After a few months - Rabbi Aaron had begun to pass over some of the visits to Dichter’s children Institute. He felt he shouldn’t devote himself too much to his sad past. That was also the reason that he soon decided to accept Rabbi Rapoport’s proposal, and to join the old butcher of the town, whose hands were filled with work. Aaron recalled his Russian and American periods. Again he plucked feathers from the throats of hens and Indian cocks for butchering them. Again he tied cows and sheep, before he would butcher them in farms’ cattle sheds…
At that time he and Natalya had stopped to live in Shapiro’s hut. They hired a grey hut not far from the Butchery Hut in Kfar Saba towns’ market. Rabbi Aaron’s new home was a better and much wider dwelling than he had ever had.
At that time- Natalya told Rabbi Aaron that she had been treated successfully by woman-doctor Gretta Altertum. She told Natalya that within seven months she would bear a baby. That women physician was one of the first clever and experienced Jewish German doctors, who began to immigrate to Israel/Palestione – just after Hitler had come to power in Germany. His book ‘Mein Kampf’ and his Nazi Party - had not hidded their wish to annihilate the Jews; some of the Jews in Europe, were lucky and adventrous enough - to cross the Mediteranean Sea and arrive in a deserted land, work hard and become sick of Malaria and typhus, but hope for a better future.
Rabbi Aaron was feeling that he had met his ‘purpose in life’- not only as a future father and a Kosher butcher for the town’s citizens. At those days there were living in our little town Kfar Saba - about five hundred families and about two hundred unmarried young men and women, who would soon marry. At those days – marriage was quite a sacred institution, not only for religious people.
You’ll be surprised, that Rabbi Aaron soon began to pay attention to married women, who would arrive to the butchery hut. They were bringing hens or geeze in their bags, or holding those in baskets.
“It is written in Talmud:” said Rabbi Aaron, “‘Don’t talk too much with a woman’. But for a missionary purpose of finding Talmud pupils – I can and should talk a lot. I have to persuade a woman who’s a mother of a seven years old son - that religion does not force him to invlove all his family in his studying the holy Talmud. If his parents don’t keep Sabbath, the boy will learn what a Jew should do regarding Sabbath; and even if his father mocks at his God fearing belief - let him. I won’t incite a son against his father. I will only ask the boy that he himself would not despise the holiday…”
Rabbi Aaron’s main target was - that Jewish children would have a knowledge about ‘Yiddishkeit’, which they could not get enough of it (so he was thinking)- in their regular elementary school.
A woman called Sarah Katz-Cohn was the first, who agreed to send her nine yeard old son, Leon, to Rabbi Aaron. In the Butchery hut the boy would sit with him in an internal room, next to the blood stinking butchery cabin. He would teach interesting issues of the Talmud, including ‘Sheine Maises’ or legends mixed in its text.
After Sarah Cohn began to praise Rabbi Aaron’s way of teaching to her woman friends, arrived at the butchery two or three additional women. The rumor about the innocent Rabbi’s ‘kids heart winning’ spread around immediately. Women were telling each other: ‘Where could you find a Jew, who is ready to teach Talmud to your son - free of charge, after the regular school hours? And this righteous man is ready to accept everyone: a son of God Belilivers as well as of declared atheists, a son of a worker or of a doctor. You’ve never heard about such a man, not in this Jewish country, nor in any other place in the world… And his merit is not only in working without being salaried – he won’t agree to get presents or prizes for his dedicated teaching… He would refuse to receive even a symbolic ‘sign of honorary’ from the Town’s Mayor. It is known all over the town.’
Rabbi Aaron told his life story in Russia, quite shortly, to the public. It was while he celebrated -with Natalya - the birth of their son. The baby was named David, after King David, who had inspired Rabbi Aaron by his Psalms book - to fight against the dictatorhip in the only way that could have rescued him from the molars of the hideous Leviathan.
“Dear Jews, respectable friends, enjoy yourselves,” said Rabbi Aaron to ten men and five woman, who had come to take part in his joy of having a normal heir,(among the guests there - was Rabbi Rapoport, who did not imagine how much Rabbi Aaron had despised him - but never told that to any body; nor would he ever like to recall how cruelly had Rabbi Rapoport spoken to him in their first meeting).
“I am the happiest of men today,” cried Rabbi Aaron, and asked his guests to raise their wine goblets and toast with him ‘Lehaim’, “I, the most simple man, will bring Heaven and Earth as my witnesses, that I have seen God’s providence on my flesh and blood, as I have felt His control over my heart and mind. I was rescued from hell by the Lord’s marvels; otherwise it could not be explained…”
Then Rabbi Aaron described some events regarding his persecution by the Soviet regime, which had brought his faked up madness - and the long amazing voyage toward his exodus from Soviet Russia. He finished his harangue by saying:
“Blessed be the eyes who had seen all the acts of God. Blessed be God, who had created my eyes - to see his marvels .”
A NOTE ON THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
AND ACCURACY OF THIS NOVEL
This novel is not ‘history’ in the meaning in which this word is used by the professional–academic-historian. Especially the fact that most of the Jewish characters described here had been murdered by the Nazies in the holocaust (or had passed away even before that), required using fictitious names. The characters of Rabbi’s second wife and handsless son – had been invented for dramatic and symbolic purposes, (such a case of cut-hands born baby occurred in the author’s family before the Holocaust).
Events and activities of the Soviet ‘shadow kingdom’ or secret police (Cheka, Gepau) against Jews God believers, as well as against Christians, Jesus worshippers– are described here, based on historical facts.
The main character of this novel really existed: There was a Jew who tricked Stalin’s regime and succeeded to be rescued from Russia, after a long struggle - in the early thirties of the last century. His true name was Rabbi Moshe(Moses) Dinnin, not Aaron Hittin – a name used here. The Rabbi described to me ( his pupil in Talmud long years after the events) and to others the persecution of God Believers in Russia. He saw the confiscation of synagogues and the cancellation of Jewish culture by the Soviets. He had faked up madness, and was enforced to enter an asylum. After a macabre stay there – he had been allowed to leave Russia, as his relative had applied to Stalin, to implore him and let the poor Rabbi go out - for Humanitarian reasons.
The Rabbi was saved from being shot and burned with seventy thousands Jews of Minsk Ghetto by the German Nazies. He was not a Zionist, but too sane and rational man. God will bless all mads to be like him.
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