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The Little Boy
Yerachmiel is a childhood friend of Elisha’s. They studied Cabala (Jewish mysticism together under the grizzled master and prayed and fasted fervently in hopes of bringing the Messiah. The two were separated at the beginning of World War II. Then Yerachmiel’s ghost appears to Elisha the night before Dawson’s execution, confirming that he must have been killed in a concentration camp.
Yerachmiel Quotes in Dawn
The Dawn quotes below are all either spoken by Yerachmiel or refer to Yerachmiel. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 5 Quotes
Yerachmiel and I decided to try. Of course we were aware of the danger: No one can force God's hand with impunity. Men older wiser, and more mature than ourselves had tried in vain to wrest the Messiah from the chains of the future; failing in their purpose they had lost their faith, their reason, and even their lives. […] We purified our souls and bodies, fasting by day and praying by night. […]
"We too," I said, "my comrades in the Movement and I, are trying to force God's hand. You who are dead should help us, not hinder…”
But Yerachmiel [was] silent. And somewhere in the universe of time the Messiah was silent as well.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Yerachmiel Character Timeline in Dawn
The timeline below shows where the character Yerachmiel appears in Dawn. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 5
...he’s acting for the sake of the living. He also speaks to his childhood friend Yerachmiel, who’d studied Cabala with him under the master. They two of them tried to bring...
(full context)
Chapter 6
...the first time he’s seen an execution. Elisha’s father and mother, the grizzled master, and Yerachmiel stare silently at him.
(full context)
