Click here to view other books by Nachman Seltzer

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Book Excerpt from Stories with a Twist

Stories with a Twist: Unexpected real-life stories to captivate the Jewish soul By Nachman Seltzer Entertaining, inspiring, real-life Jewish stories from Nachman Seltzer, popular Jewish storyteller & columnist for Hamodia, that end with an incredible twist. Buy Stories with a Twist at a special online price at www.targum.com

Voices in the Night

I want him... I need to get him... I have a mission to fulfill!”

“No! Get away from there, I don’t let you stay there! Leave the area...leave the area! Leave the area... Do you hear me? Leave right now!”

“They sent me, they sent me, what should I do?”

“I don’t care. Leave right now!”

“No! I won’t! I have a mission and I won’t leave until it is fulfilled!”

The voices came to him, night after night. Tzion lay in bed, dreading the moment sleep would hit. He, who worked hard all day and slept the “sleep of the just,” couldn’t get a few decent hours without The Dream - a recurring dream that hit him almost every time he closed his eyes. Voices...weird voices, strange sounds...hissing sounds, answered by a commanding voice telling whatever was making the sounds not to do something.

All he knew was that this situation of zero sleep was making his life miserable. He needed a good seven hours every night and he was barely getting four. Tzion was at his wits’ end when the solution presented itself to him.
. . .

It was a boiling hot day, and Tzion was driving his old Fiat through the sweltering streets of downtown Teveria, searching without much success for a parking spot. He inched passed Supersol and sat, stalled in traffic, breathing in the fumes of the Egged bus idling in front of him. The radio was on and he tapped his fingers on the hot dashboard to the rhythm of Benny Elbaz singing one of his old favorites. The song was followed by an ad sponsored by the religious council of Teveria, urging people to attend the yahrtzeit celebrations for one of the sages buried in the Galil area.

He made a mental note to take the day off and attend the ceremonies at the grave, and as he did so, an idea popped into his mind. Why should he shoulder his burden alone, when there were so many people out there who could help him understand what was happening to him each night?

It took Tzion a couple of days of serious sleuthing to find the right person. His neighbor suggested one rabbi in Tzfas; his wife’s grandmother, a long time devotee of Rav Ovadia Yosef, put in her two cents; and his co-workers all gave him different names, each in a different section of the country. But then someone told Tzion’s wife about Rav Abuchatzeira. When Tzion arrived home that night, he was treated to an hour’s worth of stories about the miracles this holy man had wrought. He was almost convinced, but there was so much going on at work that he kept pushing it off.

Then one night, the dream came back and stayed for what felt like forever. Tzion tossed and turned, screaming out in terror and sweating up a storm. Those voices!

“Get away from there!” The commanding voice was back, yelling - at what? A sinister sound, low and raspy, scaring him more than ever before. “No,” it replied, “I will not obey... I will not obey... I WILL NOT OBEY! I have no right to listen to you. I have a mission! How dare you prevent me from carrying out my job?”

“You must!”

“I will not, never...” The voices drowned out Tzion’s scream. At that moment, he made the decision to go.

He stayed up the rest of the night and, as the darkness turned into a silky dawn, Tzion witnessed the sun, glorious in its awakening, murderous in its strength, rising above the endless beauty of the Kinneret. At five in the morning, he was already on the road. Destination: Netivot, home of the holy presence of Rabbi Abuchatzeira.
....

Buy Stories with a Twist at an online discount at www.targum.com