Deliverance: Part One of the Flavius Josephus Journal

Part One of the Trilogy

With the arrival of 2012, the release of my latest book is about to take place. In fact it's early release is on the publisher's website at http://sbpra.com/AllenEGoldenthal/ but the book is also available from Amazon Books and Barnes and Noble. Most people are aware of the history of the Roman Jewish War that ended fatally on the mountain top Masada after seven years of fighting. But history isn't about recorded events as they transpired. Real history is about the people that initiated those events, establiishing the patterns in which they unfolded. It is about the mechanisms behind the world stage, behind the closed and sealed doors, the raw emotions that led to both good and bad decisions. Amongst Jewish teachings, the reputation of Joseph ben Matthias, commonly referred to as Flavius Josephus is one of traitor, liar, and deceiver. Jewish analysts have blamed him for not only the loss of the war but for the end of Jewish civilization as it existed 2000 years ago. Harsh accusations to lay at the feet of a single person, and illogical if one actually studies the history and recognizes that the bitter squabbles, infighting, and selfish motivations of those pursuing control of the Jewish forces were actually to blame. But the rabbis had another motive for casting the blame on Josephus, a far more personal motivation. After all, he was born of a priestly family, his Sadducee inheritance was enough to condemn him in their eyes even though he professed to have Pharisee sympathies. But it was not the Sadducees that caused the downfall of Jewish civilzation. Throughout the war they stood as the peacemakers, desperately trying to find a peaceful solution between East and West. In reality, the people were inflamed by the Pharisees, the early progenitros of the rabbis, to resist any truce, leading them to falsely believe that God would intercede and provide the people with victory. And after these rabble rousing rabbis ultimately drew the blades across the exposed throat of the Jewish nation, they were the first to run from the battle, concerned with only saving their own lives, as evidenced by their illustrious sage, Yohanan ben Zakkai, concealing himself in a coffin to escape the doomed city of Jerusalem, leaving behind the victims of his rebellious incitements to face the final assault by Titus. As he and his students, specifically chosen to be the bearers of his coffin fled from the face of danger and thereby pass through the lines of the Roman army, a city burned and tens of thousands died.
Meanwhile, Josephus desperately tried to use his influence with Titus's father, Emperor Vespasian, to stay the hand of the young general from utterly destroying his people. Without concern for his own safety, he managed to secure the safety of several thousand. Two of those people that he rescued were Martha bat Elioneai, the widow of Jeshua ben Gamaliel and her son Joseph. My ancestors, who then headed east into Parthia where my family established itself for a further eight centuries. One might say I have a debt of gratitude to Flavius Josephus, for whom my family would not have survived and I would not have been born. It was he that insured my family survived, not Yohanan ben Zakkai and his band of cowardly rabbis.
But what kind of man would plead for the lives of thousands of Jews, risking his own safety, fully exposed to the arrows and stones shot down from the parapets and towers of Jerusalem by its Jewish defenders? What kind of man could transition from the greatest tactical general of the Jewish armies to the attempted peacemaker walking between two nations but accepted by neither. Who was this man that four years prior to the start of the war was sent on a secret mission by the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem into the heart of the Roman Empire? How did a young man move freely through the palaces of Rome, dine at Nero's table, watch the burning of Rome in August of 64 AD, only to lead an army that became the greatest threat to the survival of an Empire? Deliverance provides a view into those secretive years which ultimately changed the world.

The Prologue

I have attached the prologue to my book. I hope it will wet your appetites and give you a taste of things to come:
There is a stench to all that is Roman. A decaying, gnawing foul odour that eats at your innards until your belly is swollen with gall. For all that is Roman is not to be considered enlightened, or precious, or inspiring, or deserving to be praised and cherished. Instead it is a festering sore, which rots from the center outwards until there is no flesh left to feed upon. If ever there was a crime against humanity, it is their crime of ignorance, their inability to understand neither the world they rule nor the people they have conquered.
Its legions come offering gifts of civilization and Prometheus’ fire but they choose to never comprehend how those they have come to embrace find no solace or comfort in their offerings. This has truly been the sin of Rome’s emperors and senators from their time of conception. Though desired, they can never understand that which they have lusted can never be fulfilled because one man’s passion is another’s hatred. This is Rome’s true gift to the world, hate; a fiery, all consuming, unimaginable hatred that is destined to leave millions dead in its wake.
Remember well the day that wind from the west came to the far eastern shores of our great sea, not as an army to pillage but as a friend, specifically asked to give aid to a battered priest. Our priest-king Hyrcanus, embattled in a war against his own brother in a never ending struggle to wrestle the kingdom and the throne. And remember it well that when the dust had finally settled, there was no longer a kingdom, but a province, ruled not by either of the two brothers, but by a vassal that danced a merry jig to the songs sung by generals and imperators of the most powerful empire that ever ruled. And recall that when these vassals proved weak and inefficient, they were replaced by men of the equestrian order, knights of Rome, that were sent to this far corner of the world so that they could reward themselves with treasures, rape our women and desecrate our most holy of places. Remember them well, for they have reduced us to this pitiful state where we are beggars in our own land.
And none have shown us favor since the first of the procurators was gifted by Tiberius to herald our doom. Neither Caligula, nor Claudius, nor Nero that has followed saw it any differently. We are to be made to suffer by the hands of this breed of men that they have sent to rule over us as their procurators. Cruel and spiteful, bitter as this land of rock and hot sand that they have been rewarded with as their prize for all the years they have served dutifully. This bitterness has turned their hearts black and these men of the aristocracy, these nobles of ancient families have turned their venom against the very people they rule. They line our roads with crosses from one horizon to the other with the corpses of our people hanging until the flesh is eaten by the birds that dot the sky overhead.
Where are our leaders to raise their voices against such atrocities? Our messiahs to bring a strong right arm against such brutality. Too many have fallen beneath the mighty hand that these procurators wield, and too many have been clamped in chains and sent to Rome, to stand before the Emperor to answer for crimes they have committed against this evil and corrupt Empire.
Now is such a time. Now is the time for us to fight for all that we believe in. This is where our war begins. We are at the junction when all that lives under oppression will rise in a single voice to shout that we will not suffer any longer. We will not remain helpless victims of a foreign occupation. It is time for all men to finally look deep within themselves and find that inner strength that long ago separated us from the beasts of the field. There is but one word that whispers over and over in our heads until we cannot hold it inside any longer and have to shout it out loudly for the entire world to hear. We cry out for freedom, and when enough of the people shout that word together in unison, then we will become a force that will settle for nothing less than achieving that dream. There are those of you that say we are not ready. The time has not yet come. The Lord God has not sent us a sign. I say to thee, nay! He has sent us a thousand signs; a thousand upon thousands but we have been blinded by our own ignorance. And even if the Almighty has been deaf to our plight, when he hears the shouts of our voices for freedom, he will be deaf no longer! Let the Empire of Rome tremble in our wake. Let all who bring death and destruction to the seed of Abraham know that in so doing they curse themselves. We are the children of Israel, and we have no master to lord above us but God. And with a mighty hand He will crush our enemies. Hear me my brothers. The breath and spirit of the Lord shall lead you!
Hallelujah!
Jonathan Cayapha

The Great Karaite Debate: Part 4

For the purpose of this part of the debate we will shift our focus to Russia. Only because Dan Ross spends a lot of time in Acts of Faith, discussing the Russian influence on Karaism. And since my family was Galicz or residing in Galicia, that means that the Russian sphere directly affected us. Ross provides a brief history of the Russian experience, beginning with Catherine the Great,whom as he mentions was quite tolerant of the Jews within her Empire, though she did confine them to the Pale Settlement and made Jewish merchants pay a double taxation. So I guess it's how you define tolerance and Dan Ross's definition might be slightly different than mine. I would think of her more as a lesser evil. Then surprisingly in 1795 she exempted the Karaties whom lived predominantly around the Black Sea, permitting them to have ownership of their own land and not requiring them to pay the double tax. Her justification was that the Karaites around the Black Sea didn't resemble the Jews of the motherland. They were taller, resembled the Tartars and many even spoke a Tartar dialect. This exemption proved to be one of the major sore points between the Rabbanites and Karaites in Russia. The Rabbanites resented the relaxed proscriptions against the Karaites and in their own minds convinced themselves that this unexpected leniency extended to the Karaites was an act of betrayal by the Karaites towards their fellow Jews. Like two brothers, where one enjoys good fortune and the other is in a meaningless, exhausting job in a constant downard spiral, the level of resentment and jealousy by the one brother whom considers himself disadvantaged knows no bounds and even though illogical, the one holds the other responsible for all the hardships he's encountered. Though Ross never directly places the blame for the rift on the Rabbanites, the fact is that his description of the events of the time period he certainly points in that direction. In 1827 and 1828, all the Karaites in the Empire were exempted from the draft. It was the start of many privileges to follow such as free land, independent religion status, the right to hold government positions, and equal status to the Russian Muslims. It was too much for the Rabbanites to bear and it was all the Karaite's fault!



The Year was 1839
Ross identifies 1839 as the year when the rift became irreparable. He blames it all on one man, Abraham Firkovitch. True, Firkovitch was a bit radical in his approach, and even as a Karaite I will say that he was mistaken in a lot of his assumptions, but right or wrong Abraham Firkovitch brought Karaism back into the limelight and gave new life to a religious body that was in desperate need of resuccitation. But 1839 was a strange year for all concerned. And it was the result of several men, not just Firkovitch.

According to Ross, Firkovitch was described as a scholar, archeologist and forger. The latter because of documents that Rabbanite scholars refused to accept as genuine. But recently, it has been shown that some of these documents they doubted are the genuine article. A Polish Jew from Lutsk, Firkovitch was hired by the Russian government to take a teaching job in Odessa's Jewish Community. One might think it strange that a Karaite was hired to teach in the Rabbanite School system but it must be remembered the only Jews that could hold government appointed positions at the time were Karaite Jews. A policy that would directly involve my third great grandfather Jakob Goldenthal as I will later explain. While in Odessa, Firkovitch became involved with the Odessa Historical Society and asked to assemble a dossier on Karaite history. He quickly obtained all the necessary passports and authorizations to travel through Russia and the Middle East, gatthering Karaite books and tombstone rubbings, most of which is now located in the Russian National Museum in Leningrad (St. Petersburg). Firkovitch was obsessed with proving that the Karaites were descendants of the Khazars (http://hubpages.com/hub/Khazar) and as mistaken as this belief was, since Karaites predated the Khazars, though as my hub suggests may have had a direct influence on these Tartar warriors, he tampered with dates and names on the documents he found in order to support his claims. His adaptations did warrant the accusation of tampering but forgery would imply the entire document was a fabrication and they were not; these were genuine documents and therefore their remaining content should be appreciated as such. And of course, as my hubs on the Khazars suggest, Firkovitch didn't have to commit forgery, had he done his investigations deeper he would have seen that there was existing material to sugget that the Khazars were indoctrincated by Karaites originally and only after their dispersal several hundred years later became part of Rabbanite Judaism, along with Christianity, Islam and Crimean Karaites. Ross makes a statement that the Khazars must have been Rabbanites in origin since a document was uncovered in the Cairo Geniza that is in both Hebrew and Khazar ruins and since the synagogue was Rabbanite, therefore the document must be so as well. Had Ross given the full story, he would have revealed that a wealth of not only Karaite documents but early Judeo-Christian document copies were uncovered in the Genizah. I presume he had a reason for not revealing this well known fact.

But 1839 had more significance than just the advent of Firkovtch. Russia had instituted a policy of 'Russianizing' all its Jews, attempting to make the Rabbanites more like their Karaite brethren and therefore valued citizens of the motherland. Czar Nicholas I considered that it was the system of education of Jewish children with its distinct religious and quasi-national (Jewish nation) programmes which discouraged intimate relations between Jews and Christians and kept the Jews both separate and feared by most Russians. Czar Nicholas felt that in exchange for 'Russianizing' his Jewish citizens he would improve their social condition. He therefore consented to the initiation of school reforms to achieve this goal, but his changes were seen by the Rabbaniet Jews as an attempt by the Czar to converst of them to Christianity. This is in spite of the fact that they merely had to look at their Karaite brethren whom had benefitted greatly from this give-and-take relationship with the Russian authorities and were not pressured at all to covert to Christianity. So instead of embracing this opportunity the Rabbanites begrudgingly had the school reform forced upon them with the view that it was anti-Jewish reformation. Nicholas still tried to obtain the cooperation of the Rabbanites, appointing Count Uvarov to head the process, knowing that the Count was seen as a true friend of the Jews. The Czar did have one stipulatin though and that was that the Jews be taught agricultural pursuits so that they could become farmers as well as tradesmen and intellectuals. There is no doubt that this would have been a wise undertaking as farmers were granted numerous privileges in the payment of taxes, and they and their descendants were freed from military service for a period of fifty years. Unfortunately, what should have been a good thing was perceived by the Rabbis as another attempt to eliminate the Jew from society. Farming was a seven day a week profession, requiring constant attention and therefore the new generation would not have time to perform their Talmudic studies nor sit for one day a week in the synagogue where the rabbis felt they belonged. And besides, the Jews were forbidden to hire Christians to work for them and this was an obvious attempt by the government to force them onto the land on the Sabbath and prevent them from attending the synagogue. As far as the rabbis were concerned this was an obvious trap and they were determined to resist it.

Count Uvarov's first success was in Odessa which was already established and recognised as a liberal Jewish community a fact that might have been influenced by its substantial Karaite population. In fact, even before Uvarov's reformist changes, there already existed a modern Jewish school established in 1826. It originally contained four classes; Jewish subjects, mathematics, calligraphy, Russian and German. And even though the school was under the management of a director and school board whose appointment had to be sanctioned by the governor-general of Russia it was not seen as a government attempt to convert the Jews of Odessa. With only one exception the instructors were all Jews, either Austrian or German, and the text-books used were all German. The expenses of the school were provided for by an initial appropriation of 9,000 rubles and an annual appropriation of 7,600 rubles for maintenance. It was considered a huge success and the model that Uvarov would use to convince the Jews of other cities to attend. There were still problems, even in Odessa, with its enlightened Jewish community, as the Orthodox Rabbanites declared it a menace to Orthodox Judaism and tried to have it shut down, petitioning the governor Count Pahlen that it was an unnecessary institution and that their self-run Hebrew schools were sufficient for Jewish subjects, and that German and Russian could be acquired elsewhere. Count Pahlen, who's only goal was to help the community grew tired of the rabbis' constant attempt to undermine the process and threatened them to desist or bear the consequences. They did, having no other choice and the school proved a great success. A decade later, following the example of Odessa the Jewish community of Kishinev established a school, which it placed under the direction of Dr. JakobGoldenthal. And in 1838 a similar school was founded in Riga under the direction of Dr. Max Lilienthal. The curriculum of the Riga school as outlined by its founders included, among other subjects, reading, penmanship, grammar, and history (Russian). The principal, according to the program, was to be an alien of Jewish faith, "educated in the spirit of true learning." According to an official report of July 18, 1840, the school had prospered. And thus, 1839 became the great turning point not only because of Firkovtich but with the arrival of Goldenthal and Lilienthal as well.


Goldenthal and Lilienthal
Two more dissimilar men you couldn't find to be principals of Government operated Jewish schools. In fact, though well acquainted with one another, neither would ever talk about the other, having possibly viewed one another as adversaires rather than colleagues. It is never commented upon but how two individuals of such prominence could work practically side by side and never make a single reference to the other for the remainder of their lives is a testimony to their mutual resentment. Goldenthal, as one would assume, shared many of the beliefs I currently hold. After all, the apple doesn't fall very far from the tree. Lilienthal, on the other hand, was a reformer, but still Talmudic in his training. There was a calculated logic to Count Uvarov's selection event though at first it would appear entirely illogical. As recorded, Lilienthal was considered an alien of the Jewish faith, committed to the true spirit of learning, wheras Goldenthal was considered to be a true citizen of mother Russia, though Brody was an independent city that did not belong to Russia at the time. But more importantly, unlike the spirit of true learning of his counterpart, he was considered the pragmatist and most of all a hybrid of the Karaite and Rabbanite worlds.

Max Lilienthal was a German Jew; a rabbinically trained German Jew at that. Jakob Goldenthal was a classically trained Galicz Jew, the son of a line of prominent rabbis, who took the public purse designated to send him to rabbinical school in Leipzig and instead enrolled himself in the secular University of Leipzig where he studied Oriental and Romance languages and literature. The price on his head for absconding with the public coffers from the Brody Jewish community meant that he could never go back and to Lilienthal he would have viewed him as a traitor to his people. It is of interest that there is some confusion with the dates concerning the school in Kishinev. Whereas the accounts by Uvarov say the school was established around 1839, most archival records on Goldenthal say that he was still in Leipzig that year and didn't go to Kishenev unti 1843, long after Lilienthal was principal in Riga. There are some problems with this chronology. Firstly, if the archival records on Goldenthal were correct it would have meant that he spent eight years in Leipzig, which would be an excessively long time in the first half of the 19th century for someone to obtain their doctorate. But the archival record is based on his publishing record and just because he published articles and books through his Leipzig editor during that period did not necessarily mean he lived there. Because as we also know he had books published in Paris, France those same years and he certainly did not live in France. Further indications that Goldenthal preceded Lilienthal was the policies in place in Kishenev that Lilienthal insisted had to be abolished if he was to take the Principal position in Riga.

Under Goldenthal, instruction in the Talmud was not part of the school curriculum in Kishinev. The argument being that the Talmud fostered numerous evils and anti-Christian sentiment, to which Goldenthal with his Karaite origins would have entirely been in agreement with. Lilienthal objected to this policy due to his Rabbanite training and he managed to get a conciliation from Uvarov that Talmudic teaching would be included, but it was to be nominal only, and it would be ultimately discontinued if during the Government audits it was found that anti-Christian polemics in the Talmud were still being taught. Uvarov also conceded to Lilienthatl that two rabbincial schools, one in Wilna and another in Jitomir for the training of rabbis wouldestablished but the schools would be operated by Christian principals. Though Uvarov hoped his policies with the Rabbanite communities would achive the same success that had been achieved within the Karaite communities he was confronted by a solid wall of distrust and anxiety in the minds of the rabbinical Jews, who always suspected that there were ulterior motives and that they were not being told the true government's intentions. Uvarov was actually dismayed. Though Goldenthal was a logical choice having governmental approval due to his Karaite standing, and his modernistic approach to life, he knew that he would be resented by the Rabbanites and for that reason Lilienthal was hired in order to be a counterbalance. Progressive, reform and therefore modern in his thinking, Uvarov saw the German Jew as the perfect foil for Goldenthal and as a Rabbanite, someone that would be readily accepted by the Jewish community. Moreover, certain laws were enacted simultaneously with the opening of the schools, and also later, that likewise awakened fear among the Jews. Furthermore, he failed to understand that the forbidding of certain observances that were nothing more than habits and customs made sacred only by traditions that had no religous ordination and therefore were unimportant in themselves would cause the rabbis to practically rebel in their refusal to abandon their instruction. Most of these had to do with clothes and attire that Goldenthal expressed were not dictated at any time in the Torah and were merely the imposed habits of these rabbis over time. To Uvarov none of this made sense as he felt blending in would have been a major advancement to reducing anti-Jewish sentiment and because it had no religious basis to appear different, he had assumed the Jews would welcome the opportunity. Matters did not improve between the Russian government and the Jewish populations when in 1843 the Jews were ordered removed from living on the borders with Prussia and Austria, two countries that had become openly hostile to the Russian Empire. The justification was that the Jewish communities in these areas were supplying both enemy countries with food and materials an accusation that most likelyh was true since Jews in these areas favoured unification with the German empires over that of Russia. Furthermore, many of those Jews that were removed suffered economic ruin which also suggested that much of their trade was being engaged with the Germans rather than with Russian clientelle. .

What both Goldenthal and Lilienthal found they had to deal with was the dilemma of the Jewish population of the Northwestern provinces insisting on strict interpretation of the Talmud and close adherence to religious dogma, while the Jews in the South-western provinces leaned toward a liberal interpretation of the religious laws. Then there were those small parties of Jews of which Goldenthal was a leading voice that advocated European education. Those within the Rabbanite community that were eager to receive this European education found it necessary to hide their inclinations, perusing non-Jewish books in cellars or attics to escape detection by their families and friends.

Examined outside this prejudicial atmosphere, Count Uvarov's intentions were admirable and in his report to the Czar he expressed his view that "radical reforms are imperative for the education of the growing generation of Russian Jews." He complained that repressive measures against the Jews had failed to achieve any beneficial results, and then pointed out the excellent effects humanitarian measures such as those extended to the Karaites and other minorities had achieved. The suggestions in the report were all approved whole heartedly by Nicholas, who wrote on the margin of the report, "These deductions are correct." Czar Nicholas went as far as requesting that his ministers all acquaint themselves with the condition of the Jews in order to make possible the enactment of proper laws. Having concerns that the reaction to Dr. Goldenthal amongst the Rabbanite communites might be hostile, Uvarov commissioned Dr. Lilienthal to visit the various centers of Jewish settlement in the Pale in order to determine their attitude toward the proposed measures, and allay existing suspicion as to the intentions of the government. From the circular letter issued by Count Uvarov it was already evident that the Jewish rabbis and their congregations regarded with animosity the establishment of the Jewish schools in Odessa, Kishinev, and Riga, and believed that the principals of these schools, such as Goldenthal, intended to lead the Jewish youth away from Judaism. It only reaffirmed Uvarov's choice to send Lilienthal to the communities as offical government representative, a move which would have likely been met with some resentment by Goldenthal and further fostering the animosity between the two primary personalities responsible for carrying out Uvarov's plan.

Exactly what Count Uvarov's plan entailed was as follows: The schools would be divided into two classes—higherand lower. The higher classes would be established in the cities and would contain the equivalent of the first four or five grades of a classical gymnasium. The lower schools would be established in district towns and would ultimately replace the Jewish private schools. Uvarov proposed a committee of rabbis and scholars to preside over these schools and they were to be known as the "Commission for the Education of the Jews of Russia." Czar Nicholas approved of the plan but added in his own handwriting, "I approve of it on condition that the commission shall consist of no more than four rabbis, one from each of the provinces in which Jews are permitted to reside." Though a Rabbanite himself, Lilienthal found that Goldenthal was not without his reason for trying to limit Talmudic education in the government schools. When visiting Wilna, Lilienthal found that the Jews of that city were "familiar with Talmudic and rabbinical lore, but very ignorant of other learning and without much knowledge of the modern branches of science; full of prejudice and narrow-mindedness, and steeped in wild, absurd Ḥasidism which passes all understanding" which he recorded for posterity. With much effort he was able to convince the leaders of the community that the school would not be a menace to their religion and that when they agreed there would be an annual stipend of 5,100 rubles paid by the government toward the support of the institution. Lilienthal then traveled to Minsk where he was met by a very determined opposition by the Rabbis. Lilienthal then returned to Wilna but found in his absence that the opposition there had gained strength and the community withdrew its promise and expressed that they would do whatever it took to discredit Lilienthal's efforts elsewhere. The minority in favor of modern education made matters worse by its belligerent attitude. Lilienthal left Wilna and was sent by Uvarov to the Baltic where his efforts were more successful but most likely due to the strong presence of Karaites there which would have served as an example to their Rabbanite neighbours.
By now the reader should realize that the schools established according to Uvarov's plans did not meet with the intended success. Lilienthal blamed it all on the scarcity of competent instructors and insisted that it was the fault of foreign Jews, meaning Germans like himself, not being appointed as instructors. This was likely a direct slap at Goldenthal whom by now he considered an obstacle to the process. Lilienthal actively engaged about 200 foreign Jewish teachers but he did this without the authority or approval of the governemtn. Whether the result of Jakob Goldenthal insisting that qualified Jewish teachers could be found in Russia itself, or Goldenthal's fear that any foreign teachers would definitely be rabbinic and therefore fully immersed in the Talmud, the government authorities demanded that Lilienthal only employ Russian natives, parroting Goldenthal that enough Jewish instructors could be found in Russia itself. Beside these obvious differnces of opinion amongst the designated leaders of the Jewish schools, there also was the issue of a growing animosity of the Jewish population, which regarded the Principals and their instructors as traitors to their religion, and, fearing them as representatives of the government. The fact that Goldenthal still had an outstanding warrant from the city of Brody for his absconding with the community purse did not help the matter and the rabbis were always ready to express their enmity towards him. The jewish community also resented the fact that the Principals and teachers along with their children were not subject to military service. The situation grew worse when the Jews began accusing the Principals of extending their privilege to more distant family members and demanding that they be charged with obstruction of the conscription process. The situation was only to grow worse.

The Escape Clause
As the situation worsened, both between the government and the Jewish communities as well as between the two Principals, Goldenthal and Lilienthal, it became apparent that something had to change. Which would break first became the issue between these two stalwarts of Jewish education? It turned out that Lilienthal was first to throw in the towel. When the opportunity became available for a new rabbi to lead the congregation in Odessa, Max Lilienthal saw this as an opportunity to return to his rabbinical roots. Having seen Odessa as progressive and modernistic, embracing the new educational system unlike the other communities, he thought his appointment would be without incident. But what he found instead was his association with Uvarov and Goldenthal had left him tainted. It was one thing to be a government official promoting educational reform but to try and be the head rabbi of an established congregation was completely another matter all together. How could someone that was a government stooge be relgious enough to be the community's rabbi. Openly venting their hostility, Lilienthal resigned in the face of growing resentment from the congregation and shortly after arrived in America where he became a reform Rabbi at two separate New York temples.

The records go fairly quiet on Dr. Jakob Goldenthal. There is the official statement that in 1843 he became the Principal for all the Jewish Districts of the Ukraine Pale, which would have been expected following the resignation of Lilienthal, but unlike Lilienthal's travel records and biographical notes, there are none detailing what Goldenthal did for the next three years. It can be assumed that he pushed hard towards having Count Uvarov's initial plan imposed which meant that Talmudic learning was being removed from any formal programs, as well as the introduction of Russian Christian teachers for the non-religious subjects, as both of these are registered as complaints during the time period by leaders of the Jewish communities. But even more so, there was growing evidence that the entire plan of Jewish government shools was meeting with failure. The situation only grew worse when Goldenthal, seeing himself faced with the near impossibility of rectifying the situation applied and obtained the postion of professor at the University of Vienna in 1846. Count Uvarov and his plan would have to carry on without him.

So of the three major personalities affecting the Jews of Russia during this five year period, only one remained, that being Abraham Firkovitch. So contrary to Dan Ross's assertion that the entire schism between these two religious sects was the result of alienation of the Karaites under the instruction of Firkovitch and the extension of special privileges to the Karaites by the government that were not similarly extended to the Rabbanites the truth of the matter is that one sect seized the opportunity when it was presented to them and the other did nothing but place obstacles in the way of those that were specifically trying to help them. Though the accusation was made that Goldenthal was not representing their interests and that Lilienthal was nothing more than a traitor to his rabbinical roots, the fact remained that had the communities attempted to cooperate, their impoverished and 'alien' situation would have in most likelihood improved dramatically and the history following that point would have been very different indeed!

Shadows of Trinity on the Shelf

Nothing heavy to write about today. Just good news that Shadows of Trinity has made it on to its first bookshelf. That's a big day as any author who's books are sold through elecronic web based outlets can tell you. Mind you, it's only one local store but it is part of the Take Note chain and Paper Plus chain so there's always the potential if it does well in one store it will start spreading through the chain until it's in hundreds of stores around the country. Every book has to begin its life somewhere and now that Shadows of Trinty has had its baptism, we will have to watch and see what a little publicity can do.

Therefore I Am

One would think the words are self-evident. Perhaps even rhetorical and obvious. Yet the more I encounter life, the more I recognize how few of us know where, who or even why we are. Somewhere through life we became unteathered from that which we we want to be. We adopt causes thinking they will give us purpose only to be disappointed when we find that they are not solutions but enigmas in their own right. How is it that we have drifted so far from the core of our existence that we have become strangers in time merely passing through the cosmos of eternity.
Once upon a time "I AM" had meaning and substance. God knew what it meant when he spoke to Moses from the burning bush declaring, "I AM THAT WHICH I AM." He was the everything, the totality of existence. There at the beginning, the middle and the end. There was no doubt in his omnipotent mind of his purpose or his existence. And for the longest time mankind was satisfied that it could be nurtured by its relationship with the Almighty and be certain of its own purpose and existence. But following the Renaissance, the reassurance of purpose and fulfillment became lost in a changing world of science and exploration. That which had grounded us to our past was no longer capable of securing us in the future. Doubts arose and soon people felt lost in the propensity for dynamic change. A new edict was required and thankfully Descartes gave man the ring upon which to grasp and find safe harbour. "I THINK THEREFORE I AM" and once again mankind had something to believe in, a value system upon which to ground his morality. He had himself, the limitless boundaries of his own mind and he reveled in the greatness that man could aspire to.
How long could mankind believe in itself? Not long before the doubts arose once more. With science the ability to destroy and obliterate became increasingly simplistic and soon that same principle which Descartes espoused to the glorification of mankind was now threatening its very survival. The more man thought, the more powerful became his engines of destruction. The Great Wars came and now more than ever mankind pondered his place and purpose in the universe. Science was a false god, feeding the wants and desires but failing to nourish the individual's need to know, 'Why'.
When all appeared lost, there came a single spark of enlightenment from an inconspicuous voice nestled between the two great wars. He represesnted the courage, the youth and vitality of the best of those nations that fought against the tyrrany of the oppressors. He rode the seas, daring the elements and braving the storms of heaven and earth. And though his voice was soft he spoke those immortalize words that Moses first heard from the Creator himself. "I YAM WHAT I YAM". So said Popeye the Sailor Man. Was that truly the best we had to offer?
There is a moral to this story, a purpose and reason that I have told it. More and more I hear people saying what's wrong with this world. It's all going to hell. The predictions of earth's destruction in 2012 (Soon to be a realeased movie by the way starring John Cusak) are met more with a sense of elation than fear. Not that I believe the world will end in 2012 but you would still think people would still be thinking "What if" and "What can we do about it?" What else should I expect or they expect when after three thousand years we've taken God's words and placed them in a mouth of a caricature of irresponsible violence. Popeye really wasn't the poster boy for self-restraint and rational thought. We have left ourselves with nothing to uphold. Our value system has been flushed, our leaders would appear to be in competition to whom can lie, cheat and steal the best, and our youth see video games as reality. Our jobs have become our existence, our families are dysfunctional, our marriages don't last as long as our affairs, and our murder statistics are the only numbers that are constantly improving over time. If the downward spiral is to be stopped, if the dissolution of society is to be thwarted then it is the responsibility of each one of us to provide the subject and verb that precedes "Therefore I Am." In my case I guess it would be "I WRITE THEREFORE I AM." And through my writing I hope that I can reach and change one life at a time. Or perhaps it's my scientific endeavours and I'd say, "I FIND CURES THEREFORE I AM." Either one is a justification of my existence. Perhaps its time for all of us to stand before that burning bush and make our own pronouncement.

Incredible Journey:
Since the first book of the Kahana series has been published (Blood Royale) the question has been frequently asked, where do these ideas come from. The answer to that question is dealt with numerous times in conversations with John Pearce that narrate most of the stories. The tales themselves were passed down, inherited, encoded and for lack of a better word, 'infused.'
For those that have seen the family tree unrolled, it is an impressive sight. Two meters in height and almost five meters fully laid flat in length, it contains close to 50,000 names. With that many names, there's going to be alot of history to write about.
But the problem with history as we're taught it today is that it's viewed under a glass dome as if it's complete, finished; nothing more to learn about it. Sadly, that is far from the truth and most teachers can't comprehend that history is a living, breathing entity that we've only scratched the surface of. For every story of a Tacitus, Herodotus from ancient times or a Gibbons to give it a more modern spin, there are squirrled away somewhere a hundred or so other documents on the same subject, providing a vantage point from a completely different perspective. You have to remember, anything of a differing opinion was publicly burnt well into the eighteenth century. Thousands upon thousands of books, manuscripts and letters with differing opinions. But no matter how hard you try to eradicate those other truths, as the Nag Hamadi findings, the Dead Sea Scolls, the hidden manuscripts of Nostradamus, etc., have shown us, somewhere, someplace, are the original manuscripts just waiting to be discovered.
In that sense we are all on this voyage of discovery. How far that voyage will take us is yet to be determined. And the consequences of those future discoveries will be both amazing and world-defining.
As a young boy, my third great grandfather found a set of books that had been hidden away by his own father and a few generations that preceded him. They were a collection of books considered heretical, and a letter of introduction to the Hapsburg Royal family that was passed down from Emperor Rudolf II of the sixteenth century. A letter which he used to gain entry to the academic world by attending the University of Leipzig and then later to become of service to the Emperor Franz Josef, the decendant of that same Hapsburg family. As for the heretical books he had discovered, they were also from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Passed down by his ancestor of the time to remind him that in spite of living in a Jewish world under the influence of the Rabbis, he in turn was a Karaite and that he must never forget that. The revelation turned him into an outlaw, with an arrest warrant issued by his own hometown should he ever return. He made a decision of conscience, a decision of truth, and as he went forward in his life, becoming a professor at the University of Vienna, I doubt very much he regretted his decision.
Now oddly, I still come across the same prejudices of erroneous Rabbinical teaching that Karaites aren't Jews, Karaites don't exist, or that Karaites were the cause of all the social ills and problems that affected mainstream Jewish society. It's my turn to pick up the guantlet where my third great grandfather left off. To expose the histories that have been buried, to rewrite what currently exists in order to nullify the misconceptions. SHADOWS OF TRINITY is the first to have a major public release to do so. And as they celebrate the events of the 400th anniversary of the Maharal's death in Prague this year, let them answer the questions raised in the book regarding this highly esteemed individual. "If you create a monster to kill, does that not make you a monster in turn?" Once you've read the book, you'll have to answer that question for yourself.