In the midst of moving madness, Mom came across an old, leather-bound book of our great-grandfather’s while she was sifting through Bubba’s many tsotchkes. It was published in 1870, a complete relic, and it’s about the history of the ancient Essenes, a mystical sect of Jews that arose after the great Maccabean War with the Greeks. The Essenes are believed to be the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls and supposedly Jesus and John the Baptist arose from this tribe.
Our Polish great-grandfather was a Freemason, which up until today we thought had something to do with laying bricks. It’s actually a respected fraternity devoted mostly to social philanthropy and counts many prominent politicians, businessmen and as members. We thought it sounded like a club of grown men who invented a secret society to drink beer and get away from their wives, but we found out the Freemasons have practiced Kabbalistic rituals and count “cabala” and the teachings of the Essenes among their founding principles.
Whoa. Great-Granddaddy was Kabbalist? Trippy. Wonder what he woulda made of Madonna and zoo?
Yo, Yenta!
From the edge of the Diaspora rises a new generation of Jewish mother
The Essenes sound like an other great opportunity for a celebrity religion. Shall we adopt, perhaps, a green, braided necklace as our symbol?
Krusty the Clown (from The Simpsons) was more of a Jew than Madonna. His father was even a Rabbi, these fly-by-night jews haven’t impressed me yet. I’m glad Madge (or is it esther) is giving us great publicity but is it the right publicity? We’ll see how commited she and the other Kabbalists are when the trend fades. Next year they might be chasing the Dalai Lama!