Rabbi Gabrielle Ignites a Tempest (38 page)

"Is that a condition for us to stay
together?" she asked.

"It's my job, Love. If I blow this, I'll be
driving taxis for the rest of my career."

***

Because Itamar refused to reveal this
discovery to Zebulon Sonnenberg's aides, it took two days to
arrange a private meeting with the deputy prime minister. Itamar,
Zvi Zabronski, and Gabby were invited to Sonnenberg's office. His
staff had reported that he was under extreme stress, yet at the
time he showed no signs of impatience. Though archeology and
history were admittedly not among his passions, it appeared as
though he was, nevertheless, curious about new developments in the
evolving Qumran saga. Zabronski, who had been in constant contact
with Sonnenberg's staff, described how his department had figured
out that Father Benoit Matteau had stolen property of the State of
Israel and spirited it out of the country, then, as they had just
come to understand, had been smuggled back into Israel by his
Bedouin friends and, at the moment, was a fugitive.

Itamar next reported on meetings with Donaldo
Cardinal Fornenti in Rome, who had denied everything, ordering
several investigations, while at the same time taking bureaucratic
steps to see that each inquiry led in a circle.

Gabby recounted details about the two
break-ins at her apartment and how Tim Matternly had hidden the
original text she was about to show the deputy PM. She produced a
photocopy of the Yeshu fragment. Sonnenberg lowered his reading
glasses, which had assumed a quasi-permanent place on the crown of
his bald head, and examined the three words.

Upon looking up, he said nothing to those in
his office. Rather, he spoke into an intercom at his desk. "Rutie,
please, ask the prime minister to step into my office. Tell him
it's very important."

After rereading the document, he asked
Itamar, "And you have the original?"

"In our safe at the Antiquities Authority,"
replied Itamar.

"And you'll vouch for its authenticity?"

"Carbon-14 tests came back yesterday
afternoon. It checks to the first century, sir."

"And does it correspond to the other names on
the roster of students from this yeshiva at Ein Arugot?"

"This is the only original document we've had
the luxury of testing."

At that moment, the office door opened as the
prime minister—a burly, barrel-shaped man with gray curly hair
cropped close to the scalp—marched in, surprised to find visitors.
"What's this all about, Zeb?" he bellowed in a scruffy voice that
matched his bulldog features.

Itamar, Gabby, and Zabronski rose to
introduce themselves, then sat as Zebulon Sonnenberg explained the
latest developments.

Ezra Raviv, a straggler from Israeli's
socialist leadership in a short sleeve white shirt with wide
crumpled collars, listened carefully, processing the information.
Gabby noted how stress had grooved deep wrinkles in his cheeks. He
addressed her directly. "You assembled all these fragments by
yourself? That's excellent scholarship. Excellent, excellent work.
I'm always amazed by what you Americans accomplish."

"Not alone, Adon Raviv," she said. "The
fragments were scanned by Dr. Timothy Matternly. And both of us
worked closely with a Talmud scholar here in Jerusalem, a very
important collaborator without whom this miracle would never have
happened."

"Who?" the prime minister now seemed
profoundly engaged.

"I can't reveal his name. He doesn't wish
either credit or recognition. I'll say only that he's a respected
member of the religious community in Jerusalem."

"Oh," the prime minister said, nodding that
he understood how compromising this might appear among Orthodox
scholars.

Gabby then gave the photocopy of the Yeshu
fragment to Raviv and explained how it was found. A quick study,
the prime minister gripped the copy in both hands as if he expected
it to slip from his thick fingers. "Can there be any more important
artifact in Christian history? Am I wrong in thinking this is the
greatest contribution to Christianity in a thousand years?"

"That's our assessment, sir," Itamar
said.

"And you, too, Zeb?"
"Yes, of course,"
answered the deputy.

"Anybody else know about this?"

"Only those here now," replied Itamar, "and
two researchers at the Hebrew University who did the carbon tests.
Both understand that if they breach our confidentiality, they'll
end up in jail for most of their adult lives. And it's very
possible that Father Benoit Matteau saw it, and he probably took a
scanned electronic copy with him to Rome. We have no idea who he
told there. But we know that this original is now in the
Authority's safe."

Raviv turned toward Gabby, saying, "Well,
Rabbi Lewyn, what do you make of this?"

"The Yeshu name confirms by inference that
fragments Dr. Matternly and I worked on are authentic. It also
shows a high probability that Jesus was a student at the wilderness
school at Ein Arugot. The Roman government here evidently believed
that training prophets loyal to God and not the emperor was a
threat to imperial authority. It's quite possible that the
administrators at the school learned about what the Roman
procurator intended to do and moved the school records from Ein
Arugot to Qumran for safekeeping. We don't know if any of the
students besides Jesus survived."

Raviv nodded his head. "Sounds plausible to
me. So now that we have this priceless fragment, should we put it
in the Shrine of the Book for the Christian world to see? Good for
Israel tourism, no? What self respecting Christian wouldn't want to
read his savior's name written while Jesus was alive?"

Gabby caught an emerging smile on Itamar's
face. His chin dipped slightly, a sign of his approval for her to
introduce an idea that would either label them as national heroes,
or as wild dreamers, intoxicated by their discovery.

"May I posit a scenario?" Gabby asked. When
nobody objected, she said, "Here we have the name of Jesus Christ
on a fragment of parchment. We believe it came from Cave XII at
Qumran, but standing by itself, we have no absolute proof. Yes, we
can link it to the roster of students from a yeshiva at Ein Arugot,
but only by means of electronic copies. If we put this fragment in
its original form, coupled with copies of what the Vatican now
illegally possesses, in the Shrine of the Book, experts will
dispute the authenticity of the entire corpus. I have absolutely no
doubt that all the fragments are genuine because Timothy Matternly
sacrificed his life for them. But my personal belief is worthless.
In order to make a case that Jesus was a student at Ein Arugot, we
must produce originals of the curriculum and student roster, both
of which are now under the Pope's control."

Raviv shot a glance at Zebulon Sonnenberg to
see if Gabby's assessment paralleled his own thoughts.

"The Holy See, on the other hand," Gabby
continued, "is now holding multiple fragments that it probably
can't read, and even if Vatican scholars manage to assemble them as
we have done, they won't mean much to the Church. They speak of
monastic practices of a Jewish cult, a small band of religious
fanatics. For Christianity, the Holy Grail is not this isolated
school at Ein Arugot or its students, but what
we
possess, the original Yeshu fragment bearing the
name of their Savior."

"Do you smell a deal here, Zeb?" the prime
minister asked.

"You mean we trade them the Yeshu fragment
for all the other documents?"

"Will that fly?" Raviv asked Itamar and
Zabronski. "You've had meetings with Cardinal Fornenti."

"Not immediately," said Itamar, "but I think
the Church will eventually come around. I doubt that the Holy
Father is ready to demythologize the life of Jesus and place him in
his historic place among other students at Ein Arugot. So by making
a deal with us, the Church can keep the written evidence of Jesus
at the wilderness school secret. So long as only a few individuals
know about this document, two thousand years of Christian theology
will remain unaffected. If Church fathers aren't willing to strip
away the myths about Jesus Christ and plant him squarely in the
history of his own time, not a half-century later in the
contradictory narratives of the Gospels, they have no choice. The
Vatican can control only what it possesses. If I were the Pope, I
wouldn't let such an opportunity slip through my fingers."

"Why, I thought I was the Pope," joked
Raviv.

"Only to Jews," answered Sonnenberg,
patronizing the PM's humor.

Raviv nodded his gratitude to the deputy PM
before addressing Itamar. "Won't the Holy Father need time to study
the context of this fragment?" he asked.

"We believe so," said Itamar. "If we can keep
this secret until a deal is made."

"What happens if the Vatican demands a gag
order?" pursued Raviv.

"That depends on what Rabbi Lewyn wants to do
with her dissertation," answered Sonnenberg.

Raviv curled his lips playfully, then said,
"To keep you quiet, young lady, I could throw you in jail. We could
fabricate some misbehavior and keep you locked up and out of
circulation for a long time. But I'm not going to do that. This is
a free country and you have a right to publish whatever you
wish."

"I intend to incorporate this material into
my PhD thesis at the University of Chicago. And dedicate it to
Timothy Matternly."

"Can we count on your silence until this
matter is cleared up? Wouldn't you like to see your fragments
displayed in the Shrine of the Book?"

Gabby realized that she had backed into
negotiations with two shrewd politicians and decided to up the
ante. "Would you promise to keep all the fragments together in one
place?"

"I see no reason why that couldn't be
arranged," said Zebulon Sonnenberg.

"And dedicate a special wing in the Shrine to
the work of Timothy Matternly?" Gabby added.

Both ministers fell silent until Raviv said,
"My staff will take that up with Sarah Eisenhart at the Museum. I
have no objection in principle, but there are always budgetary
issues to consider. We'll look into it."

With that issue settled for the time being,
the deputy PM indicated that they should take no more of the prime
minister's valuable time. But Ezra Raviv wasn't finished. "And what
about your thesis, young lady?" he asked. "To resolve this matter,
the Vatican may take many years and I doubt you're willing to wait
that long for a degree you obviously deserve."

"Does anybody read a PhD thesis, other than
the candidate's advisors?" she answered.

"I'm sure yours will be widely read and
publicized. And you won't stop there. From it, you'll write a
best-selling book, go on the lecture circuit, and appear on TV talk
programs. Tell me this: if I could prevail on my connections at the
Hebrew University, would you be willing to write your thesis in
Israel? We could then ensure that your findings wouldn't be
prematurely leaked."

"It's a fair offer," Itamar said. "But that's
a very personal issue. Only Rabbi Lewyn can decide."

"I would need time to consider it," she said
to the PM.

"Of course. We won't make any contact with
the university until we hear from you. Isn't Simon Pines on the
faculty at Chicago?"

"He's on my advisory committee," she
said.

"Good, very good, because should you decide
to help us, I'll call upon him to coordinate matters there. Simon
and I went to grade school together. This is a small country, you
know."

"Very small," she replied, thinking that she
had just entered into a horse trade with the Prime Minister of
Israel.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

During Itamar's and Zabronski's return trip
to Rome, Donaldo Cardinal Fornenti proved himself to be a shrewd
negotiator. When offered a deal, he remained aloof, posturing with
indignation about how unseemly it was for the Government of Israel
to bargain with the Church of Rome like a common merchant in the
bazaar. But to match his diplomatic posturing, he seemed to enjoy
negotiating favorable terms for the Holy Father. Itamar had learned
from his past encounter with the supreme cardinal not to let him
control the time schedule. Nothing would be worse than to let the
Vatican drag out their discussions for years, endlessly delaying
the transfer of documents.

Counseled by a contract lawyer in Tel Aviv
before traveling to Rome, Itamar attached a time limit to each
proffered condition. Either the Vatican agreed to return the
fragments stolen by Father Benoit within thirty days, or the
Israeli Antiquities Authority would call a press conference and
announce to the world the discovery of an original fragment from
the early first century bearing the name of Jesus, son of Joseph.
To cement his resolve, Itamar told the papal prelate that his
delegation would wait in Rome no more than five days for an
answer.

On the fourth day, Cardinal Fornenti's
secretary summoned Itamar and Zabronski to the Vatican, where it
became clear how much the Holy Father wanted the Yeshu fragment.
And as Itamar had predicted, the Holy See further demanded an
absolute gag rule about disclosing its existence. Itamar was
required to confirm the identities of all individuals with
knowledge of it and to warrant in the name of his government that
there were no others. Cardinal Fornenti was gratified to see that
only seven people in Israel knew of the Yeshu fragment. "It must
remain that way," he stated in his most assertive tone. "The Holy
Church of Rome is an old institution that must thoroughly study a
document of this magnitude. Public speculation before we've had a
chance to evaluate its historic significance could be damaging.
That would be most undesirable for Catholics and, I dare say, other
Christians. I'm certain that as historic brothers, Jews can
appreciate our sensitivities."