Pushed and shoved, we took our places as close to Joseph as we could, James struggling to control his sons, Menachim, Isaac, and Shabi. All my nephews were there, my cousins - in fact, every able-bodied man in Nazareth, it seemed, and those who couldn't walk on their own were being carried in on the shoulders of their sons or grandsons. Old Sherebiah who could no longer hear was being carried in.
Avigail, Silent Hannah, and my aunts were already seated among the agitated but largely silent women.
As Jason moved forward to declare the news in full, I saw Avigail's eyes fixed on him with the same absorption as the others.
Jason climbed up and stood on the bench beside the seated elders.
How dazzling he was in his daily white linen and blue tassels, with a bleached mantle over his shoulders. No teacher under Solomon's Porch ever looked more commanding, or ever so elegant.
"How many years ago was it," cried Jason, "that Tiberius Caesar expelled the entire Jewish community from Rome?"
A roar went up from the assembly, even the women crying out, but all fell silent as Jason went on: "And now as we all know, this equestrian, Sejanus, rules the world for this heartless Emperor, whose own son, Drusus, Sejanus murdered!"
The Rabbi rose at once, demanding silence. We were all shaking our heads. This was a dangerous thing to say even in the farthest corner of the Empire. Never mind that everyone believed it. The ancient elders clamored as well for Jason to be still. Joseph motioned sternly for him to be silent.
"Reports of these ensigns in the Holy City have already gone to Tiberius Caesar," cried the Rabbi. "Surely they have. You think the Lord High Priest Joseph Caiaphas stands by and watches this blasphemy in silence? You think Herod Antipas is doing nothing? And you know full well, every one of you, that this Emperor wants no riots in these parts, or anywhere in the Empire. The Emperor will send an order as he has done in the past. The ensigns will be removed. Pontius Pilate will have no choice in it!"
Joseph and the elders vigorously gave their agreement. The eyes of the younger men and women were fixed on Jason. And Jason only watched, unsatisfied. Then Jason shook his head No.
Again came the murmuring and suddenly shouts as well.
"Patience is what is required of us now," Joseph said, and some attempted to hush others so that he could be heard. He was the only one of the elders even attempting to speak. But it was useless.
Then Jason's voice rang out sharp and mocking, above the noise.
"What if the Emperor himself never sees such a report?" demanded Jason. "What assurance do we have that this Sejanus, who despises our race, and always has, won't intercept the report? And the Emperor will never lay eyes on it?"
Louder came the cries of agreement.
Menachim, James' eldest, rose to his feet. "I say we march on Caesarea, all of us, that we go in a body, demanding that the Governor take the ensigns out of the city."
Jason's eyes blazed and he drew Menachim towards him.
"I forbid you to go!" James shouted, and other men his age cried out with equal force, attempting to stop the young men who seemed on the verge of running out of the assembly.
My uncle Cleopas stood up. He bellowed: "Silence, you mad rabble."
He took a stand beside the elders.
"What do any of you know?" he said, pointing his finger at Menachim and Shabi and Jason and a host of others as he turned this way and that. "Tell me, what do you know of the Roman legions marching down into this land from Syria? What in your miserable little lifetimes have you seen of this? You hotheaded children!" He glared at Jason.
Then he climbed up on the bench, not even reaching for a hand to help him, and he forced Jason to the side, and nearly toppled him.
Cleopas was no elder. He was not as old as the youngest of the elders, who was, in fact, his brother-in-law Joseph. But Cleopas had a full head of gray hair framing his vigorous face, and he had a powerful voice with the timbre of youth and the authority of a teacher.
"Answer me," Cleopas demanded. "How many times, Menachim bar James, have you seen Roman soldiers in Galilee? Well, who has seen them, you, you . . . you?"
"Tell them," declared the Rabbi to Cleopas, "because they don't know. And those who do know apparently cannot remember."
The younger men went into a rage, shouting that they knew full well what they meant to do, or what they had to do, and began trying to outdo one another in volume.
Cleopas raised his voice louder than I'd ever heard it. He gave them all a taste of the oratory we were used to under our own roof.
"You don't think this Sejanus, whom you so detest," he declared, "will not move to stop riots in Judea? The man doesn't want riots. He wants power, and he wants it in Rome, and he wants no noise from the eastern Empire. I say let him have his power. The Jews have long been back in Rome. The Jews are at peace in every city of the world from Rome to Babylon. And what do you know of how this peace was forged, you who would run headlong into the Roman guard at Caesarea?"
"We know we are Jews, that's what we know," declared Menachim. James wanted to strike him, but held back.
Across the way, my mother shut her eyes and bowed her head. Avigail stared wide eyed at Jason, who stood with his arms folded as if he were the judge of the matter, eyeing the small gathering of the elders coldly.