Free Monday the Rabbi Took Off by Harry Kemelman Page A

kindly, by encouraging us to attend the university, for example, some of us will be placated and resigned to the idea that they are in control and likely to remain for some time. Now.” he said to his friend, “which will they watch more closely, the ones who are resigned or the ones who remain stubborn? And remember, they want so much to believe that they have won some of us over.” He smiled in the darkness. “So I help them a little. Roy is young and not very bright, but he is good camouflage. Now if you were not following me to spy on me –”
    “I have some news I wanted to tell you.”
    “Yes?”
    “We heard from Jaffa. There has been a shake-up in the Shin Bet, and Adoumi has been transferred to Jerusalem. He’s here now. He was seen.”
    “So?”
    “So maybe we ought to go easy for a while and see what happens.” the other said softly.
    “How long has he been here?”
    “Who knows? Perhaps months.”
    They walked in silence, and then Abdul said. “After all. what difference does it make?”
    “Plenty. If he’s in charge here, then we’ll soon see the same harsh methods that were used in Jaffa and Tel Aviv.11
    “No.” said Abdul. “That kind of thing can’t be done here in Jerusalem. There are too many people from too many parts of the world –”
    “There are even more in Tel Aviv.”
    “But they are all businessmen there.” Abdul pointed out. “interested only in their big financial deals. Here, in Jerusalem, it is the religious and the learned and the scientific people and the diplomats and the writers and journalists, the people that the Jews try so hard to persuade of their liberalism and democracy. It is here that you have the large Christian community with their ties to Europe and America. And it’s a smaller town where everything that happens is immediately known, and cannot be concealed. Believe me, the methods he used in Tel Aviv and Jaffa – rounding up hundreds of our people and holding them for questioning for days – he won’t be able to get away with it so easy here. Besides, if he’s been transferred, he will probably be here for some time. Does that mean that we do nothing and just wait for the next shake-up when someone else is sent in? Are we to be made women by the reputation of one man? I for one am prepared to go ahead. Get word to the Swiss. Have him prepare the gadget. I’m ready to go ahead with the original plan.”
    “And the rest of us?”
    Abdul smiled. “Proceed as we arranged, or better, get yourself a friendly Jew and arrange to be with him when it happens.”

Chapter Eleven
    Jonathan, whether he was racing up and down the length of the El Al lounge or just standing in front of an elderly woman gravely watching her transfer items from one bag to another, was obviously enjoying the experience. Having flown from Boston’s Logan Airport to New York’s Kennedy, he considered himself a seasoned traveler.
    Miriam, on whose shoulders the management and logistics of the expedition devolved, had worried and fretted, had made out lists – lists of things to be done, of things to be taken, of things to be remembered. Now at the airport, she realized it was too late to rectify any errors and was determined to relax and enjoy the trip. She sat quietly sipping coffee out of a paper cup, surrounded by the coats and bags that constituted their hand luggage. Curiously she was unconcerned about Jonathan’s moment-to-moment whereabouts since all the people in the lounge waiting for the evening flight seemed strangely familiar almost as though it were a family gathering where others would keep an eye on him and see to it that he did not get into serious trouble. This effect of familiarity was heightened by an occasional nudge from her husband with an urging to “Look at that couple next to the counter.
    Doesn’t he look just like Mark Rosenstein?”
    Of the three, the rabbi alone showed impatience. The sooner they were aboard the plane, the sooner they would get to their