SAUL AND THE ASTROLOGERS CHAPTER FOURTEEN - Page 2

THE FOLLOWING DAY, Saul's thoughts continually returned to the conversation of the previous evening. He waited with mingled emotions for the arrival of Hadiah, his uncle's brother. As the afternoon wore on, he stationed himself by his upstairs window, eyes constantly searching the street below for signs of Hasham's carriage. Then he saw it coming.

Hasham had also been watching, and he hurried down the steps to greet his brother. Saul waited until Hadiah had been received by the elders in the home. Then, when he deemed it proper, he came down the stairs. The sight that greeted him took his breath. This man hardly appeared normal. The left side of his face had been virtually cut off. His right eye was drawn, and caused his mouth to distort in a hideous expression. Saul's eyes grew moist as he remembered his Aunt Hulda telling them how handsome Hadiah had been. He steeled himself so that when he was presented he would not show his dismay, but it was difficult to avoid staring. How could he concentrate his attention on a face with only one eye?

However, Hadiah spoke first, saying, "So this is Saul. Hasham has told me about you." Again Saul was startled, but not unpleasantly. Hadiah's voice was soft and almost musical. It was even kind sounding, and there was no tone of bitterness there, as he had expected.

When Hadiah and Hasham moved to the balcony, Saul's mother said, "Hulda, what do you advise? Will he tell us tonight how it happened? I know it must be like opening an old wound. But it might prove beneficial to share with family the terrible event that has so altered all of our lives."
Hulda shrugged and shook her head helplessly.

"I will ask Hasham what he thinks."

"Bring it up gently," advised Hulda. "Let him add what he chooses. He may decline."
"I certainly understand."

Hasham agreed to speak of it with Hadiah. Later he let them know that Hadiah had agreed to share the tragedy with them. When the evening meal was over, and the family including Saul was seeking to be as warm and normal in their attention to the one who had remained isolated and alone for so many years, the conversation finally turned to the great loss.

Hadiah began slowly, "It was more than twelve years ago. Our grandson was only four months old. He would be about Saul's age now. My wife Joanna and I went to Bethlehem to see the little one, and to spend the night with our son Asher and his wife Deborah. On our arrival, we found the baby doing well, but Deborah was slow recovering. We were worried and decided to stay with her until she had regained strength. Asher, my son, had gone to Jerusalem to the family physician for a tonic that he had prescribed. On his return, he found the road congested with soldiers. In Bethlehem, we were totally unaware of anything unusual taking place.'

"Suddenly we were startled with a violent knock at the door, and the loud course voice of a soldier demanding we open up immediately. Imagine my reaction when I opened the door and was confronted with three soldiers, Gauls of Herod's guard. Two stood there with drawn swords, and the third was holding a record from which he was reading, in a broken accent, 'One child, three weeks and four days old, born to these parents,' he said. Still it was like a horrible dream. What did he mean? It could not be real.'

"The soldier held out his hand and demanded, 'The child!' 'What do you mean,' I asked. 'It is Herod's command,' the second soldier growled, as he pushed me aside and entered the house. 'Why does Herod want the child?' I asked. Now we heard screams coming from down the street. 'He doesn't want it,' replied the other man. 'He gave us orders to kill it.' Joanna my wife, too paralyzed with fear to speak until this moment, gave a scream that still echoes in my ears. She had taken our little Joel in her arms, and was backing into a corner of the room. The first soldier saw me moving, toward them, and he raised his sword."

Saul could only wonder, was this soldier Vulso? Is this what he had meant when he said, 'the children?' He leaned forward in his chair, holding his breath. Hadiah, like Hasham, was tall and broad shouldered, and could have been a formidable opponent in a struggle to protect his own.
"I took the arm," said Hadiah calmly. "And as we wrestled, I felt it break, and the sword fell. But it was not enough. The other killer cursed and brought his weapon down at my head. I turned, but as you see, I did not escape. I felt nothing. I remember seeing the floor suddenly before my eyes. They believed, undoubtedly, that I was dead. While I lay stunned and unable to move, I am told that the soldier turned and severed the head of our grandchild, held still in his grandmother's arms.'

"Asher arrived at that moment. He was breathless from having run several miles. The killing of the children had commenced on the edge of Jerusalem six miles from Bethlehem, and was going on within even a ten-mile-radius of Bethlehem. I will never forget the cry that escaped my son's lips as he saw the mayhem in his house. He saw my wife collapsed in the corner of the room, and the body of his son whom they had beheaded, clutched in her arms. The last word I heard him utter was 'Joel.' Before he could move further, the Gaul drove his sword straight through his back, striking his heart.'

"It seemed like an eternity. But in only a few short moments it was over. The soldiers had taken their wounded comrade and moved on to the next house. The killing of infants extended through the night. Screams and cries like scenes from gahenna could be heard from all quarters. The cries were mingled with shouting from the fathers who sought to defend their young, and the cursing of soldiers facing resistance. Numbered among the many thousands of infants slain that night were the vast number of fathers and brothers, wives and mothers, of our Jewish people, who sought to save the lives of the babes Herod had ordered destroyed.'

"His orders were that all the male babes two years and younger were to be killed, but the soldiers carrying out the command were crude, and with a frenzy they killed many that were older than two years. They took no chance that Herod would be displeased with them. Thousands of children were killed that awful night. When I recovered I realized that the soldiers had killed my wife and daughter-in-law too. I have been haunted by the idea that they would have spared them had I not broken the soldier's arm."

Benjamin quickly broke-in, "No one can know such a thing. Soldiers carrying out immoral orders are likely to do anything."

The others voiced their agreement, wanting very much to ease the awful burden that had stolen Hadiah's desire to live.

Hasham had listened attentively to this point. He now sighed deeply and nodded toward Rabbi Benjamin, as if to indicate that it was time to change the conversation.

Saul opened his mouth as though to ask a question of Hadiah but his father caught his eye, and shook his head. Saul knew his father was telling him to honor Hadiah's pain with silence.

Esther's tears rolled freely. At length, she rose and took her long lost brother in her arms and wept and wept until she could weep no more. "I am so glad you are with us, Hadiah."