Chapter 3

  “Rachael, what have we done? All his life, have we not given him everything? Have we not provided him a life that the vast majority of the kids out there only dream of? Have I ever turned him away, ever treated him as David treated Absalom? I raised him to love God, and to love Torah. Oh God!!! Why have You driven my son from me?? What have I done??!! I have been strict, but loving; always following the examples set forth in Your scriptures. How could this be? Please bring my Elijah back to me!” His heart-wrenching sobs force his prayer to end, albeit momentarily. He continued to replay the argument they had after synagogue today about Elijah’s future. It was what Sarah told him that confirmed all that he feared, and all he could hear were Elijah’s final words to him ...

  “You will never see, or talk to me again. Never.”

***

  Looking out over the wilderness, the vast expanse of God’s wild creation, Elijah felt nervous, but his sense of exhilaration at being free overwhelmed him. Throwing caution to the wind, he just left his home and all he’s ever known. He walked away from the love of his life and left Sarah sitting in his bedroom. As he drove the three hours from Portland to central Oregon, his only thoughts were of himself. He was tired of answering to everybody else. He didn't want to be responsible for Sarah and her future, his parents and their acceptance of him. He only wanted to be responsible for Elijah in the most primitive sense. His only possessions that he took were his Tanakh, (Hebrew Bible), his prayer shawl, and the clothes on his back. During the drive from Portland he stopped and got some beef jerky, bottled water and today's edition of the newspaper as a souvenir. “Today is the first day of my new life.”

   As he stood there on the side of the road looking out across miles of trees, separated by the occasional towering volcanoes of the Cascade mountains, he felt the strangle-hold of society losing its grip. He laughed. Giggled. Though he’s 24, he felt like a young boy feeling the sun on his face for the first time.
“I’m free!!!” With that, he bolted into the tree line towards nothing in particular, just knowing that he was now responsible for gathering all his own food, locating water, building shelter, and surviving the elements. Sure, he had been on several hikes through these woods, but he had to admit that he really didn’t know the rules of survival in this very hostile and unforgiving environment. Nor did he have the proper clothing or equipment, but none of this occurred to him as he ran aimlessly yet purposefully farther and farther away from the suffocating expectations of his previous life, and deeper and deeper into the grips of death.

***

  “Yoni, have you seen or heard from Elijah?”
   “No, what’s the matter?”
   “Oy vey! He’s left home! He told me that I would never...” Zvi's words were drowned out by the sobs welling up from a place he had not previously known existed. “He said I would never see or talk to him again. I have no idea where he is. I’ve called all his friends and talked to their parents. How do you think that makes me look? The Rabbi can’t even control his own family! What the people must be saying right now!”
   “Zvi, the last thing you need to be worrying about is what your congregants are thinking about you. Let’s worry about finding Eli. Have you contacted the police yet?”
   “Not yet. I wanted to make sure he wasn’t at one of his friends’ house or with you before calling them. Oh Yoni, what have I done?” Zvi couldn't restrain the trainwreck of emotion overtaking him. “Eli, Eli, come back! God, please...if only You’ll bring back my Elijah, I promise not to pressure him to do things he doesn’t want to do. He can do whatever he wants, and regardless of what that is...even if he runs off and becomes a...a......Christian, perish the thought! I’ll be proud of him and love him unconditionally. Just like how You love me. Please God, bring back my son.”

   “Zvi, I’m coming over and we can go look for him together. In the meantime, call the police and file a missing persons’ report. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

***

   Elijah stopped running and took a moment to catch his breath. As he looked around him, he noticed how dark it was under the canopy of trees, though it was late afternoon. It was dank and a little nippy even.    “Hmm, I should have planned a little better and at least grabbed my jacket. Oh well. If the pioneers could survive starting out with nothing, then I can too! First thing’s first: I need to find a place to make camp. It needs to provide shelter from the wind and rain, and should be on high ground. Then I’ll start looking for food. There’s a lot of plants and ferns and berries out here, so I guess today I'm a vegetarian. I’ll learn about fishing and making traps as I go...” As he walked along out into a clearing, the sun instantly warmed his face. He noticed a large rock outcropping at the base of Three-Finger Jack, one of the mountains in the area; so he headed off in that direction. “I’ll make camp at the base of that ledge,” he thought. He had no way of knowing that ledge was already considered ‘home’ by someone else, but he would soon find out.

***

   “Hey Dad, what mountain is that?”
Mike stopped and looked to see which mountain Eric was referring to.

   “That’s called ‘Three-Finger Jack’, son. Kind of a funny name for a mountain, huh?”
   “Yeah, really! Why do they call it that?”
Mike had no idea, but the need in him to always have the answer for his kids compelled him to spin one of the most creative stories he had ever told.
   “Well kids, it’s a tragic story, really. I’m not sure you’d want to hear it.” It was bait, and they were biting.

   “C’mon, Dad, tell us!”
   “Yeah, Dad! I want to know, too!” Micah was so cute, pleading with her big brown eyes, her mother’s eyes.
   “Ok guys. Here’s the story of Three-Finger Jack.” At that very moment, the most blood-chilling sound, a shriek, sounded out across the valley. No doubt it was heard for miles; and there’s no doubt that it was recognized immediately by all who heard it as a very large, very angry mountain lion. Especially Elijah, who was nearly close enough to reach out and feel the massive, powerful muscles rippling under his fur in anticipation of the savage mauling he was about to impart.

   No man has existed since the likes of Samson and David that could stand face to face with such an animal, the ultimate predator, and not be reduced to a mass of Jell-O. Elijah was in no way as courageous as Samson or David, though he was no sissy. Nevertheless, looking face to face with one of the most fearsome animals on earth broke Elijah down. He was paralyzed with sheer terror...his mouth was dry as chalk...his skin felt as though it slid off and pooled in his shoes. A fraction of a second felt like an eternity as both of them pondered their options. Now, Elijah wasn’t sure what the huge cat was thinking, but if decided to attack, he was hoping it would be quick and painless. The idea of being batted and shredded like a toy rubbed in cat nip didn’t appeal to him, nor did images of this cougar pulling his half-eaten body up into a tree. As quickly as those thoughts slipped through his mind, he saw the muscles in the lion’s huge shoulders twitch...Elijah flinched and the cougar leapt right at his head, and as he did so, Elijah reacted and ducked just in time to save his life, but the massive right paw caromed across the right side of his face, leaving a mangled, shredded, bloody mess of skin. He turned to see the cougar disappear into the tree line and out of sight.

***

  “Daddy, what was that?” Micah’s eyes were wide with fear.
   “That was a mountain lion, sweetheart. Don’t be afraid. They go out of their way to avoid people.”
   “But Dad...” Eric was visibly shaken also... “that sounded really close. What if it’s still in the area...or...or heading toward us?”
   “Everything is fine, kids!” He was probably just letting us know that he’s here...maybe as a courtesy. He’s probably long gone by now. C’mon you two, I can see the ridge from here.”
Eric and Micah exchanged nervous glances, but trusted their father to protect them and not lead them into a dangerous situation. Mike prayed silently that the huge cat went in the opposite direction as well.

***

  Elijah couldn’t move. An eternity had passed since the mountain lion had run off, but he couldn’t will himself to move a muscle. Every sound terrified him, as he was convinced that the cougar was circling back around, stalking him - waiting for the perfect moment to finish what was started. In the meantime, Elijah just stood there bleeding all over his prayer shawl which was draped around his neck like a scarf. Slowly, as the minutes ticked by and he realized that his brush with death was over, he started to move. First his hand came up to his cheek to inspect the damage. There was no pain. He figured he must be in shock. There was a lot of blood, flesh hung in ribbons, but no pain yet. Then he started glancing around and noticed that his prayer shawl was covered in blood, so he removed it from around his neck, wiped his face off, and left it on the ground. He wasn’t concerned about the Jewish tenet of tikkun olam, or repairing the environment. He was thrilled just to be alive, and somehow, the traditions of his elders lost a bit of their luster for a moment. What significance does a prayer shawl have the moment after nearly being decapitated by a 170 lb mountain lion? Elijah wasn’t concerned about the traditions of his people, though he loved them dearly, but instead, he wanted to hug the trees, roll in the pine needles on the ground, sing along with the birds...he wanted to embrace life and drink in every sight, smell, and sound. He had no problem walking away from his prayer shawl, and loving God more than ever for His protection.