Detour

The old man stood outside the city gates. A warm breeze passed on by and his silver beard glittered in the midday sun. The smell of incense and sacrifices filled the air. The sounds of singing and instruments were heard from afar.

As he gazed back at the hills and the olive groves, at the homes and their children, he was reminded of his recurring dreams. In the dead of night, in nightmares ever so real, the old man had seen the great city walls breached, families massacred and then the unfathomable; g-d’s Temple destroyed. He felt it was his destiny, a g-d given mission, to do all that he can to be a savior of the city and her now rebuilt temple of glory.

In the distance he now had his first glimpse of the marching legions. His body shuttered and his mind uncontrollably wandered. Quietly he prayed. He prayed that his knees would not buckle and that his voice would be heard. He hoped and wished he would withstand and soon return; both the city and he untouched.

The horses came to a halt and when the dust had settled the general dismounted his horse and slowly walked towards the old man. The old man calmly stood his ground. Undaunted he could not believe his eyes. This man of war, whose name alone placed fear in every living man. This victorious hero, who led forty five thousand men in conquering most of earth, was but only a child. Neither a scar nor a beard was visible on his adolescent face.

Suddenly, unexpected, the general stopped and bowed before the old man.
Amongst the forty five thousand men, from Egypt to India, across ten thousand miles of bloodshed and conquest, not one could remember the general ever bowing before another man.
"Your honor, why is it you bow before this mortal being?” quietly, in a surprised tone, the general’s advisor did ask.
“It is not to this formation of flesh and blood that I bow. I bow to the g-d that created him, that honored him with high priesthood and donned him in these garments. For in a dream I have seen this man. I have seen him in the very apparel he wears today. “

The general took his dream and now the meeting with the old man as an omen; a sign of good fortune. The earth beneath the old man shook as the general and his legions carried on their way; the city and its inhabitants unmolested.

Tears of relief flowed from the old man. He breathed what felt like his first honest breath of the day. He lifted his arms and face towards heaven and smiled. He no longer felt so alone. He faithfully represented his people, he embodied his bloodline. True the land would be absorbed, but in a benign conquest.

The old man reentered the city. The smell of incense now completely filled his nostrils. The sounds of singing and instruments pierced the air. He prostrated before the temple. Today, he was a witness to continuance. G-d did not turn his back on his only child.