THE BABYLONIAN EMPEROR NEBUCHADNEZZAR PLUNDERED AND DESTROYED JERUSALEM IN 568 BC. THE ENTIRE POPULATION WAS TAKEN INTO SLAVERY TO BABYLON. THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF THE DIASPORA(THE GREEK WORD MEANING SCATTER), WHEN THE JEWISH PEOPLE WILL BE SCATTERED THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.

‘‘Lord Joachim, Lord Joachim! ‘‘the boy from the pottery workshop at the end of the street interrupted me during the afternoon rest.

‘‘Easy, boy, where’s the fire?!’’ ‘
 ‘‘A nobleman from the court is going to your house,’’ he said breathlessly.
‘‘All right, get back to work!’’

I went to the door to escort the boy and noticed that the well-dressed young man had already gotten off his horse.
‘‘I salute you, esteemed Joachim,’‘he said with a light bow.’’The Empress sent me with a request to have you come to the court immediately. ’’  

‘‘Immediately?!’’  I said reluctantly.
‘‘She asked.’’ said the young man sternly. He rode on without saying goodbye and headed for the city.
What could I do? I am but a mere exile from Judea. Regardless of the fact that the young man referred to me as ‘‘esteemed’’, I knew my place and whose laws I had to respect. I took a bag with my medicine and set off to Babylon.
I have been living in a Judean colony for six months and have never once crossed the bridge over the Euphrates, which divided the colonies of us exiled from the Babylonian population. We were not forbidden to come to the city, but outraged by the persecution, we still did not have the will to meet the new masters. We lived peacefully and withdrawn on the land we got while still respecting our faith and our customs.
In half an hour’s walk, I reached the bridge. In  Judea, I heard that Babylon was a city more beautiful than any that existed, but crossing the bridge and looking at the beautiful buildings, I realized that the stories of its beauty were truly not exaggerated. Beautiful temples, streets, gates, and courts appeared before me as a scene from the most beautiful dreams. I paused in front of each building like a little boy who was taken for the first time to an unfamiliar area. I passed through a blue gate decorated with yellow and white lions and with two massive towers on both sides. This must be the gate of the goddess Ishtar, I thought as I passed through it and entered the next street. The temples grew more beautiful as I passed. The biggest one that I saw before my eyes was a stairwell-like building resembling the pyramids. Could this be the famous Tower of Babylon? I had to admit that Nebuchadnezzar really made an effort to restore the glory of ancient Babylon. I was approaching the imperial castle and what I saw then stopped my breath in my chest.
A building with five terraced levels, each of which was a garden planted with a wide variety of trees and flowers in a moment enchanted me with its beauty. So much so that I did not hear the words of a young nobleman who came to introduce me to the court. He waited for a moment curiously watching the expression on my face, and then said:’’These are the gardens of our Empress Semiramis, and now come with me, she is waiting for you.’’

I followed him walking, enraptured, when, suddenly, I was overcome with guilt. What and whom do you admire, I asked myself. Those who robbed and destroyed your beautiful city of Jerusalem, and drove us Jews into exile. No, Joachim, there is nothing to admire here!
Oh my God Yahweh and all my Israelite prophets, the very next moment your unfortunate old man Joachim continued to admire. He admired the one who came out of one of the chambers at that moment and headed towards me. I used every split second until the moment she stood in front of me to devour that unspeakable beauty. Tall and slender,fair-skinned, and of refined features, she seemed quite unreal. The young nobleman, confused by her arrival, because she probably was supposed to have greeted me in some reception chamber, said in an official voice:’‘Empress, this is old man Joachim from the Jewish colony’’!

I bowed deeply, and she said, ‘‘I was eagerly waiting for you!’’
‘‘I have arrived Empresses, where are the children?’’
‘‘Children? How do you know I called you about the children?’‘ she asked me in confusion.
‘‘We Israelites are the people of prophets and seers, ‘‘I said proudly.
She hastened me into a room where two boys were lying on velvet beds.
‘‘They’ve been like this since last night, ‘‘she said in an almost weeping voice. They are hot to the touch, they vomit, they speak incoherently…’’

I  looked at the boys. The older one was ten, and the younger one was about eight years old. Their small bodies were shaking with a fever. I asked for a container of water to be brought, and then I opened my goatskin bag. I took out two or three handfuls of medicinal herbs and a small ceramic bottle. I soaked the herbs in water and added a few drops of liquid from the bottle to it. I removed the blanket from the boys and covered their bodies with soaked herbs.
‘‘Let’s wait‘‘, I said to the Empress. She knelt and prayed quietly.
‘‘They’ll be fine’’, I reassured her.
She stopped praying and thought about something.
‘‘Ask, Empress. ‘‘
‘‘You read my thoughts. Then you know what I want to ask you.’’
‘‘Yes, about the future of the boys. Will they be good rulers, will they reach the glory of their father… ’’  
She nodded affirmatively. What should I tell her? She looked at me curiously but did not stop me from thinking.

I knew that the sons of Nebuchadnezzar would not even come near the glory of their father. The elder would be of weak character and would probably lose his life at a young age. The younger would try to be a successful ruler, which he would be somewhat successful in, but he would not reach his father’s glory, not by a long shot. What should I say to the empress? If I tell her the truth, she will nurture them with the painful tenderness of a mother who knows how to nurture losers, and they will become even greater weaklings than fate has ordained for them. If I lie to her and say that they will be great and powerful, she will raise them rigorously and with pride and their mission on earth will be fulfilled exactly according to the prophecy.
‘‘What are their names?’’, I asked the Empress.
‘‘The older one is Amel-Marduk, and the younger one is Nergalsarusur ‘‘, she said, waiting for my answer. I took a deep breath and said,

‘‘These children, Empress, will be strong, brave, and successful rulers.‘‘ Her face lit up.

 I heard footsteps behind me. The Emperor entered the room. Nebuchadnezzar, the conqueror, the destroyer of peoples’ empires, and the great builder of his own. He approached the bed and looked tenderly at his sons. The children were already getting over the fever.
The Empress told him what I had told her and he looked at me with a piercing and questioning look. I did not last long under his gaze so I began to deal with the children, removing the herbs from their bodies and washing them with water from the posted.
‘‘It’s going to be just fine now, ‘‘I said, still not looking up
’’We are infinitely grateful to you, dear Joachim! Ask for whatever your heart desires!’’, the Empress said to me in a happy and excited voice.
‘‘My heart, Empress, remained in Jerusalem under the ruins of my beloved city and it asks nothing more. No treasure will lighten the soul of this old man. Nurture your sons to be just and wise and I will consider it my reward’’
She took off the medallion she was wearing around her neck and put it between my palms, which she folded with her gentle hands, saying: ’’It is our patron goddess Ishtar. I know that you believe in another God, but heavenly grace is the same for all. May your God and all our gods protect you from all evil. ’’

I went out clutching the medallion in my hand. To my surprise, the emperor followed me.
‘‘The story about the future of my children was not true, ‘‘he said quietly. This was not a question. It was the claim of a wise man who found me in a lie with that piercing look.’’All my strictness in upbringing would not have helped had you told the truth, because both the Empress and everyone around her, moved by your story, would have made them weak. It would have been real revenge for the destroyer of your city, wouldn’t it? Why didn’t you just tell us the truth?’’

I thought for a moment and said, ‘‘Our prophet Jeremiah advised both the emperor and the people to obey your powerful laws. He said that a man must sometimes bend like a stick until wisdom and sacrifice one day set him straight into a powerful and fertile tree. Most listened to him, but there were also those who thought that the speech of weapons was louder than any other speech. They believed in Egypt’s promises to support us, and the vengeance of the holy emperor who stands before me was terrible. This old man has long since learned to listen to the words of his prophets. To sometimes bend like a stick, to not always to tell the truth and not to take revenge, because under the ruins of vengeance, he might find the remains of his own heart.’’  

 ‘‘Wise words, Joachim. Let the wise men continue to tell their stories and let the rulers rule. It is evening and they both must retire. ’’  
As I crossed the bridge over the Euphrates again, my conscience no longer bothered me over admiring the beautiful Babylon so much. For I had forgotten one lesson of my prophets: respect your enemy as well, since the evil that they cause you is both a temptation and a challenge to find the right path.
Entering my street, I called out to the boy from the pottery workshop:’’Hey, boy, cross the bridge sometimes, you’ll have something to see!’’

The  young man’s face lit up.’‘Master Joachim, how about those gardens? Aren’t they a true, veritable miracle?!’’