Searching for the Self: Classic Stories, Christian Scripture, and the Quest for Personal Identity

by Adrian T. Smith

Over the course of several weeks, I journeyed back to ancient Galilee to encounter Yeshua the Sage. Each day began with an imaginative walk. I pictured myself walking down a dusty street through a small Galilean village. (It helps to have toured the Holy Land; otherwise, illustrated Bible dictionaries may prove useful.) I felt the hot Middle-Eastern sun on my neck; smelled the animals jostling with the human traffic; paused to enjoy the shade of a palm tree. At the end of the street, my destiny. The yeshiva. Flat-roofed; secluded by a courtyard. Entering the narrow doorway, I am refreshed by the cool of the dim interior. The Rabbi sits at a table. He doesn’t notice me at first. His rich, resonant voice intones Torah; he sways gently, in a rhythm of body expressing the soul of the sacred words. He senses my presence. I greet him; he beckons me to sit down, as if he had been expecting my arrival.