Newborn Yeshua's cries pierced the air. Miryam wrapped him in the strips of cloth Micah and Daniel had left, thanking Adonai for Micah and Daniel.
"What are the cloths for?" Yosef wondered aloud. "Does anyone know?"
Miryam cuddled Yeshua close.
"They're used to wrap the lambs for the sacrifice," she said, recalling her conversations with Micah, Daniel, and Zechariah. "It's a Migdal Eder cave. They raise the sheep for the sacrifice."
Yeshua's cries were reduced to a moan and then silence. Miryam listened to his deep, rhythmic breathing.
"You don't think he's the one, do you?" Yosef whispered.
"The one?" Miryam echoed.
"He was oppressed, afflicted, but remained silent," Yosef quoted. "He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and like a sheep is silent before her shearers, he did not open his mouth."
"Isaiah?" Miryam questioned. "Do you really think he could be the one in Isaiah's prophecy?"
Yosef squatted down beside her.
"Let's not think about it right now," he whispered. "I was only thinking. I will ask the rabbi when we get home."
Miryam laid Yeshua on the manger, and she and Yosef looked down. Miryam ran her hand over the smooth surface of the manger.
"The crack!" She exclaimed. "It's gone!"
Elsewhere in a field, night had brought in frigid temperatures. Micah and Daniel shivered. They gazed at the heavens, where stars twinkled and the moon glowed.
"Look, Micah!" Daniel shouted, pointing to the horizon.
Light washed out the other lights in the firmament. Armored creatures with long hair walked from the sky.
"Do not be afraid," the angel who had appeared to Yosef and Miryam said. "For this day, in the city of David, a child was born. His name is Yeshua the Messiah. This will be the sign: you will find the baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger."
The angels' voices echoed through the night.
"Glory to God, peace on Earth, to those with whom Adonai is pleased." They announced.
The light that had brought them took them. Micah and Daniel glanced at each other.
"So, let us leave," Micah said.
As he walked away, he added, "Bring the sheep as well."
Micah and Daniel peered into their cave. Yeshua's cries reverberated through the cave.
"It will be okay, Yeshua," Miryam said. "I love you."
"Slikhah," Daniel said. "We came to see the Messiah."
Miryam laid Yeshua on the manger. Daniel kneeled next to him.
"He has the strips of cloth," Daniel said. "And he's on our manger."
Micah knelt too.
"Here he is," he whispered. "The lamb from Isaiah."
Daniel touched the manger and said, "The crack. Where did it go?"
Turning to Yosef, he added, "Did you build it?"
"We laid him down on it," Yosef said. "The crack is no longer."