glass of water sat next to him on a lamp table. His roomy, hooded, monklike robe lay on the bed.
"Why not dress, brother?"
The old man sighed. "I am not ready for the uniform yet, Cameron. I am not ready for the task,"
Chaim said, his speech altered not only by the appliance but also from damage to his jaw.
Buck checked the closet and found a hotel robe. "Put this on for now," he said. "We've got a
couple of hours."
Dr. Rosenzweig seemed grateful to be helped into the terry-cloth garment, but it was white and a
one-size-fits-all. The contrast between it and his new skin color, and the hem bunching up on the
floor when he sat again, made him look no less comical.
Chaim lowered his head,then looked at the hotel name on the breast pocket. "King David," he
said."Do you not think we should have 'Patriarch Moses' sewn onto the brown one?"
Buck smiled. He could not imagine the pressure on his friend. "God will be with you, Doctor," he
said.
Suddenly Rosenzweig shuddered and slid to the floor. He turned and knelt, his elbows on the chair.
"Oh, God, oh, God," Chaim prayed,then quickly tore off his sandals, casting them aside.
Buck himself was driven to his knees with emotion so deep he believed he could not speak. Just
before he closed his eyes he noticed the rising sun reach between the curtains and bathe the room.
He too slipped off his shoes, then buried his face in his hands, flat on the floor.
Chaim's voice was weak. "Who am I that I should go and bring the children of Israel out?"
Buck, despite the heat of the day, found himself chilled and trembling. He was overwhelmed with
the conviction that he should answer Chaim, but who was he to speak for God? He had drunk in the
teaching of Dr. Ben-Judah and overheard his counsel to Chaim on the calling of Moses. But he had
not realized that the dialogue had been burned into his brain.
Silence hung in the room. Buck allowed himself to peek for an instant before squeezing his eyes
shut again. The room was so bright that the orange stayed in his vision the way Chaim's question
lingered in the air. The man wept aloud.
"God will certainly be with you," Buck whispered, and Chaim stopped crying. Buck added, "And this
shall be a sign to you that God has sent you: When you have brought the people out, you shall
serve him."
The old man said, "Indeed, when I come to the remnant of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your
fathers has sent me to you,' and they say to me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?"
Buck pressed his fingers against his temples. "As God said to Moses," he said, "'I Am Who I Am.'
Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I Am has sent me to you. The Lord God of your
fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is
God's name forever, and this is his memorial to all generations. 'The Lord God of your fathers has
seen what has been done to you and will bring you up out of the affliction to a land of safety and
refuge.' They will heed your voice; and you shall come to the king of this world and you shall say
to him, 'The Lord God has met with me; and now, please, let us journey into the wilderness, that
we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.' But the king will not let you go, so God will stretch out
his hand and strike those who would oppose you."
"But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice?" Chaim said, so faintly that Buck
could barely hear him. "Suppose they say, 'The Lord has not appeared to you'?"
Buck rolled onto his back and sat up, suddenly frustrated and impatient with Chaim. He stared at
the old man kneeling there, and Buck's head was abuzz, his eyes full of the color permeating the
room. Buck had not felt so close to God since he had witnessed Dr. Ben-Judah's conversing with Eli
and Moishe at the Wailing Wall. "Reach out your hand and take the water," he said, suddenly
feeling authoritative.