The Jerusalem Inception (12 page)
“You mean a river,” Lemmy said, “not a bath.”
“What?”
“A river of blood. It’s hard to drown in a bath.”
“Whatever!” Redhead Dan made a cutting gesture with his hand.
“And whose blood will it be,” Lemmy inquired, “in which they’ll drown?”
“Zionist blood! What else?”
“You mean
Jewish
blood?”
“No!” Redhead Dan stepped back, his fists clenched as if he was about to attack. “
Zionist
blood! Zionists are Goyim!”
“But according to Talmud every child of a Jewish mother is a Jew. Even a Jew who converts to Christianity remains a Jew. So how could Zionists become Gentiles?”
Redhead Dan glared at Lemmy. “Don’t you hate the Zionists?”
“Hate is a sin. Rabbi Akivah said,
Love your fellow Jew as you love yourself
.”
Benjamin said, “Come on, who has energy to hate the Zionists before breakfast?”
“Heretics aren’t Jews!” Redhead Dan poked Lemmy’s chest with his finger. “We must stone them to death at the city gates. It’s written!”
“A lot of things are written.” Lemmy left them and entered the main sanctuary. Benjamin followed him to their bench, and they joined the rest of the men in chanting
Adon Olam
,
Master of the Universe
.
When the chanting ended, Rabbi Gerster walked up to the elevated dais in the center and recited the first Blessing of Dawn: “
Greatness to You, Master of the Universe, for giving the rooster eyesight to know day from night.
”
The men repeated after Rabbi Gerster, and he continued to the next blessing, “
For not making me a Gentile.”
They recited the line.
Benjamin whispered, “What’s gotten into you?”
Lemmy shrugged, repeating the next blessing, “
Greatness to You, Master of the Universe, for not making me a woman.
”
“You should be more careful,” Benjamin whispered, “Redhead Dan is crazy.”
“What, he’ll smash my face with a brick?”
Benjamin grinned. “Only if you perform an abortion.”
E
lie Weiss watched Tanya exit the main gate of the IDF headquarters. His Citroën’s two-stroke engine idled noisily. He was parked under a large eucalyptus tree on Kiryat Shaul Street, waiting for her after the strategy conference. She headed north toward the bus station. It was a busy morning, with many soldiers and civilians on their way to work. She walked fast in sensible shoes, blue pants, and a beige shirt that resembled a uniform. Her hair was collected in a bun, and large sunglasses covered most of her face. He turned on the engine and proceeded slowly. A gap in traffic allowed him to jump the curb and come abreast with her, moving at the same pace.
“Hi there,” he called through the open window. “Need a lift?”
Tanya glanced at him, not slowing down.
“That’s no way to treat your commanding officer.”
She stopped walking.
Elie hit the brakes, and the little car rocked back and forth on its soft springs. A bus screeched to a halt behind the Citroën and honked repeatedly. A few pedestrians stopped to look.
Tanya got into the car and slammed the door.
He started driving, keeping pace with traffic. “I like Tel Aviv. Not as cold as Jerusalem.”
“I won’t work for you.”
Making a right-hand turn, Elie accelerated. The tiny boxer engine rattled like a lawnmower. “You’re a soldier, an expert in gathering information about Israel’s enemies. What’s the difference between spying on Arabs or on nutty Jews who threaten Israel from within?”
“It’s the difference between a soldier, which I’m proud to be, and a snitch, which I won’t become. And anyway, I don’t buy your theory. Religious Jews will never turn violent.”
“It’s not a theory. Last time we had an independent Jewish state, the zealots killed the high priest and butchered all fellow Jews who opposed them, which allowed the Romans to burn down Jerusalem. It can happen again. Don’t you want to save Jerusalem?”
She pointed. “There, drop me off at the bus station.”
“How close are you getting with Abraham’s son? Is he in love with you yet?”
Tanya removed her sunglasses and looked at him.
“Be reasonable.” Elie stopped at the curb. “Mossad agreed to share your services with my department. Work with me.”
“You don’t need my work. I know what you really want.”
“Whatever it is, you have no choice.”
“But I do.” Tanya opened the door. “I have records of interesting conversations between the UN observers on a certain Friday afternoon. There was a shooting. The bullets barely missed Abraham.”
“It happens. The Jordanian soldiers get bored.”
“According to the UN observers, the shooter was sitting on a roof on the Israeli side of the border. They got a pretty good description of him. A smallish guy in a beggar’s cloak. They didn’t miss the prominent nose.”
He chuckled, touching his nose.
“Keep yours out of my business, and I’ll keep mine out of yours. If you try to force me to work for you, I’ll share the information with my colleagues. They would like nothing better than to investigate you.
Verstehen Sie mich?
”
“I understand.” Elie knew there was no point in lying to her. Perhaps a dose of openness would work better. “It’s all part of the plan. Religious fanatics love miracles. These Neturay Karta men saw God interfere to save their rabbi from the sniper. They revere Abraham even more now, which helps him do his job, control them, prevent a repeat of our sad history.”
“History doesn’t repeat itself.”
“But Ecclesiastes said:
What happened then shall happen again, and what was done then shall be done again, for there’s nothing new under the sun.
And as you have correctly guessed, what I wanted back then, I still want.”
“Elie Weiss speaks honestly?” Tanya closed the door. “I’m shocked.”
“Do you still have the ledger?”
“Let’s drive. I hate to travel by bus.”
Leaving Tel Aviv behind, they crossed open fields and passed by the airport. The road dropped into a wide valley, approaching the Judean Mountains and a thick layer of clouds. He took his time gathering enough resolve to speak openly to her.
“The wealth,” he said, “which General Klaus von Koenig deposited in Switzerland, was Jewish property. You spent four years with him, so you know how he collected all those precious stones and jewelry.”
She nodded.
“The dead Jews are gone. They’ll never reclaim it. But Israel is their moral heir. Imagine what we could accomplish with such a fortune.”
“You’re right. I’ll hand over Klaus’s ledger to the Ministry of the Treasury.”
Finally! She admitted to possessing the ledger!
Elie knew he had to speak the truth, or her sudden openness would vanish for another twenty years. “In the hands of the government the money will come to nothing. They’ll waste it, pay more bureaucrats. We must use this fortune, which came from the Holocaust, to prevent another Holocaust.”
“How?”
“A formidable, global network of trained agents to monitor Arab leaders and sympathizers, weapon scientists and arms dealers, and those who finance the war against the Jews. We will eliminate our enemies before they manage to hurt us!”
“You’re right,” Tanya said. “I’ll hand it over to the prime minister on the condition that the money is earmarked for Mossad and Shin Bet.”
Elie downshifted and veered to the shoulder, where a convoy of vehicles was assembling for the last leg of the trip to Jerusalem, the steep climb up the mountains, where the slow pace of travel provided easy targets for the Arabs. He glanced at Tanya. Was she teasing him? Rage blurred his eyesight. He should draw his father’s
shoykhet
blade and put it to her throat. But the car came to a stop, the wind disappeared from the open window, and he smelled her delicate perfume. Truth was, he could never bring himself to hurt Tanya Galinski.
He lit a Lucky Strike and drew deeply, holding the smoke for a long moment. “Why are you toying with me?”
“A taste of your own medicine?”
The convoy began to move, and a truck ahead of them spewed a cloud of sooty fumes. Elie drove faster, changing gears to accelerate past the truck.
“You want that fortune,” she said, “as leverage for more power.”
“Power to defend our people. I will prevent another Holocaust.”
“You alone?”
He ignored her sarcastic tone. “I can do a better job than those desk people, who lack the stomach for action. We’re at war, and the world is our battlefield. I’ll get results!”
Tanya looked at him, saying nothing.
“You can work with me as an equal partner, apply your field experience to commanding an international army of agents. You’ll be the most powerful woman in Israel, maybe in the world.”
“I’m happy at Mossad.”
Elie didn’t tell her of his plan to become chief of Mossad, as well. She would find out in due time, become his subordinate, and despite her hostility, she would end up admiring him. “I’ll split the money with you.”
“I don’t need money.” She loosened her hair and retied it in a bun. “But there’s something else I need.”
Was she offering a trade?
A dip in the road caused the car to sway from side to side. Elie struggled to control it.
“Abraham’s son deserves a chance for a normal life.”
Even though her words were uttered without intonation or dramatic gesticulations, Elie knew Tanya had just allowed him a peek into her innermost passion. “Why would he want a normal life? He’s a black hat, lives the good life in Neturay Karta, studies with his friends all day, not a worry in the world. He doesn’t know any better.”
“He does now.”
“So?”
“Tell Abraham to let him go.”
Elie considered this unexpected development. “It won’t be easy. He’s counting on the boy to get married, become a great Talmudic scholar, a leader in the sect.”
“Abraham will obey you.”
The incline slowed down the Deux Chevaux. Elie downshifted to maintain momentum. “What will you do with—what’s his name?”
“Jerusalem. I want him free of their insular religious extremism.”
“He was born into it.”
“And you were born in a kosher butcher shop in a shtetl on the eastern border of Germany. I don’t see you pursuing your birthright.”
“Abraham won’t like it.”
“I want the boy to leave the sect, enlist in the army like any young Israeli, and go on to study in the university. He’ll be a doctor, a scientist, a businessman. He has a good mind.”
“The IDF might decline to draft a religious fanatic.”
“You could pull some strings.”
“I could.” Elie threw the cigarette out the window.
“The day he starts boot camp, I’ll give you Klaus’s ledger.”
Elie downshifted to second gear. The engine struggled uphill, the noise an effective masquerade for the joy in his voice. “How do I know you won’t cross me?”
“I’m not like you.”
“Would you prove your good intentions by telling me the name of the bank?”
“The Hoffgeitz Bank of Zurich. Armande Hoffgeitz signed the ledger as the bank’s president. He and Klaus—”
“Attended boarding school together at Lyceum Alpin St. Nicholas.”
“You’ve done your homework.”
“Information is my business.” Since that night near the Swiss border, Elie had investigated General Klaus von Koenig’s personal history in detail. As a teenager, Klaus had been sent by his parents from Munich to the most prestigious Swiss boarding school in the Alps. Elie had traced each of his classmates, finding twenty-nine who in 1945 had served in senior banking positions. Armande Hoffgeitz was on Elie’s list of possible bankers in possession of the Nazi general’s loot.
“Do we have a deal?”
Elie offered his hand. “I’ll do my part, but what if Abraham refuses?”
“First day of boot camp. Or nothing.”
They shook hands, and when she let go of his hand, Elie gripped the steering wheel to conceal a tremor.
A
fter morning prayers, all the married men lined up in front of Rabbi Gerster to receive their
gelt
—a weekly allowance that sustained the scholars and their families. He handed each man a sealed white envelope containing a sum based on each family’s needs. Only the rabbi knew the source of the
tsedaka
, the charity funds that sustained the sect.
Lemmy went outside to the courtyard, filled with chatty wives who waited for their husbands to come out. The rain had stopped, and a blue window opened in the clouds. His mother was surrounded by bags of children’s clothes. A cluster of mothers picked little shirts and pants, which they measured against their toddlers. Temimah sorted through the bags to help them find the best sizes and colors. When the selection process ended, she collected the remaining clothes into a large sack and handed it to Lemmy. Meanwhile the men emerged from the synagogue and gave their wives the white envelopes.
As always, the women did not leave until the last man came out, followed by Rabbi Gerster. They lined up, and the rabbi blessed each family as they passed before him.