A Scribe Dies in Brooklyn mystery/thriller
Marvin J. Wolf
Rabbi Ben Maimon, the hero of For Whom the Shofar Blows, is back. Unlike any Rabbi you’ve ever met, with knowledge and skills transcending Torah and Talmud, Rabbi Ben is a martial-arts expert and computer whiz. A Jason Bourne with a fedora, Rabbi Ben is a rabbi without a congregation, a trouble-shooter for hire by Jewish institutions—synagogues, museums, libraries, yeshivas, community centers, philanthropic societies, or fraternal orders looking for someone to help with situations where the police are not wanted, where discretion is paramount, and where the bagels are on the house.
When Rabbi Ben’s services are procured by the Israeli President he knows this is a big case. His job—track down the missing pages of the Aleppo Codex—the world’s oldest Hebrew Bible, rivaled only by the Dead Sea Scrolls in historical importance. A third of the book vanished from Aleppo, Syria in 1947 and may have just turned up in Brooklyn’s Syrian Jewish community. It’s a job only Rabbi Ben can handle—quietly, discretely.
The book was discovered at the home of the late Shemuel Benkamal, a wealthy and influential man rumored to be one of those entrusted with smuggling the entire Codex out of Syria after WWII. But now the pages have vanished. With Benkamal’s cute grand-neice Miryam, Rabbi Ben goes to his house, which proves to be a warren of secrets. As they explore, the house is firebombed. It’s the community’s way of welcoming Rabbi Ben to Brooklyn.
To protect the house, Rabbi Ben begins sleeping there while he immerses himself Benkamal’s Arabic and Ladino papers—which reveal still other mysteries. But it’s not until he handily repels four attackers who think he is hitting on Miryam that doors begin to open for him in the Byzantine culture of Brooklyn’s Syrian Jews. Finally he begins to piece together a fascinating story—a tale of opportunism, scheming, counterfeiting, superstition and, perhaps, a murder going back over 50 years.
As for the Codex? It may still be out there, waiting to be found…
When Rabbi Ben’s services are procured by the Israeli President he knows this is a big case. His job—track down the missing pages of the Aleppo Codex—the world’s oldest Hebrew Bible, rivaled only by the Dead Sea Scrolls in historical importance. A third of the book vanished from Aleppo, Syria in 1947 and may have just turned up in Brooklyn’s Syrian Jewish community. It’s a job only Rabbi Ben can handle—quietly, discretely.
The book was discovered at the home of the late Shemuel Benkamal, a wealthy and influential man rumored to be one of those entrusted with smuggling the entire Codex out of Syria after WWII. But now the pages have vanished. With Benkamal’s cute grand-neice Miryam, Rabbi Ben goes to his house, which proves to be a warren of secrets. As they explore, the house is firebombed. It’s the community’s way of welcoming Rabbi Ben to Brooklyn.
To protect the house, Rabbi Ben begins sleeping there while he immerses himself Benkamal’s Arabic and Ladino papers—which reveal still other mysteries. But it’s not until he handily repels four attackers who think he is hitting on Miryam that doors begin to open for him in the Byzantine culture of Brooklyn’s Syrian Jews. Finally he begins to piece together a fascinating story—a tale of opportunism, scheming, counterfeiting, superstition and, perhaps, a murder going back over 50 years.
As for the Codex? It may still be out there, waiting to be found…
Marvin J. Wolf is an award-winning journalist, writing teacher, and author, co-author or ghostwriter of more than a dozen books. Wolf earned the Bronze Star and Purple Heart as an Army combat photographer in Vietnam, leading to his commission in the field as a second lieutenant. His subsequent Army service included duty as a company commander, Communication-Electronics staff officer and Seventh Infantry Division public information officer. He lives in Los Angeles, California.
