Keepers of the Covenant by Lynn Austin Read Free Book Online Page B

want to give false hope—”
    “How do you know it’s false?” Asher asked.
    Ezra stared at his feet, unable to meet his gaze. When he looked up again, he saw Jude’s face harden as he gave Asher a nudge. “Look . . . they’re back again.” Jude pointed to two Babylonian men who stood across the yard from them, gesturing to the kiln and the rows of pots as if surveying the property.
    “Who are they? What do they want?” Ezra asked.
    “Our pottery works,” Jude said. “They’re planning to steal it after they kill us. Hey!” he shouted as he bolted across the grove toward them. “This is my property! I told you the other day to stay away from here!” Ezra and Asher hurried to keep up.
    “Not for long,” one of the strangers said. He had the gall to smile.
    “That’s right,” the other one added. “You’ll be dead in eight months and this will all be ours.”
    “But maybe we won’t kill all of you,” the first man said. “I think I’ll keep your pretty little wife around for a while until I get tired of her.”
    Jude rushed the man but Asher was quicker, grabbing Jude from behind. “Let me go!” Jude shouted. “Let me kill these dogs!” It took all of Ezra’s strength to help Asher hold him back.
    One of the Babylonians leaned forward as Jude struggled to free himself and spit in his face. “We’re the ones who will be doing the killing, Jew !”
    Ezra trembled with helpless rage as he watched the Babylonians turn away. All his life, he had felt disdain toward Gentiles with their useless superstitions, willful ignorance, and shocking immorality. But the king’s decree had transformed his disdain into hatred so violent that his body shook with it. Jude finally freed himself and wiped the spittle from his face. “I’m going home,” he said, and Ezra knew it was to check on Devorah and his daughters, to reassure himself that they were safe.
    Ezra retreated back to his study and closed the door, unwilling to spend another moment among his Gentile enemies, watching them go about their carefree lives, gloating as they plotted his destruction. How could the Holy One allow these animals to destroy His people?
    He slumped down in his seat, waiting for his anger to fade. He had no desire to lead their community in Rebbe Nathan’s place. He was a scholar, not a leader. But was he really stuttering excuses like Moses had at the burning bush? Ezra remembered the promise God had made to Moses, saying, “ I will be with you.”
    He sat alone in his room for a long time as an idea began to take shape, fueled by his hatred toward the Gentiles. Then, before he had a chance to change his mind, Ezra rose and went out to the study hall where two scholars and a handful of yeshiva students sat talking. “Go and gather all the other rabbis and teachers for me, and any students who are available. Tell them to meet me here as quickly as possible. I have a proposal to make.”
    An hour later he stood before a roomful of his fellow teachers and their disciples, the memory of their enemies’ taunts still fresh. “Our people are asking why the Almighty One would allow this decree,” he said. “What is His purpose in this? Will He really allow all of the descendants of Abraham to die? I’ve been searching for answers, but the task is too huge for me to accomplish alone in the short time that remains. But working together, maybe we can find the reason why we’ve been abandoned. Maybe we can discover a way to obtain the Holy One’s mercy.” He paused to wipe the runner of sweat that trickled down his forehead, remembering the spittle on Jude’s face.
    “This is what I’m proposing: We will divide the holy books among as many of us who are willing, and read them day and night, scroll after scroll, searching to find out what the Almighty One has promised us, where we have gone wrong, and why God is allowing evil to win. We’ll read and study the books of the law and the prophets and the history of our