play until late in the night out on the meadow. One was too afraid of the goat-elves, those misshaped nature spirits which wandered about in the area at night and could kidnap small children. Many years ago two children actually had disappeared. However everyone doubted whether the goat-elves really were involved in that. In the end the decision was made in favor of the smaller, more cozy and secure courtyard of the Rabbi.
Evening came. Almost all inhabitants of the village were about. Women were carrying bowls of food to the courtyard of the Rabbi, the children were allowed to play out in the alleys longer, and the men stood around together in groups wrapped up in their important discussions.
Joshua was excited in a strange way this evening. He did not know why, but a kind of giddy anticipation filled his being. For surely Joseph would share the story of what his family had experienced in Egypt. Joshua loved stories and was looking forward to seeing Yeshua, the boy with the interesting eyes which had pierced him so deeply the day before. The children were still playing in small groups although it was already dark and not much of the light in the houses reached the alleyways. Joshua was playing hide and seek with Rachel, Ismael und Joseph. He constantly had to think of Yeshua, although he had not even had a full view of him yet.
“Joshua, you’re daydreaming again! Come on, you’re supposed to come and search for us.” Rachel’s voice brought him back from his thoughts.
Too bad that he would not be able to sit next to Rachel this evening, for as usual in Nazareth the men would have their own area and the women too after they had tended serving up the feast. “Umm, yes, true, I was just thinking of something else.”
“Either go sit down or play with us.”
“All right, then you had better go on and play without me.” Joshua gave Rachel the blindfold, turned around and walked through the little village on his own. He loved taking walks toward the end of the day when the first stars appeared in sky. Normally he was not allowed to do this, but this evening he used the time he still had before the celebration was to begin. Torches were already lit everywhere and illuminated the village.
And so he walked past their house and up a steep slope until he reached his favorite place. It was a beautiful majestic olive tree which throned on the small hill. Joshua always had the feeling that this noble tree guarded the village. Gazing down upon the horizon he could not see the village below from here. Joshua loved leaning up against the trunk of the gnarled old tree and feeling its bark. The view was splendid. In the west Joshua saw the Carmel Mountains, in the south he could see all across the Jesreel plains and even all the way to the Samarian hill country. He could see snow-clad Mount Hermon in the north and Mount Tabor in the east. He especially enjoyed the view of Tabor, whose majestic silhouette drew everyone’s attention, like a king.
What was that? In the distance he briefly saw a star blink. Then the light moved along the horizon, paused above the harmoniously rounded right peak of Tabor and blinked again. At the same moment a wonderful sense of comfort and love filled his being, in a way that he had never felt these before. He heard a voice in his head: “We are always with you. And do not forget that you are loved, even when life sometimes is a little more difficult.” Then the voice was gone along with the star, and Joshua became very quiet inside and simultaneously sad. Who in the world had that been? Who had just spoken to him? He looked around but could not discover anyone.
Joshua remained there for a while and listened to the wind and the leaves of the olive tree. Today he could not hear either of those tell a story. He was simply too excited. Too restless. He could think of nothing other than those beautiful blue eyes.
∞
When Joshua reappeared in the village everyone was just settling into their place, for the celebration was to begin any moment. He sat down next to Samuel, who was seated near Jeroham, the shepard. Jacob the potter and his son Ismael sat down to his left. The seats across were still available, however, as they appeared out of the shadows, he quickly realized that these were reserved for Joseph, his two older sons Jossi and Judah who had not left Nazareth, and for Yeshua. There they were again, those wonderful eyes. His excitement was so great that he was not able to say a thing. He wanted to say hi to Yeshua, but was only able to voice a silent kind of croak. So he simply nodded since he was not capable to do anything else. Yeshua’s eyes had touched him so deeply again. “I greet you too, Joshua“, Yeshua quickly said and smiled at him. Joshua returned the smile. This holy moment was however abruptly interrupted by Samuel, who stood up and requested the quiet attention of all.
“Friends, men and women of Nazareth.” Samuel’s loud words did not allow even the slightest noise from the audience. His deeply set dark eyes even increased this powerful presence. “May the peace of God descend upon you and may you sense his blessing upon you. I am happy that we today are allowed to celebrate our reunion with Joseph, the craftsman and his family in our humble home. Many years have passed since they left for Jerusalem. Let us lift our cups in honor of this reunion and in honor of God our Lord. Joseph, Yeshua, and Miriam. Here’s to you. Be blessed and let us praise God our Lord for this gift.”
The cups were lifted toward the heavens, the blessing was spoken and then the sweet wine of Galilee was drunk. The children were allowed to toast with grape juice and giggled merrily.
Then a second strong voice rang out. It was Josephs.
“Samuel, friends, people of Nazareth. My wide and I want to thank you for this wonderful celebration. We are happy to be so welcome, even though my then pregnant wife Miriam and I left on such short notice about five years ago and had to leave both my sons Jossi and Judah with their aunt Anna.” Joseph paused briefly to wait until the murmuring of the audience subsided. “We were not able to return earlier because destiny showed us another direction. Accept our thanks from the bottom of our heart. Now let us enjoy this feast together. Afterwards we will gladly report what we experienced in the last couple of years. God and his loving wisdom be praised for all eternity.” Again the cups were raised.
Now was the moment that all had been working towards on this day. All of the delicacies were served. There was warm sesame bread, cheese in olive oil spiced with garlic, fish fried in coriander and lamb roast with mint. Additionally grain and lentil soup, diverse salads, pastes and honey. Naturally the barley cake was not missing nor the wheat grain roasted in olive oil. There was something for everyone. And now everyone was smacking their lips, laughing, giggling, and some even singing. Joshua glanced over to Yeshua often, who always gave him a smile when their eyes met. Other than that the new arrival was quiet and absorbed in the meal. He looked very hungry. As it seemed to Joshua sometimes Yeshua even made a rather sad impression instead of a happy one.
“Joseph, please tell us where your destiny led you.” Samuel gave Joseph an intense look after he had set down the jug of wine on the low table next to himself and adjusted his garb.
“We are all very interested, or no?” Samuel’s jolly laugh raised the volume so quickly that Joshua nearly had a piece of lamb get stuck in his throat.
“Yes Joseph, tell us your experiences“, some called out and clapped their hands. Joshua looked over at Yeshua, who from that moment on kept his gaze downcast almost the entire time. Joshua could almost sense how embarrassing it was for Yeshua. Or was he even afraid?
“Good my friends, then I would like to begin.”, Joseph started, after he had removed the last remains of food from his bowl with a piece of sesame bread. With a glance across to Miriam at the neighboring table he could see that she was already well into sharing her stories, for the women were all laughing.
Joseph had a good-humoured face. He had dark and slightly curly hair that had taken on a slight greyish sheen. He had to be a little bit older, perhaps as old as Samuel. But was really nice about Joseph were his smiling eyes. They were
