THE GOSPEL
OF JUDITH
ISCARIOT
by Y.I. H AY
(Text {for play/movie/novel} for an Eco-Feminist Passion Play, and for initiating seekers of redemption in our technotronic and bureaucratic age into The Order of The HEJERA (The Heavenly Jerusalem Association.)
Version A.2
COPYRIGHT: THE HAYUT FOUNDATION
P.O.B. 8115, Jerusalem 91080, Israel
Table Of Contents
THE GOSPEL
OF JUDITH ISCARIOT - ACT II
Scene Two - JUDITH AND HAKI (The stage is illuminated. Back in Haki's laboratory, just after Judith's meeting with the Great Parshan.
Haki is sitting when Judith enters by the door on the left of the stage,
which leads from the outside to the laboratory, via the door in the wall. She
is flushed and hot. Haki rises to welcome her.
HAKI: How did your meeting go? Did you like the old
man? JUDITH: He is a really clean old man. He says
he's as old as this world is. Yet in a way he seems younger than you. I think
there's some lesson that you failed to get from him, big boy. Let's quit all
your deliberations and simulations, for I have had my stimulations and am now
hot for action. (Judith advances and hugs him. After a second
of bewilderment, Haki responds enthusiastically. Their lips meet. The
lights turn from bright red to dark crimson and then the stage darkens.
After the lights turn off, the movement of the earth image
on the dome indicates the passage of couple of days. Then the stage is again
illuminated and we are back in Haki's laboratory. Judith and H
aki sit facing each other. Judith is visibly upset and nervous.)
HAKI: What's the matter, Judith dear?
You seem so nervous and upset. JUDITH: All these doors
opening and closing in order to get to your laboratory. I felt like they were
closing behind me, like I was being driven out, instead of being let in. And
all the time I felt like I was moving in a circle, round and round myself.
I'm so confused anyway, this only made it worse. H
AKI: But you were confused and disoriented when we first met.
I had hoped - that your meetings with Jesus and - with the Great Parshan would
have resolved - all that. JUDITH: So did I, but now
it's even worse, much worse in fact. I feel as if I'm being torn in two by
everything. Not by you though. I feel good about you.
HAKI: And I about you. It's been so good to have someone
- to share my thoughts with. I think I've been happier with you - than I've
ever been. See, I've even been speaking better, haven't you noticed?
JUDITH: Yes, I have. Im glad I have had some effect
on you. But everything else, other than you, is so out of joint and I'm so
terribly mixed-up. I cannot return to Jesus' camp the way I feel, particularly
since he refused to meet with the Great Parshan, and having gone alone to the
Parshan, and having got no response from him either.
HAKI: But if he is so understanding and accepting, and loving
- surely he won't reject you for that. Are you sure it isn't something else
- that prevents you - from going back there? JUDITH:
I don't know anymore. The meetings with Jesus and with the Great Parshan
have destroyed whatever hope I had. If those who have the learning, like the
Great Parshan, will not support, or even acknowledge, Jesus, what of his ordinary
followers? Their beliefs could quickly dissipate like water in the sand if
trouble comes. And if one who is understanding and accepting, like Jesus, will
not even attempt to understand the Great Parshan, what chance is there of accomplishing
anything? I am beginning to be afraid. HAKI:
Of what are you afraid, the inconstancy of your own belief? Surely your
belief couldn't be so easily shaken - unless there was a crack in the foundation
to start with. JUDITH: Everything used to be so much
simpler. My heart and mind used to be full only of Jesus, and I was so content.
Oh, there was always a little crack, a shadow of a doubt, but never enough
to really matter. But now, after the meetings, the crack is much bigger. It's
like seeds of doubt were dropped into the crack, and have begun to grow and
grow. HAKI: But they must have found
a fertile ground - to have been able to grow so. JUDITH:
I just don't know. At first it was you who penetrated the crack, when
you saved me from danger and showed me a strange, new world. I confess, you
were attractive in a way that I can't comprehend. And then, when I met with
Jesus again in the desert, it wasn't the same anymore. He was in a terrible
state, and there were things he did not know, or would not talk about. He even
seemed to take airs and to confuse his own powers with God's. Or perhaps I
was just no longer the same. And then, when I met your Great Parshan, there
was something so compelling about him and his words. I can still hear his words
echoing in my head. And now my confusion about Jesus and how he acted just
increased. These two are like two warring camps, set apart from each other,
each rejecting the other. What they say is near, but just doesn't cohere. They
are at war which does not seem right. And I am caught in the middle of that
war. And it is killing me. You helped me once. Can you help me again?
HAKI: I would, but if you want one of
the sides to win - in a fair game, then surely you do not want - me to personally
help you. I am already identified with one of the sides, and have - my own
prejudices. I would gladly do it for you, but it wouldn't serve - your purpose.
JUDITH: But who else can I turn to? How else can I
resolve what's tearing me apart? HAKI:
Well, one way would be to recognize that there are not two - but three
sides engaged in the conflict. There may even be four. JUDITH:
What is the third? HAKI: You
, Judith. You are the observer, the one who watched and saw the two camps
- and the one who asked for help. By the very definition of the problem you
establish yourself as the third. It is the third who prevents either camp -
from reckless winning. It is the observer camp that must ultimately prevail
- by resolving the seemingly irreconcilable. And remember, there is probably
also a fourth camp - that of the Rasans, within and without, the restraining
and doubt-raising agents at work. They are a manipulating camp that uses all
the other camps - for their own purposes. JUDITH: Why
me? I only want to believe, not to doubt, not to put myself in the middle of
a war or under manipulations. Why should I be the one who must prevent the
war or get all doubts resolved? HAKI:
But that's the nature of being caught in a war. As soon as one camp seems to
be winning - the observer quickly forms a coalition with the other. It is the
observer who held the original doubt - and allowed the war to begin. Thus it
is his, or rather her, war. And it is the observer who's interested in having
the - conflict mature and not end, before the new insight is gained by her.
JUDITH: But how, how, how? H
AKI: If you really need help, I am prepared to provide you with
- my electronic aid. The MESSIAH machine aids in making up one's mind. I told
you about it when we first met. JUDITH: A machine designed
to make up my mind? I thought that was what Rasan rule is all about. As if
there weren't enough Rasans-constrictions around already. Now I find that in
your basement you're breeding more mind-control machines. I trusted you as
a friend, and turned to you for help, not for inhuman mind-control machinations.
HAKI: (patiently) This isn't a mind-control
machine - only a helper - in making up one's mind. It does breed - but only
simulated conversations of the parties, and give some clues and suggestions
- subject to one's own inclinations. It cannot produce or force the insights
by itself - only we can. I admit that the Rasans provided
some of the resources to build the machine, thinking it would fix people's
minds to suit their purposes. But in truth this auto-poetic machine is neutral
- it aids our inner self as an observer - and facilitates reaching coherence
- you may even say poetry. So you need not be afraid, unless you are afraid
of - yourself. If so, you'll find inside you your own Rasan camp - that camp
may be what frightens your psyche. JUDITH: I'm not afraid
of myself. And I have no need for Rasans in my inner scene, or in the real
world. HAKI: Very well then, if you want
to cut out the Rasans in you, then I invite you to sample a three-dimensional
crucifixion on the MESSIAH Machine. JUDITH: No. It sound
dangerous. And it's sacrilegious to give your stupid machine such a name. Only
Jesus deserves it. HAKI: And just what,
please tell me, do you think the meaning is of the word "Messiah"?
JUDITH: I'm not sure, but I have a feeling that you
are going to tell me. HAKI: We can consult
our HEJERA Dictionary. (Haki types the four Hebrew letters
4. Mess-Iah
: The divine Being Iah-
combined meaning: An aid or helper who, by making himself low
and stooping down before others to find the hidden divine can reach under-standing
how to lubricate and smooth over the frictions and conflicts that mess up our
lives. JUDITH: Very interesting. But what has it
to do with your machine? HAKI: One can
become a helper to being, by being what one should be. In my case, by trying
to be true to Yitzhak, my name, "one who will laugh". For
a start - what is more funny and more deflating one's self-importance than
seeing oneself on-par - or even below - the machine? And when christening the
machine I made some joke to make my point. JUDITH:
So what's the joke? HAKI: As you
saw, the word "Messiah" is the combination of two words, "
Mess" and "Iah"and a Messiah clears the
mess - by linking it directly with "Iah", the hidden
divine order and intelligence. Since I tried to make a machine that does- or
at least simulates the process - I gave the system the code name "M.E.S.S.I.A.H
" - as an acronym for - "Multi-dimensional
Electronic Salvation-Simulation
by Intelligent Autopoetic Hallucination".
JUDITH: O.K. But just why did you call using your machine's
process "a three-dimensional crucifixion"? This does not sound like
fun and games and laughter. Is that messi-manic machine of yours safe or not?
HAKI: That was just a figure of speech,
a play on an old theme. In times past, those who made pictures of the Messiah
- used a figure of the crucifix. Now the Messiah does make the connection across
the vertical and horizontal separations. The separation between earth and heaven
- and between any two objects - between self and environment - between the
self and the other. Between you and I. The Messiah was
pictured as bridging these separations through the heart - which was basically
true. But then people got the morbid notion - that this could only be achieved
through suffering or death. I wanted to redeem the concept of the Messiah from
those dire straits - so I made a machine which consists of a whole system of
crosses - of three dimensional separations - yet would not suffer or fear death
- nor would pose this danger. JUDITH: No danger whatsoever?
HAKI: There should be none built in.
True, the machine is not fully tested yet, not with someone who had a deadly
serious dilemma. So there could be some problem which we have not yet - discovered
and neutralized. But as far as I know, any danger would be slight, or else
I wouldn't even suggest it. You should decide whether - the danger of the dilemma
you are caught in, if unresolved - is more dangerous than the machine or not.
JUDITH: Okay, the hell with it, let's go!
HAKI: Then come with me.
(Haki and Judith walk out together through a door on
the right side of the stage, closing it behind them. The stage goes dark, and
only Haki's voice can be heard.) HAKI:
Down these stairs. Hold tight to my hand. There isn't much light here.
(pause) Now, through this door, and down the corridor. (pause) Another door.
Now down these stairs. Careful, it's a bit steep. Good. (pause) Just a little
further. Through this door, and around the corner. (pause) And around another
corner. (pause) Now, through this door, and down the stairs and we're there.
(The stage is illuminated, as Haki and Judith walk
in through a door at the back of center stage, into the chamber in which the
MESSIAH Machine is kept. They look at the machine. All there is to see is a
sculpture-like construction of three circular rings, one red, one blue and
the third yellow, each about three meters wide. There is a little podium in
their midst. The rings are at right angle to each other, and the plane of each
is at a 45 degree angle to the ground. On the ground, at the focus of each
circle, there is a little altar. Behind, on the back wall are hung three circular
screens.) HAKI: Here it is.
JUDITH: It doesn't look like much, certainly not a
machine. HAKI: You're right. It's not
intended to show the machinery - more like a sculpture or a toy. The computers
that administer it are invisible, and it even operates on the user's own invisible
bodies. JUDITH: Invisible bodies? What do you do with
them? HAKI: That aspect of the work was
handled by others. In fact, it is the side I care least about.
JUDITH: It sound like there is a sinister side to your
toy. HAKI: No, it's just a way to say
this is pre-scientific stuff. Science says that mental processes are executed
- in the brain. But in ancient times, along with schools of alchemy and magic
- there were theories about the human subtle bodies, or auras. Those who -
claim to see them, say that these bodies reflect - all shades of feelings and
of thoughts - or even cause them. And these subtle bodies are said to be controlled
by - various centers in the body, not just the brain. JUDITH:
Like the heart? HAKI: Yes. Some even
claimed that the heart - controlled all of the others. Thus even in this machine
- the breast of the user is placed right at its center.
JUDITH: It reminds me of similar things that Jesus told me about subtle
bodies of all living things, and even of the Earth herself. He said that his
ability to read thoughts and to heal was accomplished through sensing such
subtle bodies. He was also certain of the primacy of the heart. I find no difficulty
with such concepts. Why do you have a distaste for them? Is it because you
find no scientific validity for them, or do you feel threatened by them?
HAKI: I admit I don't like such notions.
There is some evidence to support them, but it is confused. These things are
tricky. Now you see them, now you don't. JUDITH: Surely
you should expect such things to be changeable. You are dealing with people's
emotions and their most personal thoughts. And people are not automatons. Maybe
you are annoyed with emotions because they don't agree with your concepts of
a clockwork universe of machines and machine-like people?
HAKI: Perhaps... (pause) Or perhaps the
other way round. These fuzzy notions are used mainly to relieve the searcher
of the responsibility of understanding in detail. It leaves the way open to
irrational speculation that doesn't respect individual differences. Such concepts
are prescientific because they disregard the cellular structure of living beings
which science teaches - and especially of the nerve cells of the brain, which
resemble for me, human individuals in society. Whatever
the variety possible by having several - subtle bodies or, say, energy fields
- each with its whole range of energy emanations, colors, patterns and vibrations
- it's as nothing compared with the variety possible within the human brain
- because it is built up from individual cells. There is enough variety in
the brain - to map all the atoms in the universe, or at least all the cells
of all living things upon this earth. Therefor it would seem strange to me
if - the tens of billions of nerve cells in the brain are not needed - for
all thoughts and emotions, love or what have you. And if so, perhaps there
is also no need of all the billions of different people living on earth.
JUDITH: I'd prefer open fields to closed cells, so
many prison cells for the Rasans to lock us all in. H
AKI: Yet you yourself said you - prefer cities to a pastoral
paradise. And what are cities - if not agglomeration of cells - of rooms in
public buildings and residences - where we meet or dwell - and where we can
leave our individual marks. The city is a brain - made of distinct yet communicating
cells. Cities produce civilization - they breed culture, just like the brain
breeds thoughts. JUDITH: But why did you base the design
of your machine on things you disapprove of? H
AKI: For the pragmatic necessity of making the machine work. We
needed to somehow split the person so to get three a-priori distinct entities.
And we have acted upon the so-called "etherial body" to polarize
it in three dimensions. And this is what brought me to use the dismal expression
"three-dimensional crucifixion". JUDITH:
Still, this sounds to me more menacing than listening to the heart. I myself
am not afraid of emotions, but I think that you are, and this is your way of
denying them. I thought that you were worried about my feelings and about my
safety. You mentioned this sinister crucifixion again. Are you really sure
that my mind would not come apart in the process? H
AKI: I admit that there is a remote possibility. I'm not yet
absolutely certain how much - initial disassociation a person can take in the
expansive - polarization stage, and still be able to integrate it all. I have
used the machine myself without any - negative results. You say that you are
suffering terribly from confusion and need to make up your mind in order to
act. This is what the Messiah Machine is all about, and it is not sided with
one of your protagonists as I am. I suggest it because I want you to be at
peace with yourself. JUDITH: Well, if you can take it,
I guess I can. HAKI: Are you sure?
JUDITH: As sure as I am about anything.
HAKI: Alright then, but you realize there's
always an unknown. Now I'm worried. JUDITH: Then keep
it to yourself. It's too late now. You couldn't stop me now, even if you wanted
to. (The stage goes dark.)
1.
2.
3. Messiah
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