LESLIE EPSTEIN
55
Lun t nonetheless could no t be roused. T he Ministers cleared room
for hi m among the pla tes and glasses on the table. T hey laid him
carefull y down . T h en Nomberg turned to the three remaining sages.
"Wh a t is your conclusion ? G ive us your advice."
"Advice? No thing could be mo re simple." Wolf-Kitzes was keep–
ing his hands crossed in front of hi s grey underdrawers. " It is written ,
The L aw is the L aw.
Draw up the list of names."
The obo ist, Kl een : " And does the Prince of the Pious agree?"
Everyone turned to the Pshi skher, whose opinion was worth more
than tha t of an y single J ew.
" If
the whole may be saved by the loss of
the part, then the lesser evil must be done."
"My pos iti on exactl y,"
omberg replied . "After all , if the few
refu sed
to
go, wouldn 't they be guilty of an injury to the many?"
Rabbi Wolf-Kitzes: "The fift y are th e lucky ones! Chosen
to
sanctify God 's Holy Name!"
Verbl e's moustache, a long one, was di stinguished by the hairs at
the ends, whi ch had been waxed to a fine line. "At last! All authorities
are in agreement. Urinstein, we' ll just use your fountain pen-"
"No t quite all authorities. Not everyone." The Rabbi of the Fur
Trimmers, even with hi s wrenched neck, started to speak. " My fellow–
scholars have overl ooked the words of the mi ghty Ramban.
If heathens
say to the Israelites, 'Surrender one of your number to us, that we may
put him to death, ot herwise we w ill pu t all of you to death,' they
should all suffe r death rather than surrender a sing le Israelite to them.
Thus wrote Maimonides."
There was a murmer in the crowd . "There were no t," remarked
Paradyz, "ga ttling guns then. "
Then an idea came
to
the Descendant. "One moment, please.
There are certa in excepti ons to the rulings tha t the Rabbi of the Fur
Trimmers has quoted.
If
the demand of the hea thens is not for just
anyone, but for a named individual, J ew X, Y, or Z, then in order to
avoid
gr~a ter
bl oodshed he should be given up. Examples of such cases
abound. Was no t Joheoiakim surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar, in order
to save the T empl e? When King David 's forces declared they would
destroy the city of Abel unl ess Sheba, the traitor, was given to them ,
was not the head o f Sheba forthwith thrown over the wall? Give them, I
say, their fifty heads, ra ther than let th e whole city suffer. "
Suddenl y the Chancell ory was in an uproar. Everyone talked at
once. Gutfreind 's vo ice boomed the loudes t: "But these vi ctims were
named by the heathen s.
In
our case, we,
we alone,
must pick and
choose. "
