Satan in Goray

their relatives to share. The children cried hard, complaining that they had been fooled.... They wanted to go to Jerusalem.... They wanted to wear little golden jackets.... They wanted wings, so they could fly through the air.... They wanted the marzipan candy and the gold coins in the broth that they had been promised.... Their fathers looked dejected and toyed with the food, eating merely to fulfill the religious duty, in order not to appear to be fasting on Rosh Hashana. They sang the High Holy Day hymns with hoarse, quavering voices and quickly went off to sleep behind the oven, silent and irritable. Mothers quieted the sucklings by nursing them, and sat up late next to the children's cribs and beds, sleepily telling stories to keep the little ones from asking questions. Though it was a High Holy Day, the silent feuds between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, mother and daughter, brother and sister, persisted, as bitter as ever. The people of Goray fell asleep in their clothes, their mouths open and their hearts hollow, as in times of persecution when Jews are never sure that they will live through the next day.
    On both the first and the second day of Rosh Hashana Reb Gedaliya preached before the ram's horn was blown. His face was cinder-red, his eyes flashed, and every word he spoke lightened the heart of the congregation. He argued that this marred holiday was the last of the trials that God was inflicting on his people. Reb Gedaliya compared the present time to the hour before dawn, when the sky must become darkest so that the sun might shine forth in all its splendor. He called on all in the congregation to be steadfast in their faith, and not to despair on this eve of great days. He swore a mighty oath that Sabbatai Zevi was the true Messiah of the God of Jacob; he bade the Jews put away their sadness and gird themselves with trust and joy; lie said that the Four Matriarchs had visited Rechele at night to solace her, and they had reported that Satan had leveled a bitter accusation in Heaven against those who wavered in their faith; as a consequence, the end of days had been postponed until such time as the wrath of God should be placated. Before the congregation dispersed, Reb Gedaliya blessed each worshiper with his hands. He lifted the children to kiss them on the head, and called out as the congregation departed: "Go home and rejoice. We shall all be in the Land of Israel soon, speedily and in our time. Every man shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree."
    For the ceremony of the Casting, everyone in town put on his or her holiday rags and, walking in file, set forth in the direction of the river outside the town. Rechele, who was not well, was borne on a gilded chair, and accompanied by the most important people in town. She looked (impossible comparison!) like one of those icons that the gentiles bear in church processions during their festivals.... The young women stood on the bridge and shook out their pockets and kerchiefs, alluding to the transgressions that are cast into running waters. As was customary, the younger people of Goray were jolly at the expense of the old women and even the men. They jibed at Nechele, Levi's wife, whispering in one another's ears that the river would overflow with her sins. Returning to town, uncouth boys tried to stab the women's hips with pins and made lewd remarks. Reb Godel Chasid shouted angrily, reprimanding them for being sacrilegious; but Reb Gedaliya passed it off with a wave of his hand, signifying that there was no harm in raising people's spirits.... Nevertheless, at dusk the town grew so still one might have thought that everyone had died. The air turned blue, like the pages of an old book, the houses were drab, half in ruins, and it seemed like the year 1648. The pails of water that the girls carried were reminiscent of ablution rites for the dead, and everything smelled burned and acrid, as after a fire. Sleepily, the men recited psalms in the study house, as though they were asking for com-passion on some person who was mortally ill. The women gathered before the doors of their homes. They spoke in hushed tones, looking around them meanwhile, fearful of being overheard by strangers; they let the children pull the last embellishments from their coats, just so that they--the mothers--might have some peace. One woman casually re-marked that people ought to repair their houses and get this thing out of their heads; the Messiah was not coming to