BC Crothers – författare

eBOOK 4- SUSPICIONS, LIES, AND BROKEN HEARTSSiblings Judas, Maai, and Haman live busy lives, worlds apart, even though Palestine is not that large. Maai lives and heals her patients in a tiny oasis. The only time she leaves is when supplies run low. In Jerusalem, Maai buys the needed medical items and has the opportunity to spend time with the one she loves. Haman has never been busier. The Zealots have zeroed in on traders, defined as any Jewish male doing business with the Romans. Due to a crumbling economy, people who would not have ordinarily chosen to trade with the Romans find themselves doing so. But, for the Zealots, trade equals death. Judas is also very busy as work in the caravan business is nonstop. He loves the travel, the people, his finesse at cheating the Romans out of the taxes at city gates and toll roads and bridges. Then he receives an exciting invitation to help do inventory in Jerusalem with the guilds. Then comes the surprise invitation to study a couple of scrolls in the Chamber of Scribes at the Temple to help find a counting error. A second big surprise occurs when Judas has the opportunity to hear John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth speak at the request of the Essene monks in the Dead Sea Qumran complex. Chapters include the Matron Fulvia Scandal, a Disgusting 'Incident"e; in the Temple Complex, the Yom Kippur Temple service with sacrificing the scapegoats, and a Roman attack on Maai's healing clinic. When Haman, Maai, and Judas meet at the clinic, what should be a joyous occasion of siblings having that rare opportunity to once again be in one another's company turns instead into a meeting of horrific consequences. To say anything else about the following seven chapters would take away from the dramatic surprises awaiting you. So just let me say, as your author, you do not want to miss what happens when brother and sister, Judas and Maai, fall in love with two extraordinarily diverse people. Happy endings for them both? I think not. Not in first-century Palestine. Not in the Land where Jesus walked, spreading His message of love in the turmoil of pure hatred.

eBOOK 3"e;THE SIBLINGS: HAMAN, MAAI, and JUDAS"e;HAMAN: receives permission from the Zealot Freedom Fighters Movement to become a sicarii assassin. Haman lands in El Hammam, where unfriendly men force him to travel through deserts, villages, and a sandstorm. At a group of tents, the men disappear. Eventually, Menahem, the son of Judas of Gamala, and Judas Gamala's nephew, Eleazar bar Ari, arrive. The three will train together, learning from exacting, harsh trainers, the arts of kidnapping, hostage-taking, disguise methods, survival techniques, and negotiations. All three leave the training skilled at killing with a sicae dagger. MAAI: becomes more than a knowledgeable nurse under the Teacher of Righteous and the monks at Qumran. By the time she graduates, Maai is a respected healer. A servant Jareb is given to her as a personal servant because his assistance in carrying patients and supplies causes the Teacher to see Jareb as a vital help to Maai in her work and someone to protect her in traveling to small villages where her help is needed. Everyone showed up for Maai's homecoming, where her skills were put to work. Taken to her new dwelling by an oasis, Maai quickly settles in, using up her supplies to help the steady flow of the sick and wounded coming to her. On her trip to Jerusalem for supplies, Maai again becomes reacquainted with a man she met while at Qumran. But he is "e;forbidden fruit"e; and, as such, will change the course of their lives forever. JUDAS: it has become impossible to be around as his thinking is black or white, nothing gray. Lucky for family and friends, the Zealots have selected Judas as their accountant. After finding a merchant living in Damascus to train Judas, Judas moves into the home of the merchant Alevai, his wife, and their four daughters. Judas is immediately targeted as husband material, in which Judas wants no part, leading to humorous episodes. After becoming an expert in accounting techniques, Judas takes on helping shop owners find ways to cheat Rome out of their taxes. His success leads him to manage dozens of caravans across Palestine, again helping his people cheat Rome out of tolls and goods taxes. Judas takes a small caravan of desperately needed supplies to the Qumran monks living in the En-Gedi caves on one of his trips. Judas finds a young man, O acos, with a broken leg and takes him to the monk. O acoss begs Judas to take his mute brother away, as he cannot remain in the caves. Judas decides to take the boy to Maai, whom he wishes to visit anyway. Unfortunately, Haman is present, and so is trouble.

Judas Iscariot's younger days are exciting, challenging, filled with friendships, and learning from intelligent teachers who fill his mind with possibilities. His parents, Simon and Damaris, love him dearly. However, his older brother, Haman, thinks he is a pain, his older sister-Maai-thinks he is adorable, and Eunice, with the younger siblings, Orpah and Chelluh, ignores Judas as much as he ignores them. Still children (by our standards), Judas and his friends become assistants to Shepherd Darda, with whom they spend a year caring for the village's sheep and goats. Their learnings from Darda and the shepherding trade ready them for their adulthood responsibilities. When they return, the new schoolhouse awaits. Judas loves his sefer, the art of writing, and figuring out the mystery of numbers. Judas enjoys celebrations and feasts with his friends and neighbors throughout the years, like their sheep-shearing gathering and the long-anticipated wealthy wedding in Hebron. Food, drink, dancing, singing, contests-ten days of pure happiness. But no joy lasts long. The people are in debt and losing their homes. Flocks diminish in size due to Roman and Temple taxes. Robbers roam freely, without consequences, while fake messiahs proclaim salvation from these troubling times. Worst of all is when Judas' mother and sister Maai attend a wedding in Maon, a small village not far from Kerioth. The wedding is very poor, a stark difference from Hebron. But the people are happy-that is, until the Roman soldiers appear. What happened is a true story. At age ten, Judas and his friends begin their Freedom Fighters training. Fraught with difficulty, confusion, fear, immense learning about field survival, test after test by their Wilderness Scout Master, the boys grow into young adulthood. From a Zealot Prophet, who lives in a cave, the boys learn details about the Zealot Sect and its Freedom Fighters founders who readily become their heroes. Notably, the prophet teaches the concept of righteous fighting in a 'holy war'. As the language of the day, Biblical Hebrew is essential to the story and is used sparingly. Also, Point of Interest offers a wealth of exciting information to the reader.