Pikulski rushes through the niceties at the end of the letter and then passes it to the bishop to sign. He sprinkles sand over the ink and begins composing a letter of his own in his head. Perhaps he’ll seem presumptuous, but he, too, is concerned for the good of the Church. He returns to his chambers and writes his own missive to the nuncio, which he will send to Warsaw with the same messenger. It includes, among other passages:
The Bishop, in his goodness, would wish to see them as precious lambs nuzzling up to our Holy Mother Church, but I would be so bold as to warn against such a naive understanding of the situation. It is necessary to take careful stock of what lies underneath the declarations of these sect members who call themselves Contra-Talmudists. Not wishing to cast aspersions on His Excellency the Bishop, I would nevertheless read in such an inclination a desire to gain personal recognition through the enlistment of throngs of new Christians.
Based on what I have understood about this matter, while Frank does talk about the Holy Trinity, he does not have in mind the Christian Trinity, but rather a Trinity of theirs that purportedly includes a female named Shekhinah. This has nothing in common with Christianity, as Your Excellency will no doubt agree. As for baptism, Jacob mentions it only vaguely and as it suits him. It seems, as well, that he says something very different to people in the villages—where he passes himself off as a teacher, a traveling rabbi—than behind closed doors, to his closest circle of disciples. He has many supporters, especially Contra-Talmudist Jews from Nadwórna, Rohatyn, and Busk. To what extent, however, this is out of deep religious desire, and to what extent a desire to enter into our Christian fold for reasons beyond religion, no one can guess just yet. Therefore, guided by my great preoccupation, I make so bold as to entreat the authority of our Church to urgently and carefully investigate this matter prior to taking any steps . . .
Father Pikulski finishes and stares at a single point on the wall across from him. He would be glad to handle this matter himself, to serve the Church. He knows Hebrew well and has penetrated the mysteries of the Jewish religion. It generates in him something along the lines of quivering disgust. Something along the lines of dirty fascination. Those who have not glimpsed it close up—and most haven’t—have no idea of the enormity of the institution that is this Mosaic faith. Brick after brick, plus vast, squat vaults that fortify each other—it is almost impossible to imagine how anyone could have come up with such an architecture ever. Father Pikulski believes that God did in fact make a covenant with the Jews, did love them and hold them close to him, but that he cast them off. He withdrew and gave the world over to a nice, clean, fair-haired Christ, in a simple robe, focused and determined.
Father Pikulski would like to be able to ask the nuncio to appoint him, on account of his linguistic talents and the vastness of his knowledge, as adviser on this case. How to put that in writing? He leans over the page of crossed-out sentences and tries to cobble together a few more.
Bishop Dembowski writes to Bishop So?tyk
At that same time, Bishop Dembowski, his imagination also on fire, takes a sheet of paper from a drawer and smooths it with his hand, to remove all the invisible specks of dust. He begins with the date, February 20, 1756, and soon his hand is gliding over the paper with panache, creating big, bold letters; he draws visible pleasure from the flourishes with which he embellishes especially the letters J and S.
They want a big public Disputation, they want to sit down opposite the Rabbis they’re against & show them that the Talmud is bad. In Exchange, they would agree to be baptized, & that would be, or so they say, some several Thousand People. If this were to come to Fruition, the Feat of it would gain Poland Renown all around the World—that in the Holy Commonwealth we managed to convert the Pagans without going all the Way to India, instead converting our very own local Savages. Secondly, setting aside their good Intentions, these Shabbitarians also profoundly hate their Jewish Talmudic Brothers . . .
As soon as they were arrested, because of some Iniquities conducted in a Home in Lanckoroń, they were turned in to us by some of those other Jews, with whom I maintain good Relations & have many Dealings of my own. They accused these Heretics of the Sin of the Adamites, which would not in itself reach the Consistory Court, but for the Heresy that underlies the Accusation. But whose Heresy? Not ours! How are we to handle a Jewish Heresy, knowing nothing whatsoever of the Matter, & very little of Judaism itself? Thank God I can rely on someone else in these Questions, the Jesuit Father Pikulski, who is fairly well acquainted with them.
The whole Affair is delicate, & this is how I see it: It is better for us to live alongside the Rabbis harmoniously & keep them in their current Place, as they have often given Evidence of their Loyalty. On the other Hand, this new Fervor might also be useful to us, were we ever to wish to exert any type of Pressure on the Jewish Congregations & the Rabbis. They have put a Curse on the Anti-Talmudists, & most of the cursed have been arrested by royal Authority. Some of them are at Large because they did not attend the Gathering in Lanckoroń. I sent a Delegation for those just as soon as I learned of all this. They came to see me in Czarnokozińce, but without their Leader this time. Him I have seen only once, & even then, briefly & in Secret. This leader, Jacob, being a Turkish Subject, had to be freed immediately, & no sooner had he been freed than he set out for Turkey.
This time a certain Krysa took the Lead, a coarse Man, a sort of pettifogging Character, though he does speak decent Polish, the which made him seem more intelligent to me than that Frank. Being himself impetuous & violent, he relied on the Charm & Eloquence of his Brother, & so together they laid out for me how they were being persecuted by the Rabbis & have had no Peace from them, being threatened with Death, attacked along the Roads & divested of all their Property. Nor do the Rabbis let them live or carry on any Business, & so those who are against the Talmud & who adhere in many matters to our most holy Faith would nonetheless prefer to maintain their Independence & settle down somewhere outside the others’ Control & found their own Towns from scratch or take over existing ones, such as Busk or Podhajce, whence in fact they come.
As for Frank himself, these Krysas did not have the highest Opinion of him, least of all since he ran off after causing all these Problems & is no doubt now safely ensconced in Chocim or Czernowitz & biding his Time there to see what happens here. They say he immediately converted to Islam. If this is true, it certainly does not bode well for Someone who only recently declared such fervent religious Feelings for our holy Church. It would in fact suggest that they are like Atheists & take Pleasure in this sort of religious Anarchy, wandering into & out of other people’s Faiths.