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not?
    -Because God is not for sale.
    -Not God, your tree. Why can’t I buy your tree?
    -The tree is invisible.
    -What is your name?
    -José Santillana.
    -You’re crazy, crazy, crazy.
    -That is what everybody says about me but I am less crazy than you.
    â€“–––––––
    T HE GODS

A SHORT STORY BY SAMUEL MURCIANO
    “A nd now what?
    “We have to stop this.”
    “Stop what?”
    “Hitler.”
    “Don’t you think you have exaggerated just a little? Six million Jews. You have eliminated most of them.”
    “There wasn’t any other way.”
    “What do you mean there wasn’t any other way? You know very good and well it’s no use. That’s why you chose them, because they are so strong.”
    “They’ll have to wait ‘till the day comes.”
    “We tried everything and it didn’t work. Exile, rapture, prophets, sacrifices, resurrection.
    “Agreed. Eliminate Hitler.”
    “He’s been eliminated. I pulverized him.”
    “So nothing may be found of him so he doesn’t become some kind of messiah.”
    “I think he’ll be changed into a devil.”
    “Great. What do we do now?”
    “We’ll have to admit a mistake was made. The whole Mount Sinai thing should have lasted seven days like the creation of the earth. Now that’s been three thousand years ago and every time we try to amend it something interferes and it breaks down.”
    “That’s true.”
    “First we left them in the desert for forty years. Maybe that was a mistake because there they made the golden calf. Then we took them to the land of Israel and they lay down with Canaanite women. The Joshua thing could have been for real but he couldn’t handle some of the small towns. We would have been able to handle them with a small flood. And then there was the tabernacle, and then the first temple, and then they gave them a king. It’s just been a big bunch of errors.”
    “Do you have any advice on how to solve it?”
    “Not exactly, but I know what the problem is. I already told you from the start that it was very dangerous. Why give them free will? We have created dozens of worlds without ever giving them free choice and everything has functioned like clockwork. Not just because, but out of respect for the earth which is the most beautiful planet we have in the universe. Why give them free will?”
    “This was the whole issue. Fortunately we have discovered some interesting things such as how to make a golden calf, the wheel...Don’t forget that the wheel is only found on planet Earth, and the ships.”
    “We could have fixed it without that. What use are ships when there are space ships, something that has taken us a long time to discover and we have had to help them. Look at the clunkers of airplanes they have built: they weigh tons... and atomic bombs. Stupid thing.”
    “It may be stupid but on no other planet have they even thought of that.”
    “They haven’t thought of it? But just why is it necessary? Just to annihilate them?”
    “No, impossible.”
    “Why is it impossible?”
    “Because we do not have free will.”
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    S HMUEL
    When we were in Tetuán we were told it is better to have a room in the land of Israel than a huge mansion in the diaspora. But, tell me: Is it better to serve time in prison in Israel than to enjoy freedom in the diaspora? That, we were not told. And now I am in jail. I’m no saint, but I don’t recall a single Jew in Chauen who has been in jail. Once I heard one of my uncles had gone to jail about something to do with taxes, but after two days the local mayor got him out. Here we don’t have any mayor who could get us out of jail. We are in a democratic society and these things can’t happen unless you might be a Muslim. In Morocco the mayor of that community took care that nobody should be jailed. Here we’re all crushed to dust. I’m here for armed robbery so you don’t have to feel sorry for me. It all began when I was fifteen and I stole some