In eastern Europe, especially in Lithuania, an ancient midrash tradition that, come the messianic time, God would transport His people on clouds to Israel, found ready believers. Chuckling Christians and Jewish anti-Shabbeteans reported much cloud-gazing among the gullible Jews. A pregnant wife, worried that her condition would make the long journey to Jerusalem impossible, was comforted by her husband’s reassurance that cloud transport would ease her passage. At Arta in Greece another Jew broke his neck and died falling from his roof while attempting to jump over a cloud.
