to make poor people rich?"

"He said we ought to become servants of the soil on which we live.
When the Messiah comes and takes us to the promised land, we shall
leave this one. Why should we become its servants?"

"It was said the writing would teach us how to change sand into
gold!"

"And how to drive out evil spirits."

"How to bring Moses to life again."

"They have told us lies; there is nothing wise or pleasing to the
Lord in the writing."

Questions and mutterings followed rapidly one upon the other,
accompanied by the scornful laughter of those that had been balked in
their hopes and expectations. The melamed, towering above the crowd,
threw out insulting remarks, or burst into harsh laughter full of
venomous malice. Under the second wall opposite the melamed stood Ber
on a bench. These two men, standing opposite each other, presented a
striking contrast. The melamed shook his head and waved his arms,
wildly shouting and laughing; Ber stood silent and motionless, his
head thrown back, resting against the wall, and from his blue eyes
that looked into the far, far distance, tears fell in thick drops.
Close to Meir in a compact body stood a dozen or more of young men,
who looked with rapt attention at the reader. They breathed quickly,
smiled now and then, and raised their arms and sighed. They seemed
not to see or hear the crowd; their spirits, longing for truth and blindly
searching for it, had fastened upon the new thoughts. A thin, quavering
voice was heard from the crowd: "They talked much about that, long,
long ago; when I was young." A deep sigh accompanied the young man's
words. Perhaps he was one of Hersh's friends. Young boys who pushed
their heads between the people laughed and shouted, then disappeared
again.

The old yellow papers began to tremble in Meir's hands; upon his pale
face appeared two red burning spots. He looked half angrily, half
entreatingly at the public.

"Be quiet!" he called out. "Let me read the words of the great man to
you to the end. He has chosen me as his messenger, and I must obey his
commands."

His voice was loud and authoritative; his whole frame seemed to
expand under the influence of a new power.

"Be quiet," shouted the melamed. "Let him read the abomination which
hitherto has lain in hiding. Let it come forth that we may stamp it
out all the easier."

"O Israel!" began the youthful voice once more. "O Israel, the third
thing I ask from you is Discernment.