Authors: Nathan Erez
“I have the scroll,” said Norman. “It’s waiting for you. You’ll be here in about forty minutes, and then we can work on it together. I’m anxiously awaiting your arrival.”
“By the way,” said Ruth cheerfully, “my friend Isabel, whom you probably will meet tonight, is bisexual.”
That set Elijah to thinking in a different direction: was Ruth a lesbian? That might or might not be relevant. He needed to assess every single fact and its implications carefully, because he felt his very life depended on his ability to do so speedily and accurately. He would somehow have to overcome the problem of his total ignorance of the Kabbalah, and the different texts that he had been gathering for Norman were an enigma to him.
The trip itself took about half an hour. At least as long as they were sailing, the strong breeze dissipated some of the effects of the scorching sun. The dock on Formentera was very small and showed gross signs of neglect. Ruth weaved her way into the port and soon moored the yacht. A young man of possibly eighteen ran over and tied it down. Ruth had a brief conversation with the young man before she and Elijah got into a jeep parked nearby.
“Emmanuel maintains the yacht when it’s in port,” Ruth explained casually.
With Ruth at the wheel they drove off, soon driving along the single road through Formentera. On both sides of the road, he could see the ocean; the strong sunlight blinded him, forcing him to squint. Now they started ascending a hill. The scenery naturally changed. Dense vegetation on both sides - trees and bushes - gave one the feeling of driving through a forest. Numerous unpaved roads leading to private homes branched off from the main road; some of the houses were near the road, others further off.
“We’re here,” said Ruth.
Elijah looked around, but could see no path or building. Ruth turned suddenly onto a dirt path, indiscernible among the surrounding vegetation. Only when they were actually on it, could he see the faint outline of the path. She drove for about twenty yards, sometimes pushing aside foliage that blocked the way. Suddenly, ahead of them Elijah saw an old, simple electricity-powered barrier, and a small yellow sign proclaiming “Private Property.” Ruth pressed a remote control button from inside the jeep, and the barrier came up. Once past the barrier, they drove for another thirty yards among the trees and before he realized it, Elijah found that they were driving on a superb asphalt road, although it was quite narrow and suitable for only one car at a time.
Ruth drove slowly for about a hundred yards, as the road kept twisting and turning, finally stopping in front of a white two-story house, which appeared to be a very modest abode. Close to it was a large single-story structure, whose purpose Elijah could not even guess at.
They entered and immediately found themselves in the large, circular living room. On the walls were clusters of small windows, through which light poured in to light up the interior. Four strategically placed sofas effectively divided the room into distinct areas. Throughout the room there were bookcases stuffed with books. The impression given was of coziness and Elijah felt tempted to sit down on one of the couches. When he looked up, he saw that the room’s ceiling consisted of a perfectly symmetrical dome.
“I shall go and call Mr. Norman. Meanwhile, what type of music would you like to hear?”
“Whatever you think is appropriate,” said Elijah, as he took a seat on one of the couches. Because of the way the room had been built with its domed ceiling, every word that anyone said was echoed back and forth. Elijah was surprised that Norman was willing to put up with so poor an acoustical area.
Ruth opened a cabinet in one of the corners and pressed a number of buttons. To Elijah’s surprise, one of the walls slowly opened to reveal a picture window. As the wall opened, so did one half of the dome. Elijah took in the breathtaking view. Facing him was the Mediterranean and to the left the lower part of the island. Ruth chose a track that combined a Gregorian chant with Hasidic soul music, ethereal music. Elijah examined a large map of the area hanging on the wall. On the map, Formentera looked like a kid with a long neck that drank from the waters of the Mediterranean, while Ibiza watched on patronizingly, like an older brother. Elijah closed his eyes and let his imagination carry him away.
He had almost dozed off when he heard Norman’s familiar voice. “Professor Shemtov!” He opened his eyes, startled, and noticed that the music had stopped. Norman was dressed simply, in black slacks and a blue short-sleeved shirt. He appeared to be even more nearsighted than ever, as he put out his hand to shake Elijah’s. Elijah stood up hastily and shook the man’s outstretched hand.
“I think I must have dozed off,” he apologized.
Norman led Elijah through the furniture in the room, and it seemed to Elijah that his host was unable to see the different pieces but had memorized their locations. In one of the corners, which had been hidden by a square wooden beam, stood a spiral staircase. Norman climbed it, feeling his way with the help of the banister. Elijah followed. The room in which he found himself, evidently a study, also had a domed ceiling, made of clear glass. The view was spectacular, and there was a feeling that the desk was positioned in the middle of the woods.
Norman pressed a number of buttons, and the dome was concealed by white curtains. Next he opened a drawer and carefully drew out a wooden box.
As Elijah looked at the scroll that Norman had removed from the box, Norman played around with the computer on the desk next to him. He spoke into a microphone, and the much-enlarged computer screen image was projected onto the wall.
“I have an invention which enables whatever I say to be translated into text on the computer screen - a voice recognition program,” Norman volunteered.
They worked efficiently, with no unnecessary chatter. Elijah analyzed the text on the scroll using a magnifying glass, the ultimate low-tech antithesis to Norman’s display of computer pyrotechnics. Elijah went through the scroll letter by letter. As he verified each letter, Norman spoke it into the microphone, and it appeared on the wall, enlarged. By now, Elijah almost knew the entire text off by heart. He waited expectantly, though, for the seventh line, and when he got there he made sure to repeat the letters in the same monotonous tone, so as not to alert Norman of his knowledge of the codes embedded there.
Not unexpectedly, the seventh line was unique. What it stated was different from anything in any of the other scrolls: “When you reach the pure marble rocks, do not say, ‘Water, water.’”
Elijah continued reading the text, a task that took another hour to complete.
There was a soft knock on the open door. Ruth waited outside. Elijah noted that she had not even considered entering the room.
“This appears to me to be an original scroll, written by Nehemiah of Peki’in,” said Elijah, even though he knew that his statement was totally unnecessary. There was no doubt that the scroll was genuine, and Norman was fully aware of that fact. Elijah had only been brought there to read the text because of Norman’s problem with his vision.
Norman was satisfied. “Well, that’s that. Ruth has come to invite us to lunch.”
Lunch was served in the dining room, which overlooked the Mediterranean. It was a vegetarian meal consisting of mushrooms, fruit, and various juices. The food was served by Maria, a woman about fifty years old.
Elijah saw Norman and Ruth exchanging glances, and wondered about the relationship between them. Norman was a good forty years older than Ruth, but Elijah was convinced this was not a normal employer-employee relationship.
Norman and Ruth chatted away in Spanish. Elijah didn’t understand a word, but this was the first time he had heard Norman speak it, and to his unpracticed ear it sounded like Norman spoke it like a native. Again Elijah wondered about where Norman had originally hailed from.
After lunch, Norman suggested that Ruth give Elijah a tour of the island, after which they would pick up Ruth’s friend Isabel in Ibiza and return.
They drove but a short distance before stopping at an old windmill.
“Many hippies lived here during the 1960s. You see that house next to the windmill? Bob Dylan lived there for two months. This entire area was built up about 250 years ago. The windmill still works to this day, and it is one of the oldest functioning ones in Europe.”
Elijah looked at the house in which Bob Dylan had lived. The house seemed quite unimpressed by that fact.
“The local residents always lived here in relative tranquility. For example, the Inquisition never came to Ibiza, and certainly not to Formentera. Even the Spanish Civil War was not felt here. During the Franco era, this was one of the few places that managed to evade censorship and dictatorship, which is why the hippies discovered and were drawn to it. It was remote, far from anywhere else. You could even say it was cut off from the rest of the world.” She seemed to be carried away by her own voice.
Suddenly, in front of the house that Bob Dylan had used, another piece of the puzzle snapped into place. There just had to be a connection between the hippies, Odel Weiss, and John McDonald. In her article, Weiss had hinted that McDonald had wandered through Spain. Would a hippie such as he comes to Spain to take part in the Civil War? No way! He would come here to chill out. And if Bob Dylan too had been here, it was a clear indication that this place was not that much off the beaten track.
The tour of the island was brief
,
and immediately afterwards they sailed back to Ibiza. In Ibiza, Ruth took him to one of the famous beaches.
Toward sunset, they walked along the beach, and Elijah kept glancing - and immediately glancing away in embarrassment - at the European women with their very scanty bathing suits, either sitting or lying on beach chairs or on the sandy beach. They sat down in adjacent chairs, and Elijah sighed.
“What’s that all about?” asked Ruth.
Elijah did not know how to answer the question. It was a typical Jerusalem sigh, which in Jerusalem would not even be noticed. He thought that the sigh might be in reaction to all the pretty girls out there, but decided that this was hardly something he could tell Ruth.
“There are different interpretations,” he answered. “Some say it is a sigh of despair at the world. Cynics might interpret the sigh as regret for being unable to sit here each evening, watching the sunset. Doctors would say that sighs have a medical purpose, in that they cause you to breathe more deeply and thus inhale more oxygen. Jewish mothers would say it is brought about by guilt – for feeling no guilt for not having any feelings of guilt. Sociologists would no doubt interpret it as a typical Jewish sigh.”
Ruth laughed and Elijah felt at the top of his form. Further down, aging hippies sat on the rocks singing, accompanying themselves on tambourines. The evening gave way to night, and the hippies celebrated the night of the full moon. When it was late enough, Ruth and Elijah went to collect Isabel at one of Ibiza’s famed discotheques.
When Ruth had told him that they would be going to a discotheque, the closest parallel Elijah could envision was one of the student lounges at the university, which he had entered every so often as a student. He could not believe his eyes when he finally stood at the open door of the discotheque. It was packed with people shoulder to shoulder, and the clothes they were wearing were either extremely revealing or bizarre - or both. The sound of what was evidently supposed to pass as music was deafening, and he covered his ears with his hands. He was in total shock. Ruth moved into the discotheque and almost disappeared from view. This must be the trap they had set for him! Now, finally! They had done a good job of camouflaging their intentions until this moment. He had to do something to save himself!
He finally spotted Ruth and made a dive to reach her. Frantically, he clutched her hand. He tried to speak to her, but the noise made it totally impossible. With very great effort, she was able to decipher what he was trying to communicate by screaming into her ear. “If you leave me, even for an instant, I am lost! I am unable to navigate in unfamiliar places.” She nodded that she understood and led him, using hand motions, through the crowd of people. He followed her blindly, the noise crashing around his ears. They crossed the hall and wound up at a flight of stairs at the other end, which they climbed slowly, having to flatten themselves to the side to allow other people to descend. They eventually reached a sort of balcony, which overlooked the entire hall. One part of the balcony was open to the Mediterranean night, and Elijah breathed the relatively purer air there deeply. Here too the music was extremely loud, but it was at least possible, with great effort, to hear what the other person was saying.
He found a seat, while she disappeared for a while and returned with three bottles of beer and a bottle of juice.
“I’m going to look for Isabel, but she will probably come up here looking for me, as this is the place we normally meet. It is best that you remain here.” Elijah was delighted not to have to make his way through the sweating, heaving crowd.