*After these healings, Jesus went with the disciples to a synagogue on a temple mountain, where Nicodemus and other friends were celebrating the Sabbath. He did not teach there. He listened to the Sabbath reading. They read about the departure from Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, and the prophetess Deborah. (2nd Book of Moses, 13:17 to 15:27, and Judges 4:4 to 5:32). The passage of the Red Sea was sung, enumerating all of God's mercies to the Hebrew people, especially in the temple and in God's service. They sang about the garments and ornaments that God commanded at Sinai, and about the Queen of Sheba and Solomon. This Sabbath is called Beshalach, and after it comes a three-day festival whose name sounds like Ennorum, which is like the beginning and end of all the feasts of the year. They give thanks in song for all the things God granted them from the beginning: the departure from Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, the Law, the Ark of the Covenant, the vestments and institution of the priesthood, and time itself; for having given them the wise King Solomon, and they prayed for another king like him.*
*Joined to this feast is a series of amusements instituted before Solomon by a prophet, which this king confirmed on the occasion of the visit made to him by the Queen of Sheba, who brought him the gifts mentioned in Scripture. From these gifts, Solomon hosted a celebration for the priests and the people, thus originating a holiday in which everyone makes merry. Since this feast can be celebrated anywhere, the priests, staff, Pharisees, and all who are able to do so escape the city to visit their relatives and friends; this rest serves as preparation for the upcoming feasts of Purim and Passover. Many alms are given during these days. They make very thin, white loaves of bread in memory of the manna in the desert and distribute large quantities to the poor. This feast is like the Amen of all the others and like the beginning of those about to start.*
*After the synagogue, Jesus went to the temple; there were few people there; the Levites were moving from place to place cleaning and filling the lamps with oil for tomorrow. Jesus approached them via unfamiliar paths and spoke of various things with mysterious meaning. He reached the anteroom of the Sanctuary, where the great seat of teaching stands. They listened for a time until others intervened, reproaching Him for His audacity in coming to reserved places via unusual paths and at unaccustomed times. They ended up contemptuously calling Him the Galilean. Jesus answered them severely, claiming His right because it was His Father's house, and walked away. They mocked Him, yet they felt trembling in His presence. Jesus remained inside the city that night. The next morning, Jesus and the apostles healed many sick people near the Cenacle, a site next to Mount Zion surrounded by a large courtyard. Joseph of Arimathea rents it for his stonecutters' workshop. The holy women of Jerusalem were busy providing all kinds of help to the sick, on whose behalf Joseph of Arimathea had left Jerusalem for Hebron to invite Jesus to come and see them. Most of these sick were good, believing people—relatives or friends of the holy women and Jesus—and had been brought to this place at the Cenacle during the night.*
*Jesus spent the entire morning healing the sick while teaching a group among them. They were crippled, blind, injured in their hands or feet, and covered in sores; there were men, women, and children. Among them were many of those injured in the collapse of the works at Siloam, with head injuries, broken hands or feet, and various fractured limbs. Many workers can be seen in Jerusalem clearing the rubble from the collapse. Walls fell that now block the flow of the waters. There are men digging and cleaning in the ditches. Elsewhere, they throw down trees, stones, and other materials to build dikes.*