As soon as the family returned home, Esther went looking for Joseph. He was the only one who could save her from a future with Lazar. If Joseph wanted her for his wife, surely her father would have to acquiesce, no matter what her mother said. Her father wanted to see her in a good family, and Joseph’s was one of the most distinguished in the city.
As she got closer to his house, she slowed her pace so it would look like she was just passing by. Joseph came out of his house with a large pouch slung over his shoulder.
“Esther, shalom!” Joseph called when he noticed her. “What a coincidence seeing you. Where are you going?”
“Oh, I’m just…” Her tongue seemed stuck to the roof of her mouth. Why didn’t I plan what to say? “I’m delivering some medicines for my mother.”
“Where are they?”
“Where are what?” Esther asked.
A small smile tugged at Joseph’s lips. “The medicines?”
“Oh…,” she said, flustered. She realized she wasn’t carrying anything. “I forgot them at home.”
Two scrolls were sticking out of Joseph’s pouch. “What are those?” she asked.
“The works of Thucydides.”
“Who’s he?”
“The greatest historian of all time. He understood better than anyone else why people do what they do.”
She was burning with curiosity. “I’d like to read them too.”
“They’re in Greek.”
“My father is teaching me Greek. I know all the letters.”
He regarded her with raised eyebrows.
“My mother doesn’t approve,” she added. “She says women shouldn’t learn.”
“I respect wisdom and knowledge whenever I find it. Even our prophetess Huldah taught a king.”
Esther beamed. Now she was more determined than ever to learn Greek, so she too could unlock the secrets of the world. “Where did you get them?”
“From the public library in Caesarea. I know the librarian there.”
Caesarea, the bustling city Herod had built on the sea, was only a week’s journey from Jerusalem, but so different. Although Jews lived there too, Greek culture prevailed. But they had a library! If she married Joseph, he could take her there.
She had to stop the negotiations. How could she marry a brute like Lazar instead of someone who loved learning as much as she did? If they were married, Joseph could bring scrolls home. They could read together and discuss what they read. “Is it true you know all the written Scripture and oral law by heart?” she asked.
“By the time I was your age, the sacred words were engraved on my soul.”
Esther stared at him dreamily. Engraved on my soul…He even spoke like a poet.