A horse-shoe of hills rose behind the bunks. On one of the hills there was an amphitheatre with wooden benches and stage. It was used for plays, singsongs, and on Sabbath as a House of Prayer.
How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob,
and thy dwelling place, O Israel …
They sang in Hebrew, their voices mingling with the sunlight. It was fragrant there, the pines high, blasted, and black. The camp was assembled in white clothes.
That’s how we are beautiful, he thought, that’s the only time – when we sing. Storm troopers, band of crusaders, gang of stinking slaves, righteous citizens – only tolerable when their voices ring in unison. Any imperfect song hints at the ideal theme.
Ed told a wonderful Sholem Aleichem story about a young boy who wanted to play the fiddle but was forbidden to by his Orthodox parents. For a minute Breavman thought he would overdo it, but no, he swayed and danced under his imaginary fiddle and everyone believed him.
The same Ed who bet with a girl’s body.
Breavman sat thinking that he could never do as well, never be so calm and magical. And that’s what he wanted to be: the gentle hero the folk come to love, the man who talks to animals, the Baal Shem Tov who carried children piggy-back.
He would never be able to pronounce a Jewish word with any confidence.
“Krantz,” he whispered, “why weren’t we allowed to cross the tracks?”
Twelve righteous faces told him to shh.
Still, and he knew it was arrogance, he often considered himself the Authentic Jew. His background had taught him the alien experience. He was grateful for that. Now he extended that experience to his own people.
What was it all about anyhow? A solitary man in a desert, begging for the inclination of a face.
Anne performed a Hasidic dance, annihilating anything womanly in her body with the crammed, ironic movements. But for a few moments they were lost in Europe, their skins untanned, waiting in narrow streets for miracles and the opportunity for revenge they would never take.
After the Sabbath services a butterfly seemed to follow him down the hill, disappearing as he left the wooded area for the hot campus. He felt the honour of it all through the day.