The other significant aspect of this chizbat concerns the issue of identity.  Melekh, despite his attempt to disguise his identity, ultimately reveals it.  Much of the chizbat repertoire reflects a concern with disguise and revelation of identity.  At first sight this would seem to be a natural concern of a military underground.  But the issue of identity extends beyond the necessity of hiding from the authorities.  The chizbat concerns the issue of identity in a deeper sense.

A dervish from the land of the dervishes

Hayyim the Fat occasionally turns himself into an Arab and tells this story:

Once there came to our village, located near the border of Moab, a dervish as thin as a stick.  As he ascended, he met a Bedouin and asked, “Where is Sheikh Abdullah?”

“He is sitting on the rubbish heap with his sons, telling chizbat,” answered the Bedouin.

“The dervish entered the village, approached the sheikh and said to him, “Are you Sheikh Adbullah?”

“Yes, that’s me,” answered the sheikh.

“At night I see Muhammad riding on al-Buraq” [the legendary horse of Muhammad], said the dervish.  “And he said I would find Sheikh Abdullah sitting on his rubbish heap with his sons, and I see that it is correct.  Afterwards the Prophet asked that I tell you that in the cave by the carob a vase of gold is kept for you.”

The sheikh rolled back his abayah [Arabic: cloak] over his shoulder, jumped into his sandals and ran to the cave with the entire village following after him.  They came and found the gold.  “What is there to discuss here?  A dervish from the land of the dervishes! Stay here with us in the village and dream for us.”

The dervish stayed in the village, and everyone waited all night to see what he dreamt.  In the morning they all ran to the dervish and asked him what Muhammad had said.  “There was noise at night,” said the dervish.  “I couldn’t dream.”

The next day they moved all the flocks away from the village, and the sheikh gave an order that everyone speak in a whisper when the dervish is asleep.