The Host of Luminaries

Community Rule שנים

You know my sitting down and my rising up. You discern my thoughts from afar.

Hava could not believe that the Teacher admitted Alecta entry. A Gentile! A woman! For all they knew she could begin menstruating at any moment, and then where would they be? Impure! Unclean!

She knew that the Teacher had become soft over the years. His faith had never been strong to begin with, but there were so few of them left that he had been the best candidate when the previous Teacher had passed on. Brother Asher had a stronger hand, but he'd only been a novice those years ago. Hava would never express her dissent on the matter, though she sometimes wondered what difference she could make if she'd been male. As it stood, there community would die in thirty or forty years, tops, once Brother Ehud was no longer of the Earth. Hava had more time, and besides, she was more learned, more sure of faith, and stronger in her convictions. To lead them though, to so much as become one of them, that would profanity.

She knew her place.

She also knew something would change, soon. She would not be necessary to prevent the death of their religion. They alone knew the truth. Without them, the Prince of Light could not come against the Sons of Darkness. The Lord, Adonai, would ensure their continuation.

Neither did Hava believe that the war was upon them, even if the Teacher did. Alecta's strange liquid scared her, to be sure. She knew it was evil, not of the Prince of Light, or at the very least profane. But she did not think that the eschaton, the end times, was upon them. The coming war was to be announced by the Archangel Michael, not a Gentile woman from Alexandria.

She took Alecta to the mikvah first. Hava knew that this would be useless if Alecta's heart was unclean – so said the scriptures: "He shall not be justified by that which his stubborn heart declares lawful, for seeking the ways of light he looks toward darkness. He shall not be reckoned among the perfect; he shall neither be purified by atonement, nor cleansed by purifying waters, nor sanctified by seas and rivers, nor washed clean with any ablution."

"Unclean, unclean he shall be," Hava murmured, echoing the passage.

But the Teacher told Hava to bring her to the mikvah, so bring Alecta to the mikvah Hava did.

Then Hava showed her to the cavern where they would eat. Brother Enoch and Brother Yosef were already there, waiting for them.

"Is this everyone?" Alecta asked.

Hava shook her head. "There are fifteen of us, but we can't eat with the others," she explained. "There must be fifteen, at a minimum. Twelve men and three priests. Brother Yosef," she said, indicating the old man in the corner, "interrupted Brother Asher while speaking and must do penance for ten days." Hava nodded towards the other old man. "Brother Enoch was poorly dressed and his nakedness was seen by the others. He must do penance for thirty days."

Hava leaned in closer to Alecta and whispered, "Brother Enoch tends to eat with us permanently. He's old and of feeble mind and never finishes his penance before he does something else."

Alecta nodded and shifted her weight uncomfortably.

Hava said, "They aren't supposed to be involved in making decisions while they do penance but ..."

"... but you need a minimum of fifteen, and there are only fifteen in the community," Alecta finished. "I understand."

She glanced around the cave, unable to hold eye contact with Hava for more than a few moments. "What did you do?" she asked.

Hava shoved down the irritation that rose in her. Alecta was bold to assume that she'd committed some error. It had been years since she'd broken the Community Rule.

"I didn't do anything," Hava said. "I can't eat the Community Meal with the Brothers because I'm female."

"So you always eat with the Brothers who've broken the rules?" Alecta asked.

Hava let go of her impatience. "Yes. That's how it is," she said.

Alecta glanced around again in discomfort. "I suppose it's the same for me then," she finally said.

Hava shook her head. "Even if you were a man, you're a gentile. We shouldn't even be eating with you, but the Teacher has decided that this is the way it will be."

It was clear Alecta did not believe in their rules. Her body language certainly indicated that she did not like them. But, at this moment, it occurred to Hava that Alecta had no other choice. Perhaps the Sons of Darkness were not after her as she claimed they were, but something had scared her back in Alexandria. Something had caused her to flee to this place, which was now a backwater of the Roman Empire.

Alecta sat and ate, and she was quiet for the rest of the meal.

Afterwards, the Brothers rose to join their companions in study. Normally Hava would linger outside their gathering and listen to them reading and discussing the scriptures, but now she was responsible for the Alexandrian. The Teacher had decided that Alecta would share quarters with Hava. There was no lack of space, but Hava knew he wanted her to keep watch on Alecta.

When they were alone in Hava's sleeping quarters, Alecta removed her outer robe, and tossed it to the ground to sleep. Hava sat cross-legged on the floor, watching. Alecta pretended not to notice.

"You don't believe me, do you?" Alecta said. "About the Sons of Darkness."

Hava brushed the question off. "If what you say is true, if the war is upon us, I wouldn't get too comfortable here. The War Scroll does not permit children, or women, or men with permanent blemishes in the war camp. The army must maintain its purity."

"Why are you allowed here then?" Alecta asked.

The harshness of Alecta's tone caught Hava off guard. It was very rare that the Brothers took on such a tone with one another.

"The Brothers admitted me when I was three years old, after my mother died," Hava said. "The understanding was that I would marry and leave the community when I began to menstruate."

Alecta stretched. "So you lied to them and told them your period hasn't started yet."

Hava was taken aback. "No," she said. "I would never deliberately deceive them. It goes against the Community Rule."

Alecta looked her up and down. Hava knew what she was thinking.

"I'm fifteen. I don't know why it hasn't started yet. I can't tell if it's normal or not, because the Brothers will not speak of it unless it's absolutely necessary."

"It's within the realm of normal," Alecta assured her. "But do you really want to marry?"

"Of course," Hava said. "The Teacher tells me it would be dangerous outside the monastery if I were not married."

Alecta shrugged, and shook her head. "But you could just stay here," she pointed out.

This was a bizarre conversation for Hava. One the one hand, she'd never spoken with someone with first hand experience about the changes happening to her body. On the other hand, she'd never had a conversation with someone who understand so little about the practices of their community. Of course she could not stay after she began to menstruate. It would be impossible.

"Where can I relieve myself?" Alecta asked.

"You can't." Hava said flatly. "It's the Sabbath. You'll have to wait until next sundown."

She laid down, and extinguished the lamp. When Alecta believed she was asleep, she slipped outside. She simply could not hold it – certainly not for another day.

Alecta may have been admitted to the last existing community of the Essenes, but she never would be an Essene. Hava was sure of that.