Let us return now to poor Raphael: To tell the truth, it had been a noble gesture of the regime to take the invalid boy under its shelter, and then agree that a second member of family Hittin, the Rabbi, would also be accommodated by the State in a luxurious asylum. Therefore don’t judge his simple women worshippers, as well as the fertile minds and hearts of the Soviet poets, dramatists and propagandists.the Father of the Soviet People, the Sun of all Nations, the Light of Human kind, and all other pompous titles given to Batiushka (Father) Stalin. He had established a system, that supported the Rabbi, in its own queer way. It gave him a chance for a miraculous survival.
But Rabbi Aaron had to pay for it, by some small inconveniences that were imposed on him by the circumstances:
In order to use the Rabbi’s room efficiently and effectively, as demanded by the asylum management, the disciplined and obedient Psychiatrists decided to let another madman to be the Rabbi’s roommate. They set up there an additional bed, as far as possible from the Rabbi’s bed, in the opposite corner. In that way, mutual disturbance for the two lodgers would be minimal.
His first neighbor was a Pravoslv Priest. His name was Yefim and he was more than six feet and six inches tall. He had not been a thick youth with shaven melon cheeks like Aliosha, but had a Tolstoyan long beard, a Stalinist thick moustache and a very thin and bony body, dressed in old torn brown robe. On his head he was wearing a special black ‘hat-gear’, characteristic for Pravoslav priests in some area in Russia, we don’t know where exactly. While the nursing staff ordered him to put his clothes off, and take this old stinking dress into a sack, he refused with an attack of shouts and hysteria. The tumult frightened even the most strongly built medic in the Psychiatric team, who snatched his remarkable hat and ‘capped’ his head with a bucket. But the Priest ticked that guy and dropped the bucket. Then his nurses promised him that all his garments will be kept until he ‘recovers or overwhelms his spiritual sickness’. (In that way he himself had related to his insanity, and had known that he would be treated). He refused again and again. So they let him stay dressed by his worn out priestly robe and special like turban back hat. But he agreed to stop walking barefooted, and to wear shoes, that had been purchased from a man, peddling unlawfully in the main market… Yes, misery had been this Priest’s main sickness, so he told his Psychiatrists. Because he refused to work - and never had his hands touched a tool or picked up even vegetables or fruits for his living. He said that he had been a beggar since the revolution. He added: “I see that the communist regime would prevent a man to beg. This cruelty would cause a man to die. The whole Soviet State will soon collapse, because most of the people here will become beggars, even if they work.”
Psychiatrist Pavlov, as well as Gepau, suspected that the man was bluffing, like the Rabbi. “There are rumors about you,” told him Pavlov in his first interview, that had taken place in Rabbi Aaron’s room, “Yefim Ivanov - you are faking your inability to work The fact is, that you were rich once. It is recorded in our files, that you had climbed on our stage, and first appeared in our scene - only somewhere in the year nineteen twenty. If you claim to be a Priest –and an offspring of a noble family, we should know all the details. Even if your Mom was a mistress of a nobleman, why would you fear to tell that? People of Tolstoy’s noble dynasty, for example- were not shot or hanged by our revolutionist Bolshevik regime. Take for example Aleksay Tolstoy. He has become a very famous novelist - after the revolution.”
“Well, suppose I am from the lower class of an ex-nobleman,” said the priest, “from my Mom’s side. But what has that to do with…”
“Ah! That means that your Mom had never worked hard. If she had been from the nobility class - slaves and servants would have dropped sweat for its members. Let us know exactly about that, and we’ll find a solution to your problem with work: We want to help you here. I swear that you will never work hard, but you should try to make your hands and mind busy, for the benefit of society.”
“No, I am ideologically against any kind of work. Either physical - or what you call: mental. Nothing of your jobs will be fit for me,” the Priest spoke proudly, “Read the Bible. Work is a curse since the days of Adam, the first man… I am a priest of God, and my work is praying to him. But the atheist communists had forbidden everybody… not only to pray publicly, but even to believe in God - deep in the heart.”
Rabbi Aaron listened to the intensive discussion very interestingly, though his face showed total indifference and apathy. He wanted very much to teach the Priest and Pavlov together, about the Talmud’s opinion regarding the enstrangeness and calamity of the work to a human being; like Adam was told by God in the Bible. The Talmud book ‘Betrothal’ told about that: “Rabbi Simon says: I have never seen in my life a deer –drying figs, a lion – carrier, and a fox salesman. All were created by the Almighty, in order to make their living – and to the benefit of mankind (some by their tasty meat) without hard effort. Man, their master, could be at least like them. In the first years Adam served God also without effort or suffering. However, the snake Satan tempted him with Eva to sin, what caused him to lose the privilege of idleness, and a man must work hard to make a living”. . .So, our Wise Rabbis said also: “flay a carcass in the market and don’t need people’s charity! Do your work …”
‘But the priest is partly right’, continued Rabbi Aaron to contemplate, ‘Why should a clergyman like him - or me- be forced to work as a regular farmer or craftsman or ironmonger or clerk? …As for myself - now I cannot work, and I don’t earn for my living. From pure religion’s standpoint it is a sin. . .But as my target is far reaching, I must disregard it.’
Then Rabbi Aaron remebered what the priest had said about the worship of work in Russia - that is futile: “Yes, you communists would like us all to work hard” he said, “for your benefit, not for our goodness. Therefore your leaders praise the word ‘work’ as almost sacred, as a devotion. Bolshevism is the most enslaving regime in the modern world, and the result of the work done for them- would be sometime very nonbeneficial and worthless- to us, the private citizens, as well as for the whole society’..
Rabbi saw that Pavlov went away, and heard the Priest talking to him, the Rabbi.
‘Could it be, that Pavlov had not told him that I am dumb and deaf?’ he asked himself, ‘Or maybe this Priest is a disguised Gepaunik? All their aim in placing him here with me- was to detect my moves in order to bury me. So, I should not even look at Yefim. I’ll only groan, and he‘ll soon understand that not in vain - they had settled me here, in the asylum. Now he is praying loudly: “Bozhe Bozhe!” He is not saying: Jesus = but God, that is the word ‘Bozhe’in Russian. .. Suddenly I begin to think that this man is a righteous man like myself, though disguised as a crank Priest. He is not Jewish, surely, though his behavior shows of a sharp Jewish-like mind . Even if he is circumcized I cannot be sure about his Jewish origin. To be absolutely sure, I need to talk and listen to him, ask and be answered. But of course, I shouldn’t endanger my life for a tail of knowledge about him. Now I will only pray in my heart that this man will stop talking to himself. God damn him! I am tired of that roommate!’
Pavlov continued his dialogue with the priest on the next day. He arrived in the room for ‘pure debating about religion matters,’ so he defined his purpose.
“If you had been a really ardent Pravoslav God believer,” he said to the priest, “You would have stood in your chapel and opposed our man, who came in to put it under our control. You had not resisted and did not sacrifice yourself for God!”.
“I have had my own way,” said the priest, ”though of course - nowadays I’m avoided, as everybody is, from worshipping Jesus in public. You have destroyed our churches, hanging red flags on the domes. You have prevented us to pray, to smell the incense smoke, to lead our long processions in the streets and highways – bearing the crosses and our Holy Icons on our backs. By that we symbolize Jesus Christ’s path of sufferi
ng for all human beings. What more shall I mention?”
“You can fancy, that you may be the last priest, that we still keep alive. We will let you remain live, but free you from the yoke of religion. This institute expertises in that!” roared Pavlov, “We will persuade you that all your ceremonies and sacred articles are stupid worship of shapes, made of woods and stones and metals. Won’t you admit that?”
The priest did not remain dumb, but answered him:
“What seems to you a reasonable argument - is rediculous, sir. You, Bolsheviks, have exchanged the Cross religion for the Stern and Scythe human barbarism. A human being needs a belief in something spiritual and inspirational, an idealistic concept carried by the wings of endless space and time – not dependable on thoughts of politicians or tradesmen or even of philosophers or scientists. Am I not right, comrade Psyche?”
The priest was so delightful for his styled last sentence, that he began to dance. He became like encircling, first by himself, and soon touching the Rabbi and trying to drag him on the floor, and enjoy the queer dance with him. But Pavlov cut that immediately. He used his whistler, to call his assistant psychiatrist Haimson. Both removed the priest out of Aaron’s room.
Rabbi Aaron thought erroneously, that from now on – he would be left alone. On the one hand – it’s good, that he would not be bothered and his mind won’t be busy in listening to the inquiry of the gentile Yefim. On the other hand – the Rabbi’s lonliness was difficult for him. ‘Because I’m in a position that I can’t study nor regularly read. So- what would I be doing all the days long? think? On what?’ so he meditated. He knew he would be facing that internal thinking and imagining process for many days; he should beware not to be maddened by that..(Years after, when he was asked by the author of this book what was he thinking about all along the asylum days of dumbness, he could not recollect. Time passed away without recording any trace on his memory. Only the shape of his room and some special occurences in the asylum- had been kept in his consciousness, and therefore could be depicted here).
On the coming week- only Natalya came to visit Rabbi Aaron. She told him with a smile, that a letter had been sent to his sister, about his suffer. Gittel will have to beg the Regime to send both of them- the Rabbi and his wife, out of the country. This time - Natalya discerned again a blick of a happy-naughty quick smile on Rabbi Aaron’s lips, but it soon disappeared. He turned his eys from her…
Natalya remembered, that in her previous visit – with Borisov, the Rabbi’s friend watched the internal walls sorrounding the Rabbi’s cage. He discovered a hollow point at the left, which he suspected to be a ‘listening position’ for somebody hidden in the next cage or room. He whispered to Natalya, that she should not extend her talk before the Rabbi about their plan how to rescue him . . .While sitting in the train, on their way back from that visit, Natalya told Borisov:
“I was feeling, that my husband had shown at least a partial understanding to what we’ve told him shortly. Have you also noticed the queer-quick smiling expression on his lips?”
“Maybe,” answered Borisov cautiously. He was still skeptical if it had been her erroneus fancy, or a real change in Rabbi’s situation.
It was summer time. The Gepau’s lists of suspects were growing significantly, and with them the list of required place for new patients, that would arrive. The asylum management was full of initiative. It decided to empty some rooms , and send out most of non-violent dwellers – to a Kolkhoz village, not far away. If it would happen to be a rainy day, then the new workers would run into a storehouse or find nother shelter- till the sky would clear up again. They were engaged in taking out cows’ excerta from cattle sheds, using hoes and shovels. The stink did not disturb so much the nose of Rabbi Aaron. As a Kosher butcher in the past, he had been called quite frequently - to a collective farm. A Jew who had purchased some cattle or sheep, knew how to hide the fact that he would buy that from a Kolkhoz in a ‘private deal’. That had to be arranged at night, so that no unexpected comrades would discern that the cows’ shepherd had dared to sell something- without approval of the collective sales office; and of course without recording it in the farm’s book-keeping system. So, the butchery and cutting of the animal had to be performed hidden from the eyes. It had taken place inside the village itself, with cash payment on spot. Rabbi Asaron would receive small money for his task. The criminal shepherd would be the main beneficiary…
So, this time also Rabbi Aaron became quickly accustomed, as in his past, to the village smells and sights. Sometime he had to go also to hens’ and geese coops, and enjoy their smells. He would drag away the excerta of those domestic earthly fowls – from under their coops and from their dirty courtyards. He and his new room-mate were said to be ispected by Alexey, a sixty years old man, who used to give his orders to them by pointing with his fingers on some object. Then a horsed wagon would come, and they had to lay the stuff on it, using their shovels.
Rabbi praised in his heart the new mad colleague that he had received. His name was Levy, a Jew who helped the Rabbi devotedly in the hard effort. When the young trainee Psychiatrist, Sergey Kubrin, came to watch the two patients in work, he boasted to the old ‘Kolkhoznik’: “These two are really mad, you should avoid itching their asses or make them angry. They had not talked anything, had they? I am sure that this type of curing – will be developed in all the Soviet Union. I had volunteered for managing this task here. Hopefully, one day I’ll get Lenin’s Prize for the new curing method. This is the best way for making the mads’ minds busy.”
“it’s true,” nodded the old Kolkhoznik, “by hard work they should absolutely forget their mental suffer.”
The Rabbi understood very well what the young brain expert had said. However- he was not sure that Levy, who declared himself as the Jewish Messiah, nor the old Kolkhoznik, nor himself - had any idea why the young devoted psychiatrist had used the words ‘new curing method’ instead of simply saying: tedious work. That had been already common in Pharao’s time.
In order to promote his genius idea about using the mads’ workpower, the young new Psychiatrist invited some photographer to make nice pictures of the two State’s employees. They were photographed on the background of a pastoral surrounding. In the Asylum’s album, placed at the window sill of the reception office – very soon the visitors could see the following photos, which were made in brown-white colors,( that was the common type of photo’s paper at that time). They were taken as “moments for memory”, and the the year and season- were as stated in a photographic handwriting on the top or bottom of each photo. The following two examples are worth to be mentioned:
1/ Summer 1932- Rabbi Aaron, his roommate Levy Shmerl, and the asylum inspector, Sergey Kubrin, stand near a cows’ shed. In the background – colorfull apples and plums trees full of fruits.
2/ Same year - New asylum restaurant, with a ‘waiter’ carrying a pot of cabbage soup to the patients, among them: Rabbi Aaron. On the upper side of the photo – a handwriting: “Doctor Pavlov’s quiet madmen ( lightest cases).”
The weeks of outside vacation-like fled quickly, like the colorfull butterfly that Rabbi Aaron had seen in the fields of that Kolkhoz. At nights he and his comrade Levy would sleep on straw in a shade, near the cows. But one evening, before they had arranged their places for next sleep, young Sergey arrived. He told them to take their bags (Levy had there his Thfilin) and come with him. He brought them to a farm nearby, where pigs were stretching themselves in the mud. Such a glimpse caused Aaron to be sore, and his friend told the Inspector: “We Jews don’t like pigs, you know.”
“You’ll love them tomorrow,” he answered. Rabbi Aaron knew that only eating a pig was prohibited for Jews, but to pasture it? God in the sky is a witness, that they can’t avoid that. So it won’t be recorded in God’s bookkeeping system as a sin. However Levy began to quarrel with Sergey, and they were striking each other. Sergey shouted for hel
p, and the pigs’ pernmanent pasture watcher came out from his little hut. As the trainee psychiatrist pointed on Levy, the pigs watcher began to strangle him – and forced him to fall on the mud. He called all the pigs to come and smell him with their wide nostrils, and the two Russians laughed. But soon Levy was recovered.
“Come on,” said the Kolkhoznik to Rabbi, who was seated on a stone at the side. He was gazing at the sun’s red ball dropping in the far horizon.
“Why don’t you laugh with us?” rebuked him Sergey and his mouth started to make a noise of laughter. So, Aaron began also to laugh, and Sergay remarked about it in his small, black cover notebook.
The two left Aaron and his colleague there, and the two mads found some water in the pigs’ basin, from which they drank. It was Sabbath, when no Thfilin should be worn, according the Jewish Religion. “D’you know Why?”- Levy asked the Rabbi, who avoided speaking.
“Sabbath day in itself is a nice ornamented article - of and for God. Therefore Jews don’t need to show Him another sacred article like Thfilin - in this holy day. . .”
But the dirty pigs had to be pastured also on that Saturday. So the two obedient crazy Jews were driving them (by hand-moves and shouts, as a Jew should not bear a stick on Sabbath) to the pasture field. There they rested, Levy praying and the Rabbi looking at the beautiful world that God had created. But he also watched the pigs, and saw a baby pig sucking from his mother’s breasts.
He suddenly recollected of his son Raph’l as a baby. It was in one of the first Sabbaths after his birth. Rabbi Aaron entered the room, where his first wife Esther and the boy had used to stay. Esther’s breast was exposed and she was giving milk to Raphael’s thirsty lips. He sucked, but Esther had been scared seeing her husband. Her right breast was ommited - like snatched – from the poor baby’s mouth. She delicately siezed his head and his back, and advanced his lips again to her breast.
“You see, Aaron?” she said in a terrified voice, “a normal baby would have grabbed my breast by his little hand instinctively. He would bring himseelf back to the milk- without my help. This is what I have, this is my touble… Oh, I am so UMGLIK,” she mumbled in Yiddish,(I am so sore, lacking joy).
The hard recollection caused Rabbi Aaron to moan. He said to himself: ‘cursed pigs. I had seen them also when I ran away with Esther and Gittel in the Russian border near Brest Litovsk. God had punished me already then, while I and Esther hadn’t been lucky to smuggle the border, unlike my sister Gittel. We had lost our bravery there, having heard a few shots. We had delivered ourselves to the border keepers. . .I feel I am cursed – when I recall about all that. Oh, how I miss Natalya. Last week I could not see her, being here with the ugly nasty animals. I was told something by Pavlov about that. Or was it his deputy there , in the asylum? Now I miss that noisy place. Here in the village is not hell, all right. But it seems like it had been better there, in the densed asylum. Hopefully this week we will end our work here. In September the weather becomes cooler, we should not be left in the open field.
It really came about, that they left the village in time. Arriving back in the asylum, they heard thunders and lightening. Soon heavy rains were dropping. Their room was empty, and Levy - as chatting with himself, said that a transport of mads had been just sent to Siberia, most of them were found to be pretenders or indeed real traitors. . .
Rabbi Aaron was longing to see Natalya soon. She would be allowed now to visit him five minutes, not three as before. She was bringing him cooked apples and some jam cakes. His keeper – Stash or Vadim or Yasha - was also rendered some such sweets as a gift.
“We are all waiting,” told him Natalya, “for a sign from the asylum management, or from Gepau or from Gittel, your sister: I a hope that something is moving, rolling in the sky or under ground. . .But nothing yet…”
Natalya and the painter came together again. They were allowed by Doctor Pavlov to hand the Rabbi his old Psalms book, that had been left by him in the Gallery at the day of maddening. Medelevitch told the Psychiater, that even if the Rabbi won’t pray from it or read it, he may rejoice with it. He had brought it - as a humanitarian gesture to a helpless friend.
Pavlov answered: “Better take it back. It would raise again the possibility of sanity.”
“If you, his keepers, think like that,” said Mendel to Pavlov - “I will protest about it to Gepau. I know that after additonal thousands of traitors had been found and punished… the regime has decided to lighten the stress on prisoners.”
Pavlov just phoned to Antonov and asked, and was surprisingly answered by Aliosha, who took responsibility and allowed the Psalm book. When Rabbi Aaron accepted it, he showed the two visitors that he would read the typed pages upside down. He knew that the Jewish colleague of Pavlov, (who meanwhile was promoted to be ‘Asylum’s Inspector’)Haimson – would soon visit him, Rabbi Aaron. He will think that the Rabbi still remains in his madness, if he discerns him just ‘rolling the Psalms in the air’. He would not send him to ‘a re-cheking the status of insanity’.
For three more grey and cold months in automn, Rabbi Aaron was still staying in the Lunatics’ asylum. He had been allowed then to stroll in the nice garden of the ex-estate of the nobleman Udvajnikov, despite that it was very dangerous: Tens of real mads were strolling there, inspected by four or five psychologists or psychiatrists. There were about ten aggressive and very violent men among them, and some were trying to escape and were caught, then punished. Afterward they were allowed again to walk outside, and so on.
The winds of the advancing winter were waving around and sometimes snatching Rabbi’s hat, but he would pursue it and catch it, then continue walking or running there, just to refresh his lungs and strengthen his legs. At that time the new restaurant in the asylum was opened, and he was provided new plates and cup, as well as fork, spoon and knife. They were held for him in a special corner in the mads’ kitchen. All that had been privilleged to him, due to the lobbying of Rabbi’s friend Borisov..
CHAPTER 44