CITY OF SEVEN SINS. Parables. MAX JAKOBSON

in His name. And at the top of this tower, under the very clouds, build a temple in His honor!”

      “But why?” Exclaimed Hayim. “We have already built almost four levels of a pyramid!”

      “Hayim, are you a righteous son? Bend your knees and go to fulfil His message,” the prophet Hanoch asserted menacingly, so that no one else asked any questions.

      “You only need to reconstruct the corners, and that will be the base of the tower,” said Hillel.

      “I can do it without difficulty,” Zeev hastened to include.

      “And I already wove the first temple carpet, and there are images of a pyramid on it,” Yonah worried.

      “Give it to us in the kitchen,” Talia found a solution.

      “But nothing will change for Shimson and I,” Ephraim said joyfully. “for we will continue to deliver stones and fire bricks.”

      “It is good,” the Prophet Hanoch approved of them and went to his new home to continue his service.

      And all with the same zeal began to build a tower. A staircase would lead to its top, rising in a spiral to the temple. And after some time, everyone concluded that the tower was the best decision for the new temple.

      “It will be easier for me to paint the walls, and it will be more convenient to look at the inscriptions when climbing the tower,” Aaron claimed.

      “At each level of the tower I will plant beautiful flowers and shrubs, so that the tower will be like a garden,” Lilach planned.

      Hayim also saw that the tower had many advantages, and did not ask any more questions, for what doubts could there be if the Almighty himself ordered the tower to be built: He knows best.

      And three years passed. The walls of the tower rose so high that they were visible from anywhere in the city, as well as from the opposite bank of the Euphrates. Hillel and Aaron had already started to paint the lower levels, and Yonah had woven two dozen carpets. Galia and her assistants preserved the epistles of the prophet Hanoch in tablets for which a scriptorium was built. And so, instead of waiting in line to visit the house of the prophet, everyone could go here and with the help of Galia find the answer in one of the epistles. And everything would proceed accordingly if it were not for the fourth anniversary of the construction, which coincided with the crimson-red moon. For the prophet Hanoch called everyone to the square near the tower under construction.

      “It seems to us that the world has blessed our lands, and that peace and happiness have settled in our homes for centuries, so know that this prosperity may end soon.”

      An anxious energy swept through those who were gathered, following the words of the prophet Hanoch.

      “Among us there are those who have departed from the covenants of the Most High,” the prophet continued. “Among us there are those who doubted me as a true prophet, and where there is doubt, there is evil, and where there is evil, there is destruction.”

      There were exclamations in the multitude.

      “Who is it? Who is the traitor, who is the enemy?” some cried out from the crowd.

      In an instant, the feeling of peace and love left the inhabitants of the valley.

      “Hayim!” called the prophet Hanoch. “You are the one who sowed doubts in our people, you are the one in whom evil and destruction grows!”

      The words of the prophet sounded like thunder, everyone parted around Hayim and stared at him in silence. Hayim, having dropped the instruments from his hands, could not say anything.

      “Hayim, you did not comprehend the message of the Most High and did not accept His will to build a tower. As an experienced builder, it was more convenient for you to continue the construction of the pyramid, because you had built similar structures earlier. For, when everyone knelt down and without hesitation began to build a tower, you continued to doubt and confuse the rest. Beloved ones,” the Prophet Hanoch called on the people, “I urge you now to voice whom Hayim has caused to doubt. You must confess, and then forgiveness will be granted to you.”

      “Yes, beloved prophet Hanoch, Hayim has repeatedly shared his doubts with me,” said Zeev from the ranks. “He wondered why the Almighty did not immediately order us to build a tower. Forgive me, brother Hayim, but for your good, I have told the truth.”

      “See how many years a deceiver, a secret enemy, has lived amongst us, and by the same token he erected the walls of the temple. Hayim, I am banishing you from our community and the whole valley, you have no place amongst us anymore,” the prophet Hanoch announced the verdict.

      The sentence was severe and could not be challenged. Everyone received his decree, and no one leaving the square looked towards Hayim standing alone and rejected by all. The next morning, Hayim and his family left the valley; no one knew where they were going.

      The construction of the tower continued without Hayim, his stone house was dismantled, and the stones went into a common cause. Zeev became the head builder and quickened the pace of the construction of the tower, which could not but please the prophet Hanoch. Soon Zeev received from the prophet the title of chief guardian and protector of the temple being built, and his wife Galia was awarded the title of keeper of the scriptorium. The Prophet Hanoch began to distribute titles to others who distinguished themselves in their service and devotion to the people of the valley. And so Ilana was given the title for zealous preparation of the park near the tower. Ilana’s close friend Lilach, who was responsible for decorating the temple with flowers, did not receive the title, and set off to Galia in the hope of discovering when she will gain her title. Galia, without thinking twice, went to the prophet Hanoch and told him about the quest of Lilach. Soon after, on the same evening, the Prophet Hanoch gathered everyone in the square near the tower, struck a bronze disk and began his speech: