THE GOD OF VENGEANCE
Reb Ali
And why not? He is a Jew, isn't he? And what Jew doesn't know the holy significance of a Scroll? (Drinks.) Your health, your health. And may the Lord send His blessings to His people.
The Scribe, gives his hand to Yekel.
Your health, host. (Admonishing him.) And know, that a Holy Scroll is a wondrous possession. The whole world rests upon a Scroll of the Law, and every Scroll is the exact counterpart of the tablets that were received by Moses upon Mount Sinai. Every line of a Holy Scroll is penned in purity and piety. . . Where dwells a Scroll, in such a house dwells God himself. . . So it must be guarded against every impurity. . . Man, you must know that a Holy Scroll. . .
Yekel, awed; he stammers.
Rebbi, rebbi[1]. . . I want to tell the Rebbi the whole truth, — the honest truth. . . I am a poor sinner. . . Rebbi, I'm afraid. . .
Reb Ali, interrupting Yekel. To the Scribe.
The man is a sincere penitent and it is our duty to befriend him. The Talmud counsels us to. Of course he understands the significance of
[ 25 ]
- ↑ 'Rebbi' is a term usually applied to teachers of Hebrew. It is often interchanged with the more dignified 'Rabbi,' which means, properly, a doctor of Hebrew law. The term 'Reb' is a form of address used by Jews before first names only. Cf. the Spanish 'Don.'
