much.
Cruel Ruler: Why?
*
"Welcome, welcome." Rabbi Eligad's eyes were
bright, and he drank some tea from the cup next to him.
Zomy looked around, as always during these visits. Nothing
changes here, he thought. Same room, same chairs, same carpet - maybe a little
more worn than the first time he had seen them before…how many years ago? Fourteen?
Maybe more. Everything is as it was. As if time had no effect on this place, on
this…man.
"Thank you, Rabbi," and he sat on the chair in
front of him, letting himself to get used to this place, which was his home
more than any other place. "Where ...?"
"She went on a mission," smiled Rabbi Eligad,
without having to hear the name.
"To foster more orphaned children?" he smiled
back.
"There are many orphaned children today, unfortunately.
More than ever before," Rabbi Eligad sighed gently. "But no, she did
not go in that direction this time. She has new missions, and this is
unfortunate, too"
"What?" Zomy frowned. He had never seen the
Kabbalist so thoughtful. "Anything I can help with?"
"Of course there is," came the faint smile.
"And you do it the best way possible. Tell me, son. Tell me about what
undermined your world so recently."
And he told him. At length.
More than two hours passed, two hours in which Zomy almost
never stopped talking. He told Rabbi Eligad about everything that had happened
since their last meeting, a few months before. He went deeper, especially into
the last genetic research he was helping with. Zomy was not a geneticist by
training; he knew very little about the structure of the genome before he was
brought to the project.
From time to time he stole a glance at the eyes of Rabbi
Eligad, surprised, almost angry, to discover again and again the same knowing,
tough, never patronizing smile.
"I'm not telling you anything new, ah," he said
finally. He’d just finished, at that moment, an especially long sentence, which
tried to explain, in simple words as possible, the roles of the DNA and the RNA
in the intracellular process.
Rabbi Eligad shrugged his shoulders.
"All is already written," he said.
"Where does it say?" Zomy was almost overwhelmed.
It was clear what the rabbi was talking about - the Bible,
of course. And Zomy, who knew almost all the scriptures by heart, did not like
it. First, no part of the Bible even mentioned the subject, he was certain.
The second reason was prosaic. Zomy came here not only to
ask how the rabbi was, or because the rabbi ordered him to come to him from
time to time. He came here to renew something to the rabbi. Give him something
meaningful, just as the rabbi, years earlier, had given him so much. And if the
rabbi knew all that - what was the point of visiting him? What can you give the
person who has everything? What can be renewed for those who already know
everything?
"No details, of course," interrupted Rabbi Eligad.
"But…both of those you told me about, the DNA and the RNA, are mentioned
explicitly, including their roles. You, too, are mentioned there."
Rabbi Eligad's eyes made Zomy, not for the first time, break
into a cold sweat. DNA, and RNA mentioned? And he himself…mentioned? Zomy knew
too much to assume that Rabbi Eligad was wrong, or worse.
"What does DNA do, son?"
"It's software. Source of knowledge, it's the one which
monitors all the processes in the cells."
"And the RNA?"
"I have already said, it is compatible with the DNA, its
perfect copy, or parts of it. It connects it with the rest of the body. The DNA
isn't able to create proteins, so the RNA creates them instead. Sort of
animating the data written on the DNA.”
"Draw them for me. Both these materials, DNA and
RNA."
"Molecules," Zomy corrected.
"Molecules, of course. Draw them for me."
Zomy stood up and walked to the corner of the room, where a
little, old table stood, with a neat package of papers, and the same number of
pens and pencils. He began scribbling clumsily, the classic structure of the
DNA: a double
Cruel Ruler: Why?
*
"Welcome, welcome." Rabbi Eligad's eyes were
bright, and he drank some tea from the cup next to him.
Zomy looked around, as always during these visits. Nothing
changes here, he thought. Same room, same chairs, same carpet - maybe a little
more worn than the first time he had seen them before…how many years ago? Fourteen?
Maybe more. Everything is as it was. As if time had no effect on this place, on
this…man.
"Thank you, Rabbi," and he sat on the chair in
front of him, letting himself to get used to this place, which was his home
more than any other place. "Where ...?"
"She went on a mission," smiled Rabbi Eligad,
without having to hear the name.
"To foster more orphaned children?" he smiled
back.
"There are many orphaned children today, unfortunately.
More than ever before," Rabbi Eligad sighed gently. "But no, she did
not go in that direction this time. She has new missions, and this is
unfortunate, too"
"What?" Zomy frowned. He had never seen the
Kabbalist so thoughtful. "Anything I can help with?"
"Of course there is," came the faint smile.
"And you do it the best way possible. Tell me, son. Tell me about what
undermined your world so recently."
And he told him. At length.
More than two hours passed, two hours in which Zomy almost
never stopped talking. He told Rabbi Eligad about everything that had happened
since their last meeting, a few months before. He went deeper, especially into
the last genetic research he was helping with. Zomy was not a geneticist by
training; he knew very little about the structure of the genome before he was
brought to the project.
From time to time he stole a glance at the eyes of Rabbi
Eligad, surprised, almost angry, to discover again and again the same knowing,
tough, never patronizing smile.
"I'm not telling you anything new, ah," he said
finally. He’d just finished, at that moment, an especially long sentence, which
tried to explain, in simple words as possible, the roles of the DNA and the RNA
in the intracellular process.
Rabbi Eligad shrugged his shoulders.
"All is already written," he said.
"Where does it say?" Zomy was almost overwhelmed.
It was clear what the rabbi was talking about - the Bible,
of course. And Zomy, who knew almost all the scriptures by heart, did not like
it. First, no part of the Bible even mentioned the subject, he was certain.
The second reason was prosaic. Zomy came here not only to
ask how the rabbi was, or because the rabbi ordered him to come to him from
time to time. He came here to renew something to the rabbi. Give him something
meaningful, just as the rabbi, years earlier, had given him so much. And if the
rabbi knew all that - what was the point of visiting him? What can you give the
person who has everything? What can be renewed for those who already know
everything?
"No details, of course," interrupted Rabbi Eligad.
"But…both of those you told me about, the DNA and the RNA, are mentioned
explicitly, including their roles. You, too, are mentioned there."
Rabbi Eligad's eyes made Zomy, not for the first time, break
into a cold sweat. DNA, and RNA mentioned? And he himself…mentioned? Zomy knew
too much to assume that Rabbi Eligad was wrong, or worse.
"What does DNA do, son?"
"It's software. Source of knowledge, it's the one which
monitors all the processes in the cells."
"And the RNA?"
"I have already said, it is compatible with the DNA, its
perfect copy, or parts of it. It connects it with the rest of the body. The DNA
isn't able to create proteins, so the RNA creates them instead. Sort of
animating the data written on the DNA.”
"Draw them for me. Both these materials, DNA and
RNA."
"Molecules," Zomy corrected.
"Molecules, of course. Draw them for me."
Zomy stood up and walked to the corner of the room, where a
little, old table stood, with a neat package of papers, and the same number of
pens and pencils. He began scribbling clumsily, the classic structure of the
DNA: a double
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