He’s gone back into his bag for more gauze, and begins to bandage Rachel’s wrist.

– So, twenty-six thousand, seven hundred against four hundred thousand, yes? Not good odds. Roughly, it’s what, sixteen to one, yes? Not good odds.

He ties off the ends of the bandage.

– In the first battle, just the first, the men of Benjamin killed twenty-two thousand of their enemies.

He pulls the sleeve of Rachel’s blouse back into place.

– Somewhat better odds, now, but still not good. Not a betting man’s odd, I think. Not at all. And, on the second battle, after the men of Israel had prayed to God for guidance and drew the sword, the men of Benjamin destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel again eighteen thousand.

He rises.

– And the children of Israel, not surprisingly, were troubled. But they went up to the house of the Lord and they fasted and they burnt offerings and they prayed for what they should do and God said, Go up into battle; for tomorrow I will deliver them into thine hands.

He steps into the aisle.

– And God kept his promise, yes? Of course he did. And the children of Israel destroyed twenty and five thousand of the Benjaminites that day and a hundred men more.

He walks toward the arc. -All these drew the sword.

He reaches the arc, opens it, touches the scrolls of the Torah.

– There was more killing, of course. No surprise again, yes? The children of Israel chased the Benjaminites to the walls of Gibeah and trod them down. And they entered the city and put it to the sword and burned it.

He turns, his hand still on the Torah.

– In the end, six hundred men fled to the rock of Rimmon in the wilderness. And that was all that remained of the tribe. And it would have died, the Tribe of Benjamin. Except that the children of Israel knew this would have been a great sin. An unpardonable sin, yes? There is such a thing. So, they were driven out, they had no kingdom, but four hundred virgins were taken from the slaughtered tribe of Jabesh-Gilead and given to the Benjaminites as wives. And more were taken dancing in the fields from the daughters of Shiloh. To keep their tribe alive, yes? You see it, yes, the women? The women. How precious. Some few were descended from Benjamin, children of mothers who had married into other tribes. And so the Benjaminites survived.

He looks at me.

– But none of the men of Gibeah.

He comes toward me.

– The men who at night encircled the old man’s home and demanded the stranger. The men who knew and abused all night the two innocent girls and went away with the dawn, yes? The seven hundred chosen men left-handed; and everyone could sling stones at an hairbreadth, and not miss. The seven hundred men of Gibeah who led the Benjaminites against the four hundred thousand children of all the rest of Israel and killed in two battles forty thousand men.

He spreads arms to take in his son and the other boys.

– But the men of Gibeah are here. Their blood is here in our veins. You see that, yes? The blood of Gibeah is in you. Not the blood of Benjamin, but, yes, Gibeah is even in you.

He waves Rachel over and she comes to him.

– A child of Benjamin, the blood of Gibeah is owed to her, for her fathers came to our assistance when we needed them. But she for-goes having Gibeah in her. To sacrifice her blood to Gibeah. To keep our tribe alive. The lost Tribe of Gibeah.

He comes to my pew and looks down at me.

– The descendents of the seven hundred.

He puts a hand on my shoulder.

– So if you are from the Coalition, yes? If you are truly one of the spies we have seen at the edges of our land, one of the skulkers hiding in Queens? Yes, if you are one of them?

He takes the freshly healed skin on my mangled ear between his fingers and rips it off.

– You would do best to remember we were defeated only once.

He drops the bit of skin in my lap and wipes his fingers on my shirt.

– And only then when God intervened.

– Holy hell, will you can it with all that superstition?

We all look at Lydia, sitting up on her pew, a hand massaging her throat.

– It’s like I’m with my dad talking all that crap at Seder all over again.

– The little person is lying. We’re from the Society.

– Little person? Little person? Bitch, I get my hands free and drop trow, you’ll see how little I am. Keep that politically correct shit, I’m a midget.

He leans forward.

– And you’re the one who’s lying. Telling you, Moishe, these are Coalition whaddayacallims? Fascists!

Lydia looks up from inspecting the puncture wounds in her stomach.-Fascists? Are you? Alright, this is too much. This is just. Me? A fascist?

She looks at the Rebbe.

– We’re from the Society. I am a serving member on the Society’s directorate council.

She points at me.

– Joe is the head of Society security. We’re pledged members to a Clan devoted to unity and equality among all rational living things and. Fascists? We’re, I don’t want to make a big deal out of this, but we’re freedom fighters. We’re fighting for your freedom and you. We’re trying to create an atmosphere in which this woman.

She points at Rachel.

– Won’t have to be indentured and used like a hamster feeder. Which is not to say I don’t appreciate what you did giving me your blood, but believe me, you shouldn’t let yourself be used like that by these men. And.

Her jaw drops.

– Fascists? Forgive me for harping on this, but I’m just dumb-founded that you could even try to. Do you know?

She looks at the Rebbe.

– Do you know we’re here at his request? Did you know that? He and his Clan made contact with us and requested a meeting because they wanted safe passage into Manhattan. An alliance. And now he’s. I just. I’m, OK, I’m not making much sense here so I better be quiet for a moment and gather my thoughts because I am just at a loss for words as to how I should respond to that kind of ignorance and blatant disregard for the facts and. Well, I just have nothing to say.

She pulls up her sleeve and points at the upside-down pink triangle on her shoulder.

– Do you even know what this means?

Stretch nods.

– Means you’re another bitch doesn’t know how to keep her mouth shut.

She gets to her feet and lurches in Stretch’s direction.

– Motherfucker, I’m going to fucking kill you, you fucking half-wit half-pint half-man, say one more word like that and I’m going to fucking kill you and kill you!

Moishe puts a hand on her arm.

She looks at it.

– Get it off me.

He removes his hand.

– Of course, this is not meant in disrespect, yes? Is it? No. Just that you are injured. Better to sit, yes? Sit. Please.

She sits, looks at me.

– You planning to join in, Joe?

– Hey, you’re the diplomat.

Stretch opens his mouth and the Rebbe puts a finger to his lips.

– No. No, Abe, no more. You’ve made your case, yes? They are from the Coalition, you say. You know why they are here, you say. You will tell me what they are here for if I turn Hannah and Sarah over to you. This is what you have to say. I do not need to hear it again. These two, they say what? They say you are a liar. They say they are from the Society. Like that should mean something to me they say it. What does it mean? If they are telling me the truth this should make me feel better? Safer? To know more outsiders are involving themselves in our concerns should make me at ease? No. This is what I know.

He closes his eyes and puts fingers to his temples.

– The Coalition, they have been here.

He opens his eyes and looks at Lydia.

– You did not know this? Yes? No? They have been here. Offering alliances. Assurances. Promising Brooklyn to us. As if it were theirs to give. If you are one of theirs you may know this. Or not. What can I tell them? Brooklyn is already ours. This is our land. The land of the Benjaminites. The city of New Gibeah. This is ours. And they say yes, OK, yes. They leave. Very civilized. But they have been seen. Just north. In Queens. The Coalition. Many of them in Queens. What does this mean?