“Let’s skip class today!”
“No way, someone will notice.”
“It’s robotics class, he doesn’t notice anything.”
“Fine, what are we going to do?”
Avram just winks and jumps over the concrete wall between us and freedom. Behind us a couple boys were talking in front of the door, the teacher was not there yet.
I hesitated for a moment and then figured what the hells and followed him. On the other side a small park with trees made up the green late July landscape of mount Carmel overlooking the open bay. We quickly followed the path down beyond some shrubs and bushes between which I saw the remains of exploded firecrackers other kids had left.
We crossed the street and entered the gardens bellow us, a single guard looked at us suspiciously but we just nodded at him and went in, not expecting too much of a hassle. The managers of the Bahai Temple take special care of the Bahai gardens, no smoking, no mess, not even a blade of grass out of place. The spectacular view was highlighted and enhanced by the straight line that came down from the top of the mountain, through the golden dome of the Bahai temple and due north through the German quarter down to the Haifa seaport.
I wasn’t worried about getting in trouble. The computers and robotics teacher never knew who was at school that day and who wasn’t, and he never took note of who was in class. Neither was I worried about the guards here, they were more concerned with keeping the many tourists and worshipers safe. Two kids with kippas didn’t worry them. The only times my friends got in trouble here was when they smoked cigarettes.
I followed him to the path that went under the small bridge where he pulled over to the shadowed corner and pulled something out of his pocket.
“What’s that?” I said getting close.
He pulled a lighter up and put what looked like a small rolled cigarette in his mouth and lit it.
“Here” he said handing it to me.
“I don’t smoke.” I said
“It’s not tobacco. Just smoke it quick before the guards come.”
I had to make a choice. It was a tough one. I had never done anything this bad before. I wondered what would happen to me if I got caught. But more than anything I was curious.
I pulled the air in, choked and coughed. My eyes teared up, I did not like this.
Laughing, Avram takes it from me and takes another pull. He pats me on the back and smiles. I feel a mild elation, my breath felt stronger, my eyes felt more sensitive. I looked out across the panoramic view. I saw the Bahai temple before me, I saw crosses over churches and moons over mosques. I was curious.
I was always a curious kid. I was inquisitive and wanted to know things. Everything fascinated me and as soon as I could read I read. I read every book I could, even my school books, which I quickly found were not as interesting or as informative as many other books I was reading. I quickly consumed introductory books in physics, chemistry, astronomy, biology, geology and more.
In the religious household I had many books on the Jewish religion. My father had a whole set of the Talmud, we had many copies of the Mishna and the Shulchan Aruch. I knew a lot about the Jewish religion but I did not know much about other religions and I was curious. I was curious about God.
Was God curious of me?
In my search for understanding I contemplated the nature of God. The religious faith told me of a powerful god, a righteous god, a merciful god and sometimes a jealous and vindictive god. But could God be curious?
Curiousity is something that rises naturally from our lack of knowledge. We don’t know something and we’d like to know it. We want to know the answer enough that it motivates us to try to find an answer. Curiosity alone has driven much of our development that I believe curiosity is something to be admired and encouraged.
But could an all-knowing god be curious?
Why else would we be created if He/It/the Light was not curious about us? If there was no curiosity what was the point? What was the motivation? Why else have a question if you do not want an answer?
The history and religion shouted back at me from across the crisp landscape, calling out to me a powerful presence that did not emanate from one but from all the sacred temples from all the people.
Avram was still smiling as he handed me this new Sacred Sacrament of Medicine, years later he became much more proficient in his trade and got a job in Amsterdam doing quality evaluations for a distributor there.