– It's beginning to come together," said the Rabbi with satisfaction, which caused Rutra to glare at him. – I know the subject," continued the Rabbi, "originally it was the nickname of one Judah Maccabeus of the Hasmonean dynasty, who led the rebellion against the Syrian Greeks in 166-160 BC. Later it was applied to the other sons of Mattathias, a Jewish priest of the family of Jehoiarib… then it was extended to all defenders and confessors of the faith in general during the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes.

– Oh. I see you're familiar with the subject.

– I was in those parts at the time.

– And what brings you there?

– Same topic. We wanted to change the process in one of the systems.

– What's the process? What's the bottom line?

– The story was that 90-year-old Eleazar and the seven Maccabee brothers, their mother Solomonia, who died in torture for refusing to eat pork, which, in addition to its prohibition under the Mosaic law…

– Wait, wait," Ruthra didn't let him finish, "let's go into more detail. They were in the vanguard of the liberation struggle. Why die for a pig? You could have eaten for the struggle. For victory. But if they died, there were no fighters.

– Come on. We don't know," the rabbi said sarcastically, referring to everyone but himself, in this context Rutru.

At least, that was the manner in which the earthly Rangit, familiar to Ruthra, often delivered his speeches. So Ruthra reacted silently, realizing the logical concept of his statement. He walked five paces away, and responded to the lunge:

– Well, you know you don't know, so why ask if you do? And the earthly history was this: the Hasmonean dynasty was the leader of the Jewish revolt against the Seleucids… a revolt caused by the Syrian kings' desire to forcibly Hellenize the Jews. Now, these Hasmoneans began initially a guerrilla war against the forces of Antiochus Epiphanes. They attacked from impregnable mountain hideouts, having made a general oath to fight even on the Sabbath. The Maccabean Hasmonean dynasty came to power as a result of a religious liberation revolt of the Jews against the cultural policies of the Seleucid power. An important result of the Hasmonean-led revolt is considered to be the establishment of an independent Jewish state centered in Jerusalem and the restoration of temple worship. In honor of this event, an eight-day festival called Hanukkah, meaning "consecration," was established.

– I'm a little familiar with history. You tell me your role, what was your purpose?

Rutru was a little perturbed by the unapologetic switch to you, even if he had suggested such a thing himself. "Although he said your part, who did he mean, me alone or the whole program?"

– What part? I wasn't there. You're the one who was infiltrating the world in that era. Weren't you?

Rangit didn't answer directly, he asked:

– So it's not a personal observation?

– No, of course not. This is the official story known to Earth science.

– Uh-huh. I see. And what does your story say?

– So, I've been thinking… Let's make a deal: you also explain if something doesn't agree with yours. So we know where the differences are. And even if it's the same, note it.

– I get your idea. Whenever I can.

Ruthra looked at him, expressing a question mixed with indignation. But when he caught his companion's smile, he thought, "How many worlds have you seen this in?" and developed the thought further in his thoughts: however different the worlds were, they were all subject to the same laws of physics, and therefore very similar. After all, the presence of the same sense organs in almost all living beings does not surprise us. And we consider the use of oxygen for the needs of the "internal combustion engine" of living organisms as an axiom.

– Now," continued Rutra, "it is well known that Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the Greco-Syrian king of the Seleucid Empire, ruled Judea at that time. This Epiphanes pursued a policy of Hellenization, in some places very harsh and cruel. The aim was to spread the Greek language and culture. In 167 B.C. Antiochus transformed the Temple of Jerusalem into a sanctuary of Zeus the Olympian. In it, the main Jewish sanctuary, pagan sacrifices began to be performed. Such actions caused a storm of resentment among the Jews, and eventually it became the cause of an armed rebellion in 166 B.C.; the signal for the rebellion was the murder by Mattathias of a fellow Jew who had sacrificed on an altar built by the Greeks. After that Mattathias and his family fled to the mountains and, already being persecuted, united rebel groups operating throughout Judea. It is fair to say that they rebelled without him, but he was their spiritual leader, which was the impetus for unification. Although he died a short time later, he had made some progress. At least his struggle resulted in the loss of Syrian administrative control in Judea, with the exception of Jerusalem.

Ruthra was abruptly silent, again for quite a long time, apparently unexpectedly for his companion, who kept looking back. Then, though he thought the question might be absurd, he asked, wanting confirmation of his knowledge:

– So what does all this have to do with your mission?

– Yours? – he received a more than ambiguous answer-question.

– And yet?

– Perhaps you want to do what we wanted to do in that world.

– We want to influence an event that should affect our world in a certain way.

– What was your problem? How and in what way do you want to affect it?

Suddenly Ruthra caught himself at his mistake. After all, this was the most important issue in the relationship between the two explorers. They were to have no secrets between them, which meant that the two worlds had already been explored, and now the third had to be added to it, like the third side of a triangle. Then to compare, calculate and deduce formulas, as once did Heron of Alexandria, well or other ancient figure of science, and not only ancient. After all, the method of comparison and comparison is applicable in their case, namely in transmigration of consciousness with the help of scientific postulates. There was no magic in it.

– There's a problem. Why else would I be here?

– I'd be interested to hear it.

– I don't know if I have the right. I don't even know what world you are from, or how our meeting will affect your world and mine, and their combined effect on each other.

– Strange principles your gods have equipped you with, my friend, I'm sorry.

– Hm," Ruthra snorted his displeasure, then explained, "Our Rangit is simpler and more rational, I'll tell you that. Gods? You mean the creators of the system? For the authors of the program can be considered creators.

– But I can't consider them, the authors of the program, as creators. They are too small and numerous compared to my capabilities.

– Oh, my! – Ruthra exclaimed cheerfully.

– Let's not multiply entities.

– It's kind of strange to hear Occam's inferences from a resident of the future.

– Why would you say that? I can quote Aristotle.

– Surely you as a world, since it is identical to ours, already know – Aristotle's statements, all his inferences, are false in the modern paradigm of logic.

– All right, then. Are you gonna let me in on your mission?

– I'd like to know about yours.

– Ha, you're a persistent sly one.

– Just a cautious researcher.

– It is very simple. If the Jews had Hellenized, accepted their pagan gods, then, first, they would not have been destroyed, and systematically, later on, because they would not have been against Jesus. Why? This is a big analysis that would take a lot of text. I can only give a hint, so far only one: Plato's philosophy.