CHAPTER 29 - Blood Money, Black Candles and a Sad Burial

Sara's Attempted Suicide

The news of Sara’s attempted suicide and of the hunt for Joe, is everywhere.

The next day, blood money is put on Joe’s head by the community, the government having already offered a bounty. Fifty pounds in gold from the Yishuv and double that from the Turks. Fourteen elders of Zikhron are locked up as ransom, to be kept until such time as the wanted man is handed over. Two days are offered for the transaction.

Anti Nili sentiment surges, the entire Yishuv is in a fervour of fury. Hashomer has always viewed the Nili spies with violent opposition and now, after their failure to kill its chief agent, they are boiling over with rage and more determined than ever to capture him.

****

Two Black Candles Stand Before the Ark

Rabbi Kornfeld and a depleted group of men stand in the darkened synagogue, fasting and praying.

Two black candles stand before the open Ark, their flickering flames show the shadowed and anguished faces of the congregation and their Rabbi. Their task, unwilling as they may be, is a hard one. The same dilemma as those accusers of the great Spinoza: to place the mark of Cain, a kherem, upon a Jew whose very existence threatens the morés and life of the whole Yishuv. The exclusion, religious, moral and social, is confirmed by the ritual extinguishing of the candles and a blast from the shofar.

Rabbi Kornfeld intones in a hoarse, mournful voice:

    “Yosef Lishansky is hereby excommunicated by this holy convocation of Israel - we will hunt him like a dog, until we find him, alive or dead!”

The hatred towards him at that time was so intense that Dr. Yaffe’s son Jeremiah would later remember:

‘On that bitter day when Zikhron was surrounded... I was in the synagogue when all the Torah scrolls were taken out of the ark, black-wrapped candles were lit in the middle of the day, the shofar was blown, and a curse was pronounced against Yosef Lishansky... and these were not just words said to placate the Turks. Most of the congregation accepted them as said, for one does not blow shofars and swear falsely before Torah scrolls.’

****

The search is on in all the surrounding areas, from Zikhron to Hadera, down to the sea at Caesarea and Atlit. Not a cave or hidden valley, that is not scoured, not a stone remains unturned.

****

Mendel Awakened in the Middle of the Night

In Hadera, Leo’s brother, young Mendel Schneersohn is awakened in the middle of the night. He is still in his pyjamas when he finds himself under arrest with a number of other men. While looking for his slippers, he remembers that in his pyjama pocket is a letter from Leo, received only the day before.

In that confused group of frightened prisoners, standing outside in the street, he manages to extract scraps torn from the note and slowly swallows them one after the other.

The group are closely interrogated - some sent direct to the prison in Nazareth, others freed, some like Mendel told to go home and remain there for further questioning.

At home, Mendel quickly changes into his clothes and begins methodically to search the house for any communication with Leo or Nili and destroy any incriminating evidence. This time, he is able to dispose of the notes without having to swallow them. 

He awaits his imminent arrest, knowing there is no one who will hide him and nowhere to hide.

For a few days he wanders round like a ghost, invisible it seems to the Hadera community who shut their eyes to him. He knows he is being watched and en route to visit his fiancée in Karkur, he is stopped by two policemen on horses and ordered off his own mount.

He is taken to Zikhron, tied hand and foot, unable to let anyone know where he is going.

His girlfriend is besides herself with worry and blames fugitive Joe for all her woes.

He is also told - untruthfully as it turns out - that Joe has been captured. This bit of news does nothing to allay his apprehension, nor does it permit him to let his guard down.

****

In Zikhron, Mendel is taking to the assembly point - the Turkish prison in the village, still tied hand and foot, watched by any who dare pop their heads out of their windows.

In the interrogation office he is greeted by a sentry who strikes him hard in the face giving him a black eye and quite possibly a broken nose:

    “You English spy,”  shouts that fine officer, “We will kill you like a dog!”

When he is securely locked up and his bonds removed, another officer searches him and quickly relieves him of the twenty pounds that Mendel has brought with him, hoping to secure his release, in the old way. But the old ways are over.

He also demands to see the Commanding Officer, showing his bruised face, declaring that if he is tortured he will find a way to kill himself. His torture is put on hold. The Turks being encouraged to use as much pain as they desire to extract information, but not to actually kill their victims. The death of a prisoner is considered a criminal offence and Mendel is briefly left alone in his cell, nursing his black eye and his wounded pride.

In the morning he is removed from the cell for the journey - along with others - to the prison in Nazareth where he will be held until Joe is found.

As he is dragged, shackled and disorientated, in the early hours of that morning, he sees the surreal sight of piles of Aron’s beloved books and treasured botanical specimens, piled in disarray in the prison courtyard.

****

At the Watchman Settlement at Tel Adas, Shochat’s Watchmen comb the hills looking for Joe.

Joe Crawling through Field

Joe crawling through a deeply ploughed field, his shoulder red and bloody, scratches at a few remnants of corn that remain in the furrows and swallows them whole. He runs into a nearby barn and there hides himself among a dozen hens and some hessian sacks of grain, first using a piece of discarded sacking as a bandage for his suppurating shoulder.

**** 

Turkish Soldiers with Bayonets

Turkish Soldiers with bayonets open the barn door and chickens squawk and scatter as the soldiers randomly bayonet the sacks of grain.

But that Scarlet Pimpernel, Joe is miraculously not discovered, though the sacks underneath which he has been hiding are slashed to pieces, spilling their kernels in a stream onto the floor. Kernels which once the soldiers go, Joe quickly pockets, before the chickens get them, then flees again.

**** 

Mendel with Prisoners in Cell

In Nazareth, Mendel finds himself in an upstairs cell with a number of very dejected fellow Yishuvniks - who have never had anything to do with the spy circle and who demonstrate their anger by ugly whispers and even spitting in the dust at the feet of those they blame for their predicament.

In a corner, coachman Abu Farrid, whose twice injured leg and recently bloodied hands and feet, Mendel tries to clean up with a bucket of filthy water, meant for drinking. He tries too, to give some encouragement to his hostile cell mates, but it is a hopeless situation.

All night, they can hear old man Efraim being beaten by a cudgel - that lovely word - ‘bastinadoed’ - with its less than lovely meaning.

The beating can be heard coming through the wooden floor, from downstairs as well as the muffled and defiant voice of Sara’s father:

    “Sh’ma Israel, Hear Oh Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.’

During his own beatings which follow, Mendel keeps faith, by the example of both Sara and her father and he reveals nothing.

He manages to get a message back to his family in Hadera - requesting money to get him out.

He knows that Nazareth is nothing and what awaits him, should he be sent to Damascus, is a public hanging.

Some of the money goes to that Commanding Officer - a bribe of twenty five pounds to remove his name from the Damascus list. Thirty two of his fellow prisoners are sent to the Syrian-Ottoman capital where certain death awaits them. Mendel is allowed to go free. He is perplexed. Certainly the baksheesh is an element in his freedom, but why him alone? When he returns home he discovers to his horror that his elderly father, Shnir Zvi Hirsch, a very religious man, in a long line of famous rabbis, has been schlepped off to the torture centre. Has his freedom been paid for by his father's incarceration? He rushes to the Turkish office, to try and get old Shnir Zvi out, in the full knowledge that his own appearance might provoke his captors into putting him back behind bars. To his surprise, when he gets there Mendel discovers his father just finishing his prayers and ready to go home. A beaming Shnir Zvi Hirsch explains that the Moudir of Caesarea, an affable, religious man, who supervises various Moslem religious functions and who respects Rav Shnir Zvi as a fellow holy man, has announced to him that Joe has been captured and has confessed everything. He and Mendel are free!

But we jump ahead of ourselves, chronology sometimes jumbled for thematic or other reasons and we must return immediately to Sara.

**** 

Dr. Yaffe Confronts Hassan Bey Yet Again

At the Turkish Government Office in Haifa Dr. Yaffe confronts Hassan Bey yet again, who like an apparently disinterested party, inquires after the health of his quarry. Not through any qualms at her treatment - but for the simple reason that he wants her alive. For the big prize is still to get Sara’s confession and the names attached to that confession.

Dr. Yaffe answers: “Her condition is the same - She needs to be taken to Jerusalem immediately for an operation.

The Kaimakam is insulted: “We also have Turkish surgeons - in Istanbul.”

    “She is not strong enough for such a journey,” says the Doctor and he states quite clearly that he is unable to treat the patient if he is not given the assurance that there will be no further torture inflicted on her.

The Kaimakam rises and for a moment, Dr Yaffe is afraid he may have over stepped the mark.

With a raised hand Hassan Bey motions for him to wait.

He summons two officials and addresses the Doctor again: “In the presence of these government witnesses, I swear to you that if she survives we will not touch her again!”

The poor Doctor is in a quandary, both as a medical man and a human being, for he knows Sara will not get better.

    “And if she does not?” he asks.

    “Then she must stay where she is - until we catch Lishansky,” says the implacable Kaimakam.

 **** 

Blood on the Stones

The Watchman Settlement at Tel Adas. A mountain track. Israel Shochat, Zvi Nadav and Shmulik Hefter and others search for their quarry.

They find blood on some stones. Fresh blood, being investigated by a team of menacing-looking, red, army ants which sting any inquiring fingers.
    
    “It won’t be long,” says Shochat, kneeling in the dust, sucking his sore forefinger and spitting into the dust with with distaste, all the time peering into the distant view with a sweeping, vigilant eye:
    
    “The whole country’s looking for him. He can’t escape.”

But escape, he has - and Shochat's failure to dispatch Joe, sits heavily on them all.

   ****

The Meeting Room in the Synagogue. Zikhron Ya’akov. Rabbi Kornfeld praying fervently with his congregants, for the finding of Lishansky before the deadline runs out. And in silent prayer for God’s help in healing Sara.

Among them the Doctor and his wife and other stalwarts, both for and against the Aronson family. The community is riven. Many are missing from the sad, little gathering as they are still being held in various jails, both in Zikhron and Nazareth. Others do not dare show their faces, having washed their hands of Sara and her suffering - ‘who has brought all this on herself’ - and terrified that any sign of support for the spies will be read as treachery by the Turks.

Adele, Perl and co. are certainly not there, huddled in their homes, nursing their hatred of the Nili spies behind shaking hands and spilled cups of black tea, believing themselves to be fully justified in their harsh behaviour. They do not see themselves as harridans - but proud, middle-class woman, educated and disciplined. All have escaped Europe in conditions of dire distress - poverty, persecution or pogrom. Some arrived as orphans, others with missing family members, all never to see their left behind families again. They have worked all their lives to turn this barren backwater into a thriving community. Drained those proverbial swamps, borne children, dug the soil. They have nowhere else to go and Sara’s actions have threatened all their hard earned security and peace.

Dr. Yaffe writes of his shock at how vehement some of the population are - including plenty of young people: ‘All evening young men and even children have been going house to house looking for Lishansky,’ he writes.‘The whole business is strange and terrible!’

The Three Days are Over

The Rabbi completes his service just as Izi enters breathlessly shaking his head:

    “Nothing. He‘s vanished!” he declares.

    “The three days are over,” sighs the Rabbi in deep despair.

The Doctor’s wife begins to wail, exclaiming: “Now they will murder us all!”

**** 

Sara Tended by Toba

Sara, eyes shut, in her bedroom, tended by Toba with her baby.

Sara opens her eyes and whispers, though the words are hard to make out:

    “Have they found him yet?”

Toba shakes her head, tears in her eyes:

    “No, dearest Sara - we must live in hope.”

The baby cries and Toba feeds her, shushing the little one with a lullaby:

    “Numi, Numi, Sleep, sleep, my little one.  Sleep, sleep, my little one.”

And holding Sara’s cold hand, she sings to her too:   

    “Sleep, sleep... 

Daddy went to the vineyards - He went, Daddy went. 
 He’ll return when the stars come out - 
He’ll bring you grapes! 

 Sleep, sleep... 

Daddy went to the orchard - 
He went, Daddy went. He’ll return in the evening with the wind - 
 He’ll bring an apple! Sleep, sleep...”

Sara shuts her eyes and for a moment, all seems peaceful. As if she is merely sleeping.

****

The neighbours have slowly left her bedside - their fear of the consequences so severe, their perception of threat, too strong. Only Toba and Sara Hinda, Zvi’s wife, are brave enough to remain on constant vigil. Zvi is still being held in prison in Nazareth but Sara Hinda does not let her anxiety for his well-being, turn into anger against her beloved sister in law. 

Sara's Sister in Law Sarah Hinda & Yardena at Sara’s Bedside

She comes to Sara’s bedside with her eight-year-old daughter, Yardena, who loves her aunt very much.

When Yardena sees her dear aunt, so ill and silent, she cries bitterly, big tears plopping onto her pretty cheeks.

When Sara Hinda goes to make a drink for her sister in law, Sara beckons her niece to her bedside and gestures for her to sit.

    “Don’t cry, darling girl,” she whispers in her new, hoarse voice, “There is nothing for you to cry about. It will all be alright.”

Then she struggles to pull herself upright and whispers in the child’s ear: “Try and find my blue skirt. There is a letter in the pocket. If you can tear it to pieces and throw it on the fire, without anyone seeing, I’ll be happy.”

When Sara Hinda comes in with the cooled herbal tea, she is surprised to see Yardena smiling and holding her aunt’s hand.

**** 

Sara's Condition Worsens

On Sunday, October 7th, Dr. Yaffe writes: ‘Sara’s temperature is climbing. Her condition is terrible. She begs ceaselessly to be given poison, that she might die and be put out of her suffering. Naturally, I refuse. In the evening I give her an injection of morphine and that quiets her. In the settlement there is complete panic. The period for handing over Lishansky has expired, but Lishansky has vanished.’

The exhausted Doctor is at his wit’s end but he is professional, to the last.

‘Monday, 8th of October. Sara’s condition is very bad. I visited her three times in the night. She keeps pleading to die. Her temperature rises. Consciousness is limited and she drifts in and out of awareness. At three in the morning she cries out that she is terrified she is going mad.’

Avshalom's Bright, Beautiful Face

Sara talks then of Avshalom and seems to see his bright face and beautiful body, galloping into the desert on his horse.

    “Absa!? Is it raining?!” she asks.

**** 

Sara on her Deathbed

On Tuesday, 9th of October, Sara is close to death. Toba and Sara Hinda, tears running down their cheeks like rain, at her bedside.

Sara whispers: “Let me die, only let me die!”

Dr. Yaffe records: ‘All Sara’s relatives come to bid her farewell. She begs them to take care of her poor, old father. Her last wish is that they should free Efraim, ‘because he has never been guilty of any crime’.  She sits up for a moment, pale and lucid, then falls on the bed without moving.’

At eight o’clock in the morning Sara is dead.

Dr. Yaffe reports: ‘I write a death certificate, Adel Bey and I both sign. I also sign, together with the two German nurses, a declaration affirming Sara’s last, urgent request: that her father be freed.’

****

We hear the sound over of rain pattering on the roof and see Sara’s broken body being wrapped in swathes of mosquito netting by Toba and Sara Hinda.

The netting, has been torn down from the windows, no fabric to make a shroud is available.

The funeral, will, as is customary in Jewish Law, be held on the same day as her death.

Sara will be buried next to Malka’s grave.

**** 

Zikhron Ya'acov Cemetery

Zikhron Cemetery. The earth is damp with the first rain of the season. The family has gathered - Toba, Sara Hinda and Yardena, and other cousins - and so have many friends, neighbours and acquaintances who up to now have stayed away. Despite the threats of Turkish reprisal, they will later say that nothing could keep them away from the farewell to one of their own. It is as if Sara’s death has broken the spell of fear, recrimination and panic that engulfed the community.

Dr. Yaffe is there as is the Rabbi, but many of the notables are nursing their injuries in Turkish confinement. To everyone’s shock and surprise, sobbing Ayla, having heard the news, has also come from Tantura.

Ayla at the Graveside

When they arrive at the cemetery, the grave has not yet been dug. It takes another hour of digging in that stony, recalcitrant soil now riven by small rivulets. For the whole time, the little crowd stands in silence. Umbrellas open and shut like bats’ wings. Only the sound of metal hitting rock, the gentle splashing of raindrops and the tears of the women.

There were those who said that Sara’s face, when glimpsed beneath that mosquito netting shroud, was smiling, and beautiful to behold. That all signs of injury and torment had miraculously disappeared.

Malka's Grave

All follow Sara’s coffin to the newly dug grave, next to Malka’s, at the edge of the cemetery boundary.

A person who takes their own life cannot be buried in a Jewish graveyard.

The Doctor and the Rabbi, shovel the last handfuls of soil over the grave. There is no family member to say Kaddish. Efraim, Zvi, Aron, Alexander and Sam, all are absent.

Little Ayla utters a piercing cry - an ululation of pure grief and sorrow.

The date is the 23rd day of Tishri. The day of the beginning of a new cycle of Torah readings.

Rain Falls on Sara's Newly Dug Grave

As the grave is closed, the rain begins to fall in earnest. Huge drops plop onto the thirsty earth. The first rain of the new year. As if the earth is crying even as it rejoices.

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