Читать книгу Mother of Jesus - Ilia Grinberg - Страница 3

Her service in the Temple ended three years ago. A week before she was twelve, her parents came to Jerusalem for her. They brought a sacrifice - a three-year-old ram, a beautiful, large, combed out animal, without a single spike. The poor man was so exhausted for a long road, that, being unloaded on the ground, with difficulty, swayed, he rose to his feet. Mary did not like to see the sacrifice offered. And, although Shohet deprived the lives of animals in such a way as to bring them the minimum of suffering, the sight of blood always turned it away from this sight. Therefore, she asked for help from her mentor to stay with her parents until the next morning. The family stayed at the inn, which was used only by distinguished guests of the capital, who can afford this expensive pleasure.

“You are well done, my girl,” said the father. “The high priest says only good words about you. You have served our Lord well. However, in a few days your Bat Mitzvah will pass, and according to the law of Moses you will become an adult, and you will no longer be able to be at the Temple. Tomorrow morning our ram sacrificed, and in the evening we will go home. We spend the night somewhere on the way back. I do not like Jerusalem, it is too noisy, and there are so many visitors that you can find local ones with great difficulty.”

“Dad, we will not go to see how they will sacrifice?” Maria asked her father, firmly clinging to him and hiding his face in the folds of his clothes. She knew that her father would like to stay in Jerusalem, saying that he simply do not want to upset her.

In fact, Joakim really liked the capital, and he also wanted his child to serve in the Temple, especially since Anna’s family tree allowed it. Joachim was very sorry that “the Lord of the World” gave him only one child, and a girl, not a boy.

Mary knew all this. They explained something to her, she learned something from overheard adult conversations. Age of majority ... Soon her period will begin, and God forbid, she will defile the shrine with her presence. Tears welled in her eyes, and she hugged her father even tighter. He felt it and, stroking her head, said:

- Nothing, nothing. Do not worry my little bird. You probably missed the house?

Maria sniffled and nodded.

- That's good. Tomorrow home.

Now, lying in the shade of the trees, she thought that it was good that grandfather had left a good heritage to his father. Spacious house that was built by the Syrian craftsman in the Greek style. It was well blown and even on the hottest days there were corners in it, in which it was possible to hide from the unbearable heat. Joachim owned an olive grove, which gave a good harvest, butter-making, where they made oil, which turned into a decent income on the Nazareth market. My father hired workers who took care of the trees, cut something, and loosened something near the trunks. Somewhere far outside the city, several people grazed a large herd of goats belonging to their family, milked them, making cheese according to a family recipe, others worked at sheep, cut their wool, so that the owner could sell it to weavers on market days in Nazareth or Jerusalem.

She knew that sooner or later, her father would find her groom and she would leave her parent’s house. This is written in the Torah, and no one can proceed to the Law. She imagined a man who would become her husband, waited for a wedding and at the same time was afraid of starting an independent life. At her father worked a young guy whose name was John. He commanded all the shepherds who worked for her father, although he was only twenty years old. Her father singled him out among other workers as soon as he came to be employed. The guy was smart, hardworking and had all the makings of a leader. Sometimes Maria thought about him, because he was handsome and she liked him very much. But Joakim's daughter never told anyone. She was afraid to admit it even to herself. And the head of the shepherds, he is just the same as the owner’s daughter. Of course, he understood that Joachim would agree to give his only daughter for him, a miracle must happen. But he is not very religious, because he has to work from dawn to dusk, and do not believe in miracles.