Satan in Goray - Isaac Bashevis Singer [50]
brides walked the streets with swollen bellies, for pious women saw to it that their daughters and sons-in-law lay with each other often. Moreover, Reb Gedaliya and Levi had released from marriage all women who had been deserted--and they had lost no time finding new husbands. Reb Gedaliya's calculations were that the ram's horn would announce the coming of the Messiah in the middle of the month of Elul, and three days before Rosh Hashana a cloud would descend and the pious would climb aboard and be off to the Land of Israel. Daily, between the afternoon and the evening prayers, Reb Gedaliya told the congregation of the miracles that were about to take place. Every godfearing man would have ten thousand heathen slaves to wash his feet and care for him. Duchesses and princesses would act as the nurses and governesses of Jewish children, as had been foretold in the Book of Isaiah; thrice daily the Jews would fly like eagles to the mount of the Lord and there bow and prostrate themselves before the Holy Temple. The afflicted would be healed, the ugly made beautiful. Everyone would eat from golden dishes and drink only wine. The daughters of Israel would bathe in streams of balsam, and the fragrance of their bodies would suffuse the world. The sons of Israel would go girded in armor, swords on their thighs and equipped with bows and arrows with which to harry the remnants of the foes of Israel. Those of the nobility who had been kind to the children of Israel would be spared, along with their wives and children; they would be the servants of the upright. As the month of Elul approached, the faith of the people of Goray grew stronger. Shopkeepers no longer kept shop, artisans suspended their labors. It seemed useless to complete anything. Now the people ate only food that did not need preparation and was easy to obtain. Since they were too slothful to gather firewood in the forest, they acquired the habit of heating their ovens with the lumber they had available. By winter they would be settled in Jerusalem. And so they tore down fences and outhouses for kindling. Some even ripped the shingles from their roofs. Many refused to undress when they retired at night. The awaited cloud might come when they were asleep, and they did not wish to be forced to dress in a hurry. In Reb Godel Chasid's house the books had been wrapped in a sheet, as after a fire, and thrice daily their owner stepped outside to look toward the east for some sign of the cloud. He would cover his eyes, as though to protect them from too strong a light, and cry: "Father in Heaven, save us now. We have not the strength to wait longer." Late at night Reb Gedaliya would come to visit Rechele in her room. She would be lying in her canopy bed, asleep. Since becoming a prophetess, Rechele had almost ceased eating entirely; no longer did she attend to her physical needs. Her body had become white and semi-transparent, like mother-of- pearl, and it seemed to her that she was exuding a leafy fragrance. Each night angels visited her in her dreams, and Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai and the prophet Elijah came, and angels and prophets studied with her until daybreak. Often when she awoke in the morning she would be able to recite entire sections from the Zohar and its Emendations by heart. At times she spoke to Reb Gedaliya in Targum Aramaic. As she read the pages turned of their own accord. Sometimes she would put out her hand to take some object, and it would fly to her fingers, as though drawn by magic. Her body shone in the darkness like a precious stone, and her skin emitted sparks. She would lie in her canopy bed wearing a silk kerchief on her head, which rested on three pillows, one of her eyes half open, her nose white, her breathing so faint it could not be heard. Reb Gedaliya would enter naked, a thick growth of hair covering his body like a fur coat, wearing only a skull cap, and with a wax candle in his left hand. He would lift the white silk gown that, covered Rechele's body, kiss her feet, and waken her. "Rechele, it is midnight. The heavens are parting. The Divine