The newcomers, hospitably received by Hana, told of how along the Prut, on the Turkish side, a whole army of true believers waited to return to their country. They stood out in the cold, hungry and destitute, watching the Polish shore from afar.
In May, a long and much-anticipated letter arrived from Moliwda, in which he informed us of his great strivings as well as those of Mrs. Kossakowska, and various nobles and bishops, with the king himself, and then we, too, started to think about returning to Poland. Jacob said nothing, but I saw him stealthily reaching for a book in Polish in the evenings. I guessed that he was studying the language in secret, and I learned that I was right when he asked me one day, as though in passing:
“How can it be that they say one knife, but two knives? It should be knifes.”
I was unable to explain this to him.
We soon received a letter of safe conduct from the king through the same channel. This was written in a very
elevated style, and I had to put all of my energy into translating it adroitly. I read it so many times that I learned it by heart, and even in the night, waking from a dream, I could have recited any part of it at will:
Our councils have enjoined us, on behalf of the ContraTalmudists, to take the same under our royal protection by means of this iron letter, also known as a letter of safe conduct, to defend against the pertinacious tentatives of whosoever it may be, including, but not limited to, the scurrilous Talmudists alluded to in the aforementioned correspondence, not only in the Podolian Voivodship, but also in every place in the Kingdom and Grand Duchy, where the ContraTalmudists must be free to stay and litigate their uncompleted trial, that its outcome should apply to every court, including the highest of the Commonwealth, both religious and secular, which shall support absolutely all those who have sustained injury—that they might exercise the privileges, rights, liberties, and freedoms provided the Jews by royal writ, safely, freely, and in peace.
The which requests, rightly and fairly addressed to us, being granted, thus affirming that the ContraTalmudists, having renounced the Jewish Talmud—as it is filled with countless blasphemies, harmful to the general good of the True Believers of the Church and Fatherland, condemned to burn by the Highest Popes, and already burned in some kingdoms, including our own, by just decree of the Most Reverend, His Excellency, Bishop Miko?aj, in the midst of Our city, Kamieniec Podolski—and in this renouncement having come nearer to knowing God as He is in Three Persons, yet in Essence One, and professing and upholding the teachings of the Old Testament . . .
Thus taking the ContraTalmudists under Our protection, in common and individually, this iron letter of Godspeed against the pertinacious tentatives of the aforementioned and all persons and in support of the alleviation of injury to those named in our writ, we have determined to grant, to extend, and to distribute . . .
Graced with and supported by this iron letter, the aforementioned ContraTalmudists shall stay in the Kingdom and Grand Duchy without any impediments on the part of those whose oppression they have feared until now, trade according to their privileges in every place, throughout villages, towns, and urban spaces, go to market, as well as make all purchases decent and honorable, and shall hold their trial before the courts, both religious and secular, as well as royal, appearing now and also further bringing cases or responding to them later, not only legal transactions, but also others at their discretion, and they shall act according to the law, to justice, and to righteousness, and wives, children, and household servants, too, as effects, shall give reason for neither problems nor contests, graced with this, our royal protection, and let it be known that this, our grace, shall not be used for ill, but rather to the benefit of all of those who have endured oppression or whatsoever danger feared, this iron protective letter being submitted to common knowledge . . .
Augustus Rex
Warsaw, 11th June 1758,
the XXVth year of our reign . . .
As it is not often that the king stands on the side of the oppressed, our joy was sweeping, as was our excitement, and everyone began at once to pack, gather, organize, arrange. The little market squares where in the evenings endless debates would take place suddenly emptied, as all were occupied with the coming journey, and news was already reaching us that along the Dniester and the Prut thousands of our people now camped. We were returning to Poland.
Learning of the crowds camping along the Dniester, in Perebekowice, Jacob lavishly provisioned Israel Osman, who was living in Giurgiu and had long practiced the Muslim religion, and dispatched him to that poor multitude of Polish exiles who were sitting there in great sadness, not knowing what to do with themselves. Jacob was very worried about them, most especially since there were more mothers, children, and elderly people among them than men who had set out to make some profit from the situation. They were all living in haphazardly constructed mud huts.
The first to come was Nussen’s brother Krysa, known as Smetankes, who received special consideration from Jacob. Arriving from the camp along the Dniester, he made a memorable speech about the sufferings of our brothers and sisters who had been exiled from Poland. Jacob insisted that he and his companions make themselves at home, but as the house was too small, and they did not wish to return immediately, they wound up falling in with us in the vineyards for the duration of the heat. Next, two Kabbalists came to us: Moshe Dawidowicz from Podhajce with Yeruhim Lipmanowicz, which greatly pleased Jacob.
They began every statement with “We ma’aminim,” or “We the disciples,” as they say in Salonika when wishing to show that they worship Sabbatai. Every day at dawn they would check on the affairs of the world through divination. And Yeruhim would begin every sentence with: “It is time for this . . . It is time for that.” In the evenings, Moshe would see a light over Jacob’s head—it was slightly bluish, cold, as though frozen: a strange light. We all believed that Jacob needed to return to Poland and lead us. He had to return because our fellow believers, under the leadership of Krysa, who had remained with them, had grown impatient and were beginning to turn to the Sabbatians of Salonika for leadership instead. And apparently the Shorr brothers had already met with Wolf in Hungary, the son of the famous Eibeschütz, to see if he would take over the Polish leadership.
“If you don’t go, others will,” I repeated to Jacob daily, knowing him well. Whenever it was shown to him that he might be outdone, he would grow angry and gather his forces.