The Moses Legacy - Adam Palmer [91]
‘How do the Jews react to that?’ asked Gabrielle.
‘That is one of the more sad aspects of our history. The tribes of Ephraim and Menasha were part of the northern kingdom – that is, the Kingdom of Israel. This was distinct and separate from the southern kingdom of Judah except for a brief period of unity. We had land on both sides of the River Jordan. When the Assyrians invaded the northern kingdom 721 years before the birth of Jesus, the southern kingdom of Judah was spared because it was a vassal state at the time. But in the northern kingdom, they took 27,290 Israelites back to Assyria as captives.’
‘You know the number that precisely?’ asked Gabrielle.
‘History records it,’ said Tsedaka. ‘However, that was still a minority. Most of the Israelites remained in the land. Then, somewhat later, the southern kingdom of Judah was conquered, this time by the Babylonians, who carried off the Judeans into captivity. But then the Persians defeated the Babylonians and allowed the Judeans to return in the fifth century before Jesus. It was then that our problems began.’
‘Why?’
‘The Judeans returned in two batches. First a larger group of some 42,360 returned under Zerubbabel, with the intention of rebuilding the temple that the Babylonians had destroyed. But one wise and learned man refused to join them, because he considered the study of the scriptures to be more important than rebuilding the temple. His name was Ezra. Some say his knowledge of the scriptures equalled that of Moses himself. But he returned later, with a smaller group of followers – some 1,500 – all of them men.’
Daniel saw the pain in Tsedaka’s eyes as he spoke.
‘However, when he returned he was hostile to our ancestors, regarding them as interlopers. Our ancestors tried to befriend the Judeans and even offered to help them rebuild their temple that had been destroyed by the Babylonians. But Ezra rejected their offer. He even refused to believe that our ancestors were Israelites at all. He claimed that they were migrants from a place in what is modern-day Iraq.’
‘Why did he do that?’
‘He was a determined man who rejected anything that seemed like compromise or weakness. He may well have been sincere. He introduced other reforms, such as forbidding intermarriage between Judeans and others.’
‘Oh, so it was the purity of blood thing,’ said Gabrielle with a sneer.
Daniel gave her a look to warn her off. The Samaritans too had strict rules about intermarriage, although they were now relaxing them slightly in order to repopulate and reduce the risk of genetic diseases.
‘Ever since that time, relations have been strained between us and the Judeans, or Jews as they are now called. If you look at the history of the way we were treated, it parallels the way in which Joseph was treated by his brothers and strangers. But we were also oppressed by Muslims during the Caliphate periods and by Christians during the Crusades. Having said that, things began to improve for us when Israel’s second president – Yitzhak ben-Zvi – encouraged the establishment of our community in Holon in 1954. He recognized and acknowledged our connection to ancient Israel.’
A rise in the background volume alerted them to the fact that something important was happening. It was nine-thirty and that meant they were about to start cooking. The men in charge of the operation picked up the wooden stakes with the carcasses, brought them over to the pits – six or seven to each pit – and then when the word went up they quickly impaled them vertically into the dirt floor of the pits. The pits were then sealed by a burlap-covered metal grate, which in turn was covered with mud to trap the heat.
At midnight, in accordance with tradition, the ovens would be opened up and each family would then take its roasted lamb home, where the meat would be devoured quickly. Anything not eaten that night had to be burned, just as in the ancient days of