Reaches of Heaven [antikvár]

I T JLh .HE VILLAGE OF OKUP, on the border of Volhynia, was small and old. For several decades it had been imder Turkish rule, and then it was occupied by the Poles. By the time the Poles entered Okup, the kingdoms of both Turkey and Poland had lost their former importance. The Turks had exhausted their might in incessant wars. Poland was about to disintegrate because each squire was like a king on his estate, often with his own army and his own laws. The Jews had been in exile some 1700 years, had wandered from land to land and had spoken God knows how many languages. But they had not forgotten their Holy Land, their God and their sacred books. This world was nothing but a narrow corridor for them—a ghetto that led to the mansions of Paradise and to the days of the Messiah. The purpose of life was Torah and good deeds. Among the residents of Okup at the time of the Polish takeover was a pious Jew by the name of Ehezer who had been held a prisoner by the Turks for many years. Reb EHezer was known as a scholar and a cabbalist. It is told that a holy man had promised Reb EHezer that his wife would give birth to a son who would be a Light of the Exile. Reb Eliezer's son was bom in the year 1700 and was given the name Israel. He had white skin, blue eyes and blond hair. _ Israel soon became an orphan, for both Reb EUezer and his wife passed away at an early age. After the death of his parents, the boy slept in an orphanage and "ate days," which meant that he got his meals every day of the week in a different house. • 3 •