CHAPTER 9
The Bible
I can no longer resist what my ancestors are calling me to do.
I want to tell you about something that remained quietly hidden for a long time, waiting for the right moment.
I hope you will read this carefully, paying attention to what you are about see.
I will write down everything my grandmother left behind, because I feel that I simply have to tell you about it.
My grandmother was a remarkable woman. She knew the Word of God, and today I am passing on to you what remained after her.
I am opening our family Bible before you.
My grandmother’s Bible.
It is a pre-revolutionary Russian edition, dating approximately from the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. This book survived the war. It was restored by hand. On its old pages, my grandmother’s personal notes and underlinings can still be seen.
I do not know what she thinking each time she took this Bible into her hands. I do not know why she passed over one passage but stopped at another.
So I will not speak to her.
I will do something else.
I will follow only the places her hand touched.
The chapters and lines where she left her mark.
The First Book of Moses
The First major markings appear in the story of Jacob and Laban, in chapters 30-31.
Work. The division of property. Agreements. The gradual gaining of independence. Conflict. Departure. protecting what belongs to you. And finally, establishing a boundary between two families.
Among the words she marked:
“God has seen my affliction and the labour of my hands.”
Nearby is the covenant establishing a boundary between the two sides.
In chapter 31, the same themes appear again: fear, pursuit, conflict, God’s protection, and boundaries.
Then comes Jacob’s meeting with Esau in chapters 32-33.
Fear of his brother. Preparation for the meeting. Caution. Diplomacy.
And reconciliation.
Chapter 34 tells the story of Dinah.
Violence. Its consequences. The brothers’ reaction. Family honour. The danger to Bethel.
Purification. Turning away from foreign gods. Renewal. The death of Rachel.
But then another story begins – one to which my grandmother gave an especially large amount of attention in her markings.
The story of Joseph.
Chapters 37-50.
It begins with dream.
Joseph has dreams. Then come the plot against him, the betrayal by his brothers, his sale, and the lie told to his father.
Later – prison.
And once again ,dreams.
In chapter 40, there is the cupbearer and the interpretation of dreams.
In chapter 41 come Pharaoh’s dreams.
Seven cows. Seven heads of grain. Famine.
The need to see danger before it arrives, to prepare for it, and to preserve resources in order to survive.
Then the testing of the brothers begins.
In chapter 42 – silver in their sacks, fear, and accusation.
In chapter 44 – the story of the cup.
The brothers are tested. The cup is found. Responsibility.
And only then, in chapters 45-46, is the truth revealed:
Joseph is alive.
The family moves to Egypt.
In chapter 48 – Ephraim and Manasseh.
Children. A blessing for the future.
In chapter 49, Jacob blesses his sons and speaks prophetic words over them.
Among these passages, my grandmother especially marked Judah.
And then comes chapter 50.
The return to the ancestors. And at the end of the entire story – forgiveness.
Joseph says to his brothers:
“You intended evil against me, but God turned it to good.”
And then:
“I will provide for you and your children.”
Betrayal does not have the final word in this story.
Forgiveness does.
Here ends the great line of passages marked by my grandmother in the First Book of Moses.
But another begins.
Exodus
When I began looking at the markings in the Second Book of Moses as a whole, a spiritual map gradually started to appear before me.
In chapter 17 – water from the rock.
The wilderness.
A place where it seems there is nothing left to draw from.
And yet, a recource appears.
For me, the meaning of these lines is simple:
when it seems there are no resources left, they appear.
In chapter 18, my grandmother stopped at Jethro’s advice to Moses.
Do not carry everything alone.
Appoint people to help you.
Delegate.
Separate the important matters from the small ones.
Create a system of justice.
When I read this today, it comes down to one simple thought for me:
do not carry the whole world on your shoulders.
Then comes Sinai.
In chapter 19, a boundary is drawn around the mountain.
The people must prepare themselves. Purify themselves. They must not cross the boundary that has been set.
And once again, I see a theme that appeared earlier.
not everything should have access to you.
In chapters 20 come the come the Ten Commandments.
My grandmother marked:
Honour your parents. Do not kill. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Do not desire what belongs to another.
A simple moral structure for human of justice.
In chapters 21 – 23 come laws of justice.
DIARY BETWEEN WORLDS 