Light (38 page)

Jake covered his ears in a futile attempt
to protect them from the deafening noise that surrounded them.  It was a
rushing wind as if a hundred helicopters were all landing at once but there was
no sign whatsoever of anything either in the sky above them or approaching them
across the lush green but empty meadow.

He could see that both Mitch and Faivish
were following his example.  Mitch tried to speak but his voice was lost in the
incredible cacophony and Jake just shook his head.  He thought of the Book of
Ezekiel where the prophet described the appearance of the
Merkavah
, the
celestial chariot.  Ezekiel had spoken of a great whirlwind and of the beating
of the wings of the four living creatures that pulled the chariot which, he
said sounded like the noise of great waters.  Was that not a way of describing
the very sound that now surrounded them?

It was then that he became aware of a
strange atmospheric effect that was unlike anything he had ever experienced. 
It seemed to emanate from the sky directly above their heads.  At first it was
the breath of a powerful wind that blew directly downwards but, as it picked up
speed, it began to spin and rise into the air.  For a moment Jake gained the
distinct impression that the sky itself was nothing more than an illusion, a
scene painted upon a gigantic cotton sheet but even that opinion had to be revised. 
It was not cotton at all but rather an immense sheet of rubber that was
becoming distorted by the incredible pressures that were being brought to bear
upon it.

Somewhere high above the image began to
stretch as if some object was being thrust into the rubber skin, until as the
fabric became tauter and tauter, the inevitable occurred.  A hole appeared
growing from its centre to become a gaping void from which shone a white so
brilliant that it seemed as if a million halogen bulbs were shining through.  Jake
and the others had no choice other than to shield their eyes.  The only
explanation that Jake could contemplate was that what he was witnessing was the
formation of a portal in the fabric of reality.  If it was a doorway into
another dimension, where did it lead?  Of course.  Above the seven earths were
seven heavens and at this point the two planes were meeting.  No wonder the
light was so intense.  In a very real sense Jake was experiencing the Divine
Light itself.  The goal of his quest.

A shadow passed and Jake risked looking
upwards again.  There it was; a rolling, growing, grey cloud that completely
masked the warp in space and time and in the midst of the cloud were bright
flashes of radiant fire as if an immense furnace was burning.

Again it was Ezekiel’s vision that
provided the key.  The Merkavah had appeared to him amidst much noise in a
cloud of fire.  Now something huge was dropping towards them and Jake was
certain of what it had to be.  Whatever it was however it was completely hidden
by the enshrouding cover of cloud...and still the wondrous cacophony held sway.

Jake waited.  There was nothing else that
he could do.

And then, as suddenly as it had started,
the noise ceased and an incredibly long note sounded.  It seemed to be the
blowing of a ram’s horn, a
shofar
, but it was a blowing by one who had
no need to take a fresh breath and the sound continued seemingly indefinitely.

The cloud was dissipating and Jake could
see four images forming themselves within the haze but then, as he looked
again, he thought for a second that there were more of them.  It was almost as
if what you saw was dependent upon how you viewed things.  At first glance the
figures seemed to be men.  Their faces were beautiful, aquiline, angelic but
then, as they turned it was clear that they were not human at all.  They were
lions; their heads surmounted by magnificent manes.  But no, as they turned
again, so the impression changed and they seemed to be four oxen yoked together
as beasts of burden.  Again the creatures turned and they seemed to be eagles;
huge, strong and taloned; and Jake had his first inkling of what it was he was
witnessing.

He thought again about the prophet
Ezekiel’s account of his encounter with the Merkavah.  He had stated that there
were four living creatures, each with four faces.  The impression gained from
reading his book was that the four faces were somehow joined together but this
was not the case.  Each face was a facet of each creature, almost as if it
could appear differently in alternative realities.

Then above and behind the creatures the
chariot itself came into view but the word ‘chariot’ was hardly equal to this
vision.  It had wheels but, like the creatures, the wheels seemed to have
different aspects.  A wheel within a wheel as Ezekiel called it and that was
just how it appeared.

Now seeing the thing for himself Jake
understood.  The Merkavah was multi-dimensional.  It existed in all realities
together.  He was seeing the chariot in its true state.  Parts that did not
truly belong within the world in which he was standing could only be glimpsed
briefly whilst other parts shifted and changed as one’s perspective altered. 
It almost hurt the eyes to stare too long at this creation of the divine.

And, at last, the chariot came to rest and,
Jake had his first glimpse of the driver.  At first he was hidden, enshrouded
in mist and all that was visible was his immense throne that was made of clear
ice-blue stone but, gradually, an immense form seemed to appear.  The shape of
a man, a gigantic beautiful man whose very skin glowed with a golden fire, and
Jake could see that his lower torso was quite covered in flame but a flame that
did not burn.

The man rose from his chair and looked
down at the three mortals.  Jake wanted to throw himself to the floor in
supplication but something seemed to tell him that that was the last thing to
do.  He saw that Faivish was so overawed by the appearance of the angel that he
was about to collapse in a complete funk.  Instinctively Jake held out his hand
to support his friend and so it was that it was merely Mitch who grovelled in
the face of the spirit.

‘STAND!’ commanded a voice that seemed to
be everywhere but it was a voice that could not be denied, and Mitch obeyed the
order.

And then the voice came again and this
time it clearly came from the man or angel in the chariot, ‘I will speak to
you.’

No-one felt capable of speaking.

‘We have been watching you and all that
you have been doing.

‘You, Jacob Tranton and you John Mitchell
and you Faivish, man of Tevel, we know who you are and we know what it is you
seek.  Before the Lord your God decides who shall or shall not prevail all who
are players in this game must be present.

‘You shall come.’

Jake felt a force touch his head and he
was overcome by a sense of dizziness so that he could see nothing.  At once he
felt weightless and that he somehow seemed to be floating into the air. 
Simultaneously there was a rush of wind past his face and he knew that he was
being born aloft by the Merkavah.

There was a sensation of movement and the
incredible sound of the beating of wings but Jake could make nothing of the
golden mists that surrounded him.  They were being transported somewhere.  The
only question was, where?

And then as the noise dropped Jake felt
solidity beneath his feet and again he together with his companions were
standing before the chariot.

‘Behold,’ shouted Metatron with an
expansive gesture of his flaming hands, and they looked behind them at what he
was indicating.  It was a building, but it was the most amazing building that
Jake had ever seen.  It was huge, on the scale of a small citadel, but Jake
immediately recognised it for what it was.

This was basically the Temple as built by
Solomon, the king, the son of David and Jake understood.  Traditionally there
is a spiritual Jerusalem linked to the city on Earth by a divine thread.  In
the spiritual Jerusalem the Temple stands eternally and Jake was convinced that
that was where they were.  However, unlike Solomon’s Temple which was built of
stone this wondrous edifice was constructed of gold that shone with a pure
light that seemed to emanate from within.

The massive opal doors swung silently open
and Jake looked within and could not believe what it was he was seeing.

……………………………………

Ben stood stock still.  The boy stood
there, his finger on the trigger and there was no doubt that he meant to use
the gun.  The En Sof had managed to break through his defences by using Shmueli
and there was nothing Ben could do about it.  He had been foolish and now he waited
for the end.

Nothing happened.

And then came a wrench as if reality was
shifting and the walls around them began to waver.  For an instant it seemed as
if they were in two places at once but he could not begin to guess where else
they were.

He tried to move but it was to no avail. 
Not even the smallest motion was possible.  Something was happening.  He just
did not know what.

The ceiling was way above their heads. 
Why was he faced with a sense of familiarity?  And then, as the great doors
opened, he knew but by then he was too late.  They were frozen in time.

………………………………………

There, inside the first inner courtyard of
the Temple was a tableau that seemed quite inconsistent with its surroundings. 
There was Alex Lapski and there too was Professor Benjamin Tiferet.  Holding a
gun, his hand tense, was the young man Jake remembered to be Shmueli Isaacson
who, like he, was a descendant of Aaron.

The Angel Metatron raised his arm and
pointed.  It was clear what he wanted and Jake and his companions walked into
the Temple.  They passed through the three others, Tiferet, Lapski and Shmueli,
as if they were nothing more than holographic images until they reached an
empty courtyard which is where they stopped.  Ahead was a door and Jake knew
that within lay the inner sanctum, the Holy of Holies, the place no man could
enter and live, save for the High Priest and then only on Yom Kippur, the Day
of Atonement.

‘Go no further.  Only one may enter and
that one must be the Chosen.

‘Now you must be examined.  Know that each
of you will be asked one question.  You must answer that question from your
hearts.  Here in this House of God you will tell the truth.  You cannot lie.

‘You, Faivish of Tevel, what is it that
you most desire above all things?’

And Faivish had no hesitation whatever in
forming his reply.

‘I want Daivish.  Life is empty without
him.’

‘You speak well but that is not something
that can be granted.’

‘Why?’  Jake shouted without thinking,
‘The Lord God has the power of life or death.  He has the ability to restore
the dead.  Is it not...?’

‘No, silence.  When Moshiach comes the
dead will return to life but not before.  Enough of this.’

‘No,’  Jake continued, well aware that in
arguing against the Lord he was risking awakening divine wrath, ‘Daivish is not
a whole person.  He is only part of a composite being with Faivish.  They share
one soul.  The Lord is merciful, He can do this thing.’

‘Would you forfeit your life if that were
to restore Daivish?’

‘I would.’

‘Then, Faivish of Tevel, your wish will be
granted and you, Jacob Tranton, will give up your life when you have lived your
allotted span.

Which, Jake realised, hope kindled within,
could mean anything.  Praise the Lord.

‘Now you, John Mitchell, Mitch, what is it
that you most desire above all things?’

And, like Faivish, Mitch spoke without
hesitation, ‘Revenge and power.’

Surely Metatron would not grant this
wish.  If he did it would give Mitch exactly what he wanted.  Jake could not
believe that God would permit that. 

‘Vengeance belongs to the Lord.  Power,
must be earned.  If you earn it the power you desire is yours.’

Well, that was a fairly ambiguous reply. 
It could mean anything.  Now it was his turn.  What should he ask for?  What
did he really want?  If only he knew.  He did not know what to say.  Was he
going to be the one who ruined everything?

‘And now you, Jacob Tranton.’

Time seemed to slow.

‘What?’

He could not think.

‘...is it you most desire?

He did not know.  What did he most desire?

‘Above all things?’

And before he could think a word seemed to
appear in his mouth and, quite involuntarily, Jake found himself whispering it,
‘Forgiveness,’ and he knew that it was true.

Metatron seemed to stare at him with eyes
of fire.

‘If you require forgiveness you must do
teshuvah.  You must make atonement for your sins.  You must make vidui.’

Yes, it was true.  That was the only way
you could gain forgiveness from God.  Vidui, confession, had been part of the
Yom Kippur service since biblical times and Hashem would only hearken to your
prayers if you did teshuvah, literally a return from sin.  To do so required
both confession and contrition and most importantly sincerity.  But it was not
just forgiveness for himself.  There was another who had sinned and was even
now being punished for her sins and then he recalled the words of the spirit
woman who had helped him, Chava Tashlich; ‘And isn’t God merciful, slow to
anger and full of compassion?’ and then she had suggested that he should ask
Hashem to help.

Well, here, now was Hashem’s
representative.  Could he?  Did he dare hope that Cherry could be saved?

‘Please,’ he asked, full of humility.

‘Yes, speak.’

‘Understand that I ask this not just for
myself.  There is a girl, she is being punished for a sin that she only
committed by error.  She had no deliberate intent.  May I ask the Lord to
forgive her?’

‘And the name of this girl?’

‘Cherry Linford.’