Chapter 4

  “Rabbi Geller, can you please tell me the nature of the argument you had with Elijah this morning?” The police officer had come right over to take a statement and record as many details as possible.
  “Immediately after the Shabbat service, in my office, I asked Eli what his plans were for the summer. The boy is 24, hasn’t gone to college yet except for a few credits at Mt. Hood Community College. Most of his peers have graduated, they’re getting married, going for advanced degrees...what is he doing? Nothing! He has a go-nowhere job as a courier downtown, and he’s up half the night watching television. He leads a vocuous life that is leading where? He eats my food but doesn’t pay rent. I wanted to know what his plans were, and he immediately got defensive.” Just recalling it made Zvi feel as though his heart were being pulled from his chest. He loved Elijah intensely and wanted the very best for him...for both of his sons. They were the most precious gifts God had ever given him. He was entrusted with two fragile lives, and look how he’s failed.
  “What did Elijah say when you asked him what his plans for the summer entailed?” Officer Thompson had been with the Portland Police Bureau for fifteen years and had heard similar stories hundreds of times. This was so routine, yet every time he saw the pain involved in a family dispute, he ached for them. These were real people, not television actors, with very real pain and tears. He always did his best to bring about a happy ending to a tragic and sad story, so he’s already thinking about finishing with the family, putting the report in the computer so that all the law enforcement agencies in the metro area will have access to this information and will be looking for him.

  “He said not to bother him about it. He said that he would go to Israel again with us,” the Rabbi hesitated for just a second, but Thompson picked up on it.
  “What then, Rabbi Geller?”
  “Well, I suggested.......actually, I told him that I had already made arrangements for him to stay in Israel and attend Hebrew University in Jerusalem. It’s a very prestigious school, and I thought maybe he just needed a gentle nudge in the right direction.” Zvi was starting to choke-up again, tears rolling up and over his high cheek bones, down his round face and into his neatly-trimmed brown beard.

  “Eli then told me that he’s not going to school. He said he doesn’t know what he wants to do, but he definitely doesn’t want to attend school. He then told me that if I continue to push him....” Zvi’s voice trailed off as he began sobbing, his huge shoulders convulsing as his heart continued to break.
  “Just relax Rabbi Geller, take your time, and continue when you’re ready.” This was always an uncomfortable position to be in for Officer Thompson. He always felt like such an outsider, almost an impostor, an unwelcome guest that is only there out of necessity, but that is the compelling factor in the equation that pushes him do what he’s doing. “They need me right now, and Elijah needs me,” he thought to himself as the Rabbi tried to compose himself.
  “.........he said that if I continue to push him, that he would make choices and plans, but that they wouldn’t be at all what I would want for him.”
  “What did he mean by that?”
  “I have no idea, but I said, ‘Fine. You’re a grown man. Make decisions for your life. Let me know by 5pm tonight, and if you fail to do that, then you will attend Hebrew University in the fall.”
  “What did he say then?
  “That’s when he looked at me with the coldest eyes, emptiest eyes I have ever seen and said, “You will never see me, or talk to me again. Never.”
  Recalling those words and actually repeating them aloud served to finish one process that was put into motion already: Zvi’s heart, at that moment, was completely broken.

***

  Elijah knew that the wind and weather here generally came from the west-northwest, so he found a place where several large boulders the size of small cars partially encircled a soft part of the ground covered in pine needles. There was a small entrance that could be easily concealed, and the top was partially covered by overhanging limbs from pine and fir trees. Later he would strip some long branches and cover them with grass, leaves, ferns, or any other material he could find to improvise a more weather-proof covering for his new home. So as far as he could tell, this was about as good of a place as anyone could hope for. Somehow, in the process of meeting a mountain lion face to face, he’d managed to keep hold of his Tanakh, which, according to Christians, is the Old Testament. That was comforting, knowing that he had with him the very spoken words of God. He drew strength from knowing that the prophet Elijah also hid in a cave, as did David.

  They were hiding from people trying to kill them. Then and there, Elijah found himself hiding from....himself, from his own life. Where could he go to escape that? He remembered Psalm 139 that says, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? And where can I flee from Your Presence? If I ascend to Heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in the lowest depths, behold; You are there.” Elijah allowed those words to soak into his spirit for a few moments. The comforting presence of God washed over him and enveloped him like a warm blanket on a cold night.

  “Well, this is nice and I'd like to stay like this all night, but I need to get moving. This is a new life, a new start. No one to answer to, except God, and I’m not going to hold my breath waiting for Him to appear in a burning bush to talk to me. Unless He plans on feeding me manna and quail out here, I’m gonna need to go find some food.”

***

   “We’re almost there, Dad! Micah, climb up here on this rock with me....you can see forever!”
  “Wait up, Eric! Will you help me get on the rock, Daddy?”
  Mike had to admit this was the most fun he’d had in years. He realized just how blessed he really is to have a great job, a nice house, a newer car; but most importantly, he has two beautiful children who love each other and don’t fight like so many other kids. Eric is always looking out for his sister, and Micah looks up to Eric and confides in him. They both love God, and have given their lives to Jesus, which, Mike is convinced, makes all the difference in the world.
  “Ok sweetie, you can use me for balance. Push off from my shoulder, and place your right foot in this crevice. I’ll give you a boost, and then Eric will take your hand and pull you the rest of the way up, ok?”
  Micah scampered up the rock with no problem. Athletic prowess ran in the family. Both Mike and Linda were excellent athletes in high school and college. Eric is already playing varsity football, baseball, and wrestling; and Micah is in volleyball and cheerleading. They all love to stay active, though this is the first time they’ve been out together since the accident. Except for just a few passing comments like, “Ooh, these were mom’s favorite flowers,” or “Mom would love this view,” there wasn’t much emotional baggage being brought along today. They were just having a great time together.
  “Hey Micah, see that funny-looking tree over there?”
  “Yeah....so?”

  “Look to the left of it on the ground. There’s something white, like a towel or something. That’s really out of place out here....let’s go see what it is!”
  Micah looked down at her dad...”Can we, dad?”
  “You bet! Today we’re the three super-explorers and we go wherever we want, remember?!!”
  Eric leapt off the rock with impressive agility, then turned and offered his sister a hand. When they were both on the ground, they took off together through the trees toward their new discovery. Mike walked casually in their direction, receiving his own healing touch from nature, when he suddenly heard Micah scream. Mike dropped his heavy backpack and bolted toward them, not knowing exactly where they were, but able to follow the sound of his daughter’s cry. As he broke through the bushes and tree limbs, he came across Eric and Micah, both white as a sheet and trembling, holding a strange-looking garment that was about twice the size of a bath towel with tassels on the edges and long ones at each corner. There was strange writing on it....Mike recognized it as Hebrew from a religion course he took in college.

  By itself it was fascinating, but that’s not what made his little girl scream. The most intriguing part of this garment was not simply that it was obviously out of place here, deep in the forests of central Oregon, but that it was soaked in blood. Fresh blood.