קעג

And we traveled from Tuesday until Friday — Erev Shabbas Parshas Tavo mentioned above. On Friday mentioned above — they again lowered the anchor near some city. And they said it was Samle. And we stood there until Monday — Parshas Nitzavim. And throughout all the delays — we had great anguish from the delays and the waits. And in particular since it was close to the Awesome Days. But it was from Hashem — the delay. For throughout all the road we had no favorable winds. And even so — it was a benefit for us too through our standing there — for we bought ourselves provisions for the road.

On Monday — Parshas Nitzavim — they raised the anchors again and we began to go. And we traveled until Wednesday — Parshas mentioned above. And they lowered the anchor again near some city. And we still did not know its name — some said its name was Siah and some said it was Sakis — for we did not know their language well enough to hear and understand the matter clearly from them. And the city mentioned above was burned by fire and destroyed. For the Ishmaelites destroyed it in these times because of the uprising of the Greeks — for Greeks had lived there. And they said that in these surroundings they had killed eighty thousand souls — and destroyed about sixty towns and more. And they killed there men, women, and children. And the captain said that in the city mentioned above — by which we stood — the killed were still there — and the corpses were thrown in the streets and marketplaces — for they had not been given burial. And their dead bodies were thrown in the streets. And this we saw with our own eyes — that the city was burned and destroyed by fire. And they said there was now no bar of Israel there. And apparently — the Jews had fled from there because of the noise of the war. Also when we were near the city of Samle mentioned above — they said there were gathered nearby forty thousand armed Ishmaelites for war to destroy more Greek areas. And also the Greeks had already gathered there about two hundred thousand Greeks. And from all this — some fear touched our hearts. But not much. For we saw that with the help of Hashem Blessed be He the hand of the Ishmaelites was prevailing over them. And the Ishmaelites had no business with Jews — on the contrary they saved them and protected them from the Greeks.