The Genesis of the New Covenant

   EVERY dawn renews the Beginning, and to behold the earth struggling out of the formless void, out of the night, is to witness the act of creation.

   The night hung low over the chine of the hills; but the concave of heaven, inlaid with innumerable brightness, diffused a shower of starlight that lent transparency to the night air. In the limpid darkness of the valley small houses nestled against one another in drowsy hamlets, where cypresses and olive groves shielded them on all sides. And on the hills each leaf of grass could be distinguished as it trembled under the fresh dew, swaying in the breeze as in mute prayer, and irradiated by the selfsame glow with which it had been charged in the first hours of Genesis.

   Over the dew-blown hills rode a young traveler, clothed in a white mantle to protect him from the damp of night.

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   THE first breath a Jew draws on awakening from a night’s sleep belongs to God; thus, too, in the house of Hannah. Stepping out of their separate chambers after the first cry of the cock, mother and daughter washed their hands and eyes and pronounced the morning blessing.

   The second daily duty in a Jewish home, after due praise had been offered to God, was to provide feed and water for the animals. Man must not sit down to his morning meal before the hunger of his animals is stilled. Thus, as the mother attended to the work indoors, the daughter went forth to cater to the herd.

   Outside, the mist that weighted the atmosphere was beginning to lift. Loose shreds of cloud, like floating veils, stole through the air, catching on branches and roofs. The mist was decomposing into drops of dew that shone again from every leaf and petal. The girl’s feet soaked up the damp, and pearly drops settled on the thick black locks that strayed from her kerchief. Her frail throat, showing above a homespun tunic, shivered at the freshness of the early morning.

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What you've read above is taken from the opening chapters of  Sholem Asch's novel, Mary. It tells of the journey of Joseph to Nazareth to meet and acknowledge Mary as his betrothed. It provides a sample of the eloquence with which the author portrays his vision of this momentous occasion in our salvation history.