuda thought about The letter Abba had sent him in Egypt with his instructions. He was supposed to find Brurriah the Babylonian Laundress and tell her he was looking for Abba. She would bring him to Abba.
“It’ll be easy to find her,” Abbas letter assured him, “she does the laundry work for anyone who has wealth and power in this city. In truth, she spies for us. It’s funny, they all know she spies for us and yet they can’t find any one who launders as perfectly as her so they all hire her. Just go to the upper city and ask around everybody knows her.”
Yehudah wondered skeptically if a single maidservant could possibly be as well-known as Abba made out.
As late afternoon turned into evening and the sky drew dusky, Judah still had no luck finding his way towards where he needed to go. The more he wandered the seedier the neighborhood looked. Where was the "upper city," mentioned in Abba's letter.
He was lost.
Suddenly a ladylike shriek rent the air.
It was coming from a seemingly deserted alley, just behind him. Judah, whirled around, instinctively finding his feet moving on their own accord, taking him towards the sourcd of the violence.
As he approached, the din of iron weapons crashing, grew louder.
Striding up to the alley's entrance, what he found didn’t make any sense. It seemed the alley was some sort of midden heep. Refuse was piled all around, yet there, crouching behind the refuse and debris was an elegant lady who didn’t seem to belong. She was on her knees, one shoe askew, nearby and she was clutching a hand to a cut in her cheek. In front of her a big strong brute of a man fought for his and her life against two attackers while farther along the ally another two men were locked in mortal combat.
Unsure if he wanted to get involved, Judah, glanced hurriedly around his surroundings to see if there were other bystanders. To his dismay, he found no one. He couldn't help himself. Reluctantly, drawing his sword, he bemoaning his stupidity, even as he rushed forward to help.
The big strong brute, despite the heavy odds, seemed to have his fight under control. He was slowly maneuverin, one fellow he was battling around, so the sinking sun shone directly into his eyes. while simultanously keeping his other attacker at bay. He made it look easy.
The other pair was battling hard. Should he intervene? Judah couldn't even tell who was on the attacked Lady's side
Slash, parry, jab .
Slash, parry, jab.
The pair danced around in a circle, neither fighter able to the penetrate the others guard. It didn't matter. After a moment the big brute finished off both of his opponents and slowly stalked over to the other fight. Now It became apparent who was on his Lady's side. The attacker saw he would soon be facing a two on one; he looked terrified. Leaping to the side, he moved to flee. The others let him go, watching with cold eyes, his receding back, as they caught their breath.
Judah just stood there with his outstretched sword unnecessary, watching the battle unfold. He moved to resheath his sword. Around him the lady began to pull herself together from the effects of the attack.
“Oof,” She said, with a most unlady like grunt, hoisting herself up. “That was a close one, they nearly got me.” Gingerly she got to her feet, her big bodyguard watched balefully as she rubbed at the cut in her cheek. It was still dripping blood.
She waved off his concern, “No weapon touched me. I simply fell when you shoved me behind you. I tripped on some of this disgusting refuse and banged my head -Yes really, its quite embarrassing actually.”
On her feet again, with her two fighting men at either side, she finally turned her head to Judah, “Well who sir are you,” She asked, bluntly? “We really owe you a lot; for a real moment, I thought it was all going to end for me in this terrible corner of our city. That was very timely intervention.”
Judah introduced himself and explained he was a newcomer to the city who had gotten lost. Hearing that the lady cast a hopeful eye in his direction. “Not looking for some soldier work are you? My man over here has been looking to recruit some new soldiers on my behalf?”
She indicated the big brute as her man.
The bodyguard heard her words and looked a bit exasperated but the lady just laughed in his face. “Yochanon, this whole excursion has gone badly wrong, if he accepts at least it will mean this whole trip wasn’t entirely a waste.”
Judah just shook his head. For a brief moment he was curious what they were about but it quickly passed as he took an instant disliking to this imperious woman. Besides, he already had plans. So he politely declined her offer.
They were very gracious and thankful to him for saving them. The woman said her name was Miriam and gave him the location where she lived as well. though of course the information was useless to Judah since at the moment he couldn't find anything in the city, maybe someday there was something he could do with that information. Miriam told him that if he ever needed anything he should come find her there and she would help.
“I can do all sorts of things for you,” she said vaguely.
After that, she started showing him how he could find his way back to the civilized part of the city. The lower city is the dumpy sketchy part we are in now while the upper city lies above it in the north west and represents the older origonal part of the city.
She suddenly realized that if he was a newcomer he might need help just finding a place to stay. “Are you looking for a place to stay,” she asked? “If you are, I know just the perfect inn for you. I can just take you there myself,” she offered.
He agreed and so she and her men led Judah on a short trek chatting amiably all the while. First the dwellings and structures began to grow larger and better. Then eventually, they arrived at the courtyard she had in mind, Judah saw it was actually up against the far western most wall that ringed the city itself, in the midst of an upper-class neighborhood. To his surprise it was the only building that didn’t seem to really fit.
“Doesn’t look like much, right?”
Judah agreed. All the surrounding buildings were elegant looking, composed of a sort of polished stone that was supplemented with wood paneling worked in with intricate carpentry. The inn however was wholly of stone. It stood smashed against the city’s perimeter wall and dwarfed on either side by larger, newer structures. Also the inn stood kind of crooked, with each of its levels hanging at sort of a strange tilt. Many of its stones were cracking with vines clinging to it.
“Should I be worried,” Judah asked?
“Not at all,” Miriam assured him, “its really an amazing place. Its not actually rundown, the innkeeper maintains it well, youll see on the inside. Its merely old. The innkeeper actually wanted to knock it down and rebuild it but the local elders talked him out of it. Some of them thought its actually from the same year they rebuilt the temple and so they persuaded him to preserve it as an attraction. I’m telling you that you’ll love it here, the innkeeper is very hospitable.”
“Are you sure,” Judah asked uncertainly?
“Absolutely, I know because I stayed here myself when I first arrived at the city little more than last rosh chodesh”
Judah started, “Oh, I didn’t realize you yourself are new to this city. I thought for sure you’ve lived here your whole life.”
“Nope. We’re from out near Gamlah. We fled from the Roman invasion.”
Having Shown Judah to the inn, Miriam and her party turned to go. However before they were able to take more than a few steps, it occurred to Judah that he should check if she knew anything about Bruriah the Laundress. Here was a person who was more than likely to be able to help him find her.
“Wait,” he called after her, to her receding back “I am looking for Brurriah the Babylonian, She’s a Laundress, here, in the upper city. Do you know how I can find her?”
Miram turned around from where she and her men were already nearing the courtyard entrance, placing her hands on her hips. Judah thought that this time she had a hard suspicious look in her eye that hadn’t been there before.
“Her.”
Judah wasn’t sure what Miriam meant so he just nodded his affirmation.
“Well your in the upper city already. Everyone here, knows who she is so it will be easy, nevertheless, I’ll tell you what Ill do. If I can, Ill send her around to your inn tomorrow. So in the morning, she will come to find you; is that good enough?”
Judah nodded and began thanked Miriam again for her help but in response she just grimaced as if she had something to say but wasn’t saying it. Finally she sighed, “So that’s why you came to the city.”
Judah grew nervous wondering what she thought she had divined about his purpose, just from his question in seeking Bruriah. He’d tried to keep that a secret.
“Well," Miriam said, "be careful, their a tough crowd to hang around with. if you ever, regret your choice of companions, feel free to come and seek me out. I’ll have work for you if you need, or if you need help I’ll try to help you. After what you did for me today I’ll always try to help you.”