Jerusalem: Two Stories

by Bruce J. Berger

Jerusalem, the heart and soul of the Jewish people ... but step back in time to the years 68-70 C.E. and see it through the eyes of Zakkai, the father of Yochanan ben Zakkai, as the plan is hatched to let Yochanan sneak out of the doomed city; see it through the eyes of Yochanan ben Zakkai himself, two years later, as he returns to find the Temple destroyed and his wife, Rachel, whom he'd abandoned, a sex slave of the Roman legions. In these two linked stories -- fiction, yes, but it could well have happened exactly like this -- we see how the epicenter of the transition between the sacrificial cult and rabbinic Judaism, how the Jewish religion was saved against overwhelming odds, and how a new scholar was brought into this world.

40 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 24, 2013

About the author

Following a 40-year career as a trial attorney in Washington, DC., Bruce J. Berger turned full-time to writing, earned an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from American University, and now teaches there. His first novel, The Flight of the Veil, is a sequel to The Music Stalker and achieved critical success, winning a Bronze Award in General Fiction from Illumination Christian Book Awards. Kirkus Reviews called The Flight of the Veil “A well-crafted tale about trauma and miracles. Get it.” He has also published more than 50 stories and poems in a wide variety of literary journals.