All the Jewish communities were living in utter terror because of this one, atrocious sorcerer. Something had to be done, but who could fight this powerful enemy?

5121, Worms, Germany

The sky was dark, and bats screeched as they flapped through the night air. A strange fog obscured the full moon and an ominous roll of thunder sounded in the distance.

A Jewish boy walked through the muddy roads, stumbling through holes and fallen branches. He walked with his head down and his shoulders slumped. He was lost and had no idea where he was heading.

He heard the sound of hoofbeats behind him and turned to see a giant black horse galloping toward him. A hooded rider reached out a gloved hand toward him.

A scream of terror escaped the boy’s mouth, echoing across the city streets.

“Yitzchak! It’s me!” The hooded rider threw back his cloak and leaped from the horse.

“Uncle Baruch?”

“Yes! What are you doing, Yitzchak? Why did you run away? I thought you were sleeping!”

The boy burst into tears, unable to articulate his feelings.

“Sshh...” The man embraced his nephew and held him close. “It will be alright.”

“He killed my parents,” Yitzchak whispered into his Uncle’s shoulder. “I know he did.”

“Hashem will avenge them.”

“But how many more people will he hurt before Hashem stops him?”

“I don’t know.”

Baruch glanced up at the fog that was becoming thicker around them.

“He’s doing his magic again, isn’t he, Uncle Baruch? The sorcerer is going to attack again tonight!”

“Come.”

Baruch scooped the boy up and put him onto the horse and then pulled himself on.

“Ya!”

He dug his heels into the horse’s flanks and they galloped off into the night, away from the fog and the dark powers of the sorcerer who had killed Yitzchak’s parents.

******

In the year 5121 during the reign of King Martin de Lance, there was a huge surge in the practice of dark magic and sorcery in the world. The practitioners of these evil forms of magic would assemble before a teacher who was well-versed in the ways of sorcery and he would teach them ways to harness powers of impurity to hurt others and enrich themselves.

During this period, a master sorcerer arose who had powers of evil that surpassed all others. He was also a hater of the Jews. He despised them with such passion that whenever he would encounter a Jew, he would cast a spell by touching them with his finger. The spell would cause them to die when they returned home. This rasha took the lives of over 30 thousand Jews using his terrible powers of black magic, including both of Yitzchak’s parents.

All the Jewish communities were living in utter terror because of this one, atrocious sorcerer. Something had to be done, but who could fight this powerful enemy?

(Excerpted from Mishpacha Jr., Issue 779)