czwartek, grudnia 30, 2010


 „Trwali oni w nauce Apostołów i we wspólnocie, w łamaniu chleba i w modlitwie”. Dz 2,42 (BT)


W ten sposób Autor Dziejów Apostolskich podsumował widzialny Owoc Zesłania Ducha Świętego - Pięćdziesiątnicy: Jedność Pierwotnego Kościoła.
Trwanie w nauce Apostołów Nowy Testament określa inaczej jako trwanie w Prawdzie 

i Miłości - trzymanie się Słowa Życia. Pod określeniem wspólnoty możemy się domyślać organizacji życia codziennego pierwotnej gminy. Łamanie chleba może oznaczać zarówno Ucztę Eucharystyczną, jak i posiłek gościnny w domu – tzw. agapę. Modlitwa wspólnotowa 
zapoczątkowała liturgię. Słowo liturgia (z gr. leitourgia od  „leiton ergon”)  znaczy „wspólne dzieło” (~  porządek nabożeństwa). Moglibyśmy powiedzieć, że życie pierwotnego Kościoła prawie w całości było dziełem wspólnym tj. uporządkowanym owocem Miłości. 
             Św. Paweł w Pierwszym Liście do Koryntian podsumował głębszy sens Uczty Eucharystycznej następująco: „ Kielich błogosławieństwa, który błogosławimy, czyż nie jest udziałem we Krwi Chrystusa? Chleb, który łamiemy, czyż nie jest udziałem w Ciele Chrystusa? Ponieważ jeden jest chleb, przeto my, liczni, tworzymy jedno Ciało. Wszyscy bowiem bierzemy 
z tego samego chleba”. 1 Kor 10,16-17(BT) 
            Dzięki temu możemy odkryć wspólne dobro i świadomie dążyć do jedności!

„ Wszystkim zaś objawia się Duch dla [wspólnego] dobra.(.) Podobnie jak jedno jest ciało, choć składa się z wielu członków, a wszystkie członki ciała, mimo iż są liczne, stanowią jedno ciało, tak też jest i z Chrystusem. (.) Wy przeto jesteście Ciałem Chrystusa i poszczególnymi członkami”. 1 Kor 12,7;12;27.(BT) JEDNOŚĆ DUCHA TWORZY JEDNOŚĆ CIAŁA.
Zesłanie Ducha Świętego na Kościół jest dopełnieniem Pięćdziesiątnicy Starego Testamentu tj. Zesłania Prawa – Dekalogu na Synaju.  Przypada ono w siedem tygodni  po święcie Paschy, które rozpoczynało żniwa w Izraelu. Żniwa w pełni to Święto Tygodni nazwane później Pięćdziesiątnicą. Z podziękowaniem za dobre zbiory przynoszono do Świątyni Jerozolimskiej dwa chleby z nowego zboża.
                Nowa Pięćdziesiątnica - Zesłanie Ducha Świętego - jest czasem żniwa Kościoła. 

Symbolem jedności jest chleb. Chleb nie kwaszony, przaśny nawiązuje do Przaśników po święcie Paschy. (Kwas jako symbol oznaczał zepsucie, zgorzknienie, złość).

Duch jedności jest duchem miłości i prawdy . Jest wiarogodnym znakiem dla świata; wzbudza respekt:  szacunek i lęk (- bojaźń bożą). Są to oznaki sacrum. Celem jest wspólne dobro!
Dzisiaj potrzebujemy przebaczenia i pojednania jak w starym małżeństwie, gdzie wskutek braku jedności bardziej od małżonków cierpią dzieci. A świat się gorszy... Por. Ef 5,32.

Jeszcze raz posłużę się wnioskiem św. Pawła: „Usiłujcie zachować jedność ducha dzięki więzi jaką jest pokój. (.) Bądźcie dla siebie nawzajem dobrzy i miłosierni! Przebaczajcie sobie, tak jak 
i Bóg nam przebaczył w Chrystusie.” Ef 4,3;32(BT) 

You do not know African pride


After the holidays season I came back home tired, tanned and, as it seemed to me, satisfied. After returning from mountains, on flat terrain I ran like a small car. The way back from Krościenko also had its charm. You can imagine, when the term of the great Oasis ‘New Jerusalem’ ends and in one day Pogórze Sudeckie leave a few thousand of participants of all constituent formations and groups at the same time. – The first effect: The town is short of bread, then bakers triumph! Multiplied takings. Similarly public transport adjusts to a new situation, on one condition, that travellers are not on purpose increasing this crisis caused, let’s say, by temporary ‘demographic explosion’. Nowadays maybe some ‘Anti-crisis staff’ would be created. It is also a way! (– The point is that the end of the term is not a crisis, like let’s say ‘harvest disaster’ – I do not know who invented such a scoff. I only advise to remember a story of Josef from the Bible, who was a vice-regent of Pharaoh. He used abundant harvest in good years to save many people from starvation in time of famine. Look: Genesis, chapter 41-47)
          I remember when we were walking with priest Jacek and other ‘the Oasis’ people from our diocese along Kościuszki Street in Krościenko to Kopia Gorka and at the foot of the mountain stood two big lorries (white lorries from Holland, if I am right). I joked, indicating at one of the lorries standing on the high shoulder: ‘ By this lorry we will come back to Krakow!’ Everybody was laughing. Just in case, in the evening priest Jacek asked the driver if he was going to go in that direction and if he could take us. When he had got confirmation he asked us ‘to be ready’. We were travelling in ‘the room’ behind the driver’s cabin. (we were communicating with gestures and a little bit in English). The driver offered us peanuts and chocolate. He was very glad when the priest gave him a cassette with songs of worship. At about twelve o’clock at night, not asking anybody for directions, he dropped us at the railway station in Krakow, we said good-bye like old friends, and (without any crowds) everyone went its own way.[1]( I do not know, if this will be an appropriate analogy, but I felt like the courtier, who ‘went on his way rejoicing’ Comp. Acts 8,39.)
          The return to work had  similar effect to ‘smelling-salts’ on me. It does not mean that I lead some ‘double life’ – ordinary and festive, or even worse: in reality and in dreams. Maybe... I learned that psychological comfort consists, in a small part, of suffering. I start to understand what Leszek Kołakowski ment talking about ‘constitutional indigence of temporality’ and that ‘the absolute in mundane sphere is impossible to achieve’. – Still, ‘what was impossible for people, God accomplished’... The tough reality of Trade School is like a field of ripped crop, a sport stadium and firing ground in one. Without a good school there are no well educated people – it sounds like a slogan, maybe it is better and more cautious to say: Like a proverb! – A vicious circle – after all the teacher himself must be (well) brought up. In the‘Light- Life Movement’ work within the same age group in compulsory. We just had a meeting in such a group. Apart from evangelical conversations in the Small Group, we were practising (from time to time) evangelical revision of life. (– This is some godly exercise in a small group. Even more godly exercise, and even smaller, is probably the sacrament of confession. – ‘This should be done and that should not be omitted!’ – Advisers keep saying.) I must be a lucky blighter, because I became friends with a Verbist Missionary from Africa. It is not a coincidence. He had time for conversation and coffee, considering circumstances. And like a real missionary he was very generous and ready to help. He told me about dramatical extermination of his Mission among the tribes of Konkomba during tribal war.
 (He suffered more than the father of ‘plague-stricken’, because hate is maybe even worse than the plague!) I told him about my meeting with Ahmed on the train on my way to Krakow. Subconsciously I hoped that he would help me to solve that problem.
          The beginning of a school year in a school library, where students borrow all course-books has got, as it usually happens, its own ‘splendours and miseries’. (– Apart from rather symbolic payments for student practice for ‘young workers’, the free course-books and uniforms were a type of ‘social’ benefits.) It is a good ‘habit’... In statistics the course-books are included in, so called, ‘the average of reading’. It is not a mistake, in order to use well the compulsory course-books it is necessary to know how to read (at least on a basic level). In order to read ‘set books’ not only good encouragement is needed, but also good habits, and such problems have not only the ‘young workers’ from ‘trade school’, who have not ‘succeeded’ somewhere else. Such difficulties have, as far as I know, also people with higher education: with titles, diplomas and jobs, who in everyday rush do not have the time to ‘sit’, but reading ‘needs’ just that. ‘Set books on video’ and so called ‘audio books’ are the next invention ‘masking’ low reading levels. It is a great luxury that in some professions we can get more education while working. These and similar thoughts come to my head, when the noise of break time dies out. Also a problem from before holidays comes back. At the end of school year I first finished up with returning books (e.i. collecting them from students) the course-books, obligatory cards and the year statistics. Now I have to do one more check of ‘the structure of the library’. In a ‘ministerial’ Polish Language programme the Bible was included in a syllabus of basic set books. Before the summer holidays I seriously thought of buying a hundred of Bibles. (– According to the library rules one book should be shared by three students. I knew I would be short of money. It might seem suspicious for the headmaster that I want to buy so many copies of the Bible –Is this supposed to be a new place for ‘the Great Oasis’?! – And, who knows...)
          At the end, I was ready to proceed with the purchase without agreement or knowledge of the headmaster. The ‘ministerial ‘ programme neither can be negotiated, or be a dummy of something else! I thought I was right. So I simply asked: ‘God, where can I take the money from? I did not even notice how fast God answered, giving me one hundred dollars for that purpose, exactly the amount needed at that time. I feel uneasy that only now I have understood Ahmed's gesture on the train. After all, He was saying ‘I am giving from God!’ – maybe he wanted to do God’s will, and I did not let him. I do not know if I did the right thing, but remembering that the witnesses of my conversation were my son’s friends, I think to myself: it is better they say I did not accept the hundred dollars from a ‘tipsy’ stranger, than they announce that I took advantage of not only the situation, but also of the man... I comforted myself that way. On the other hand, I discovered in ‘reading’ from Polish language, consistent with the programme, four texts from the Bible. About the Flood and the Noah’s Arc, Hiob, the Good Samaritan and about the Good Sheppard.  Then I was almost in peace...
          I wondered what my friend Father Ryszard Missionary SVD would say about it? At the next occasion I went for a coffee and an important conversation. After a while the matter little bit ‘cooled down’, and we could, without emotions, rationally, think over details. Father Ryszard approached the matter with his usual sincerity and simplicity: ‘ You do not know African pride!’ – He said – ‘you simply humiliated him, and maybe even a bit, unintentionally i.e. without awareness, offended him.’ – Even though up to now I have not considered my reasons of refusing the money as selfish, as time goes by, I am getting some doubts... Firstly, no one is better in the eyes of God – that man could do God’s will! Secondly I asked God a question: where do I have to take the money for Bibles from? And I did not hear the answer                   ( – probably being afraid of the opinion of the young, immature people from ‘the gang’ about me. Thirdly, wanting to be seen as ‘a man of integrity’ in Ahmed’s eyes, maybe, looking from his point of view, I subconsciously behaved as if from ‘the position of superiority’... My discomfort grew like yeast. – In order to feel better I said conciliatorily: ‘If I had his address I would explain to him that I am not a racist, and I would wish him Merry Christmas’.
          About half a year after my holidays’ journey to Krościenko, that time, I was returning from the south of Poland: from Racibórz to the north-east – if I remember well – it could be a train from Zakopane via Krakow and Warsaw to Gdynia. – I am not sure whether I got on in Racibórz or Rybnik, but in Katowice the crowd was quite ‘seasonal’. – Christmas, the season of winter vacations and skiing. In the nearest future I had in front of me the whole night on the train. With great difficulty I was pushing my way through a narrow corridor between compartments, passing sleeping passengers and their sumptuous luggage. I could not even imagine that I would travel on the corridor (– those years had passed when I used to stand over bumpers, in the link area between carriages!). I slipped my head into a compartment and carefully inspected if there was any free place. I was about to retreat, when I heard: ‘There are no free seats!’ I came back, looked into the direction where the female voice came from, and what did I see?  – One lady was stretching on two seats; my informant female was sitting next to her. – She became embarrassed and said: ‘I’m sorry, but I wanted to cheat you so my friend could sleep a little’. I smiled and joked: ‘Since I’ve travelled on duty I have a sitting place!’ I sat down. In my lapel I had a little silver ‘dove’. – ‘Holy Spirit?’ – She asked. – Hi! I’m Ivona from Pentacostal Church’. She introduced herself. – She also said that she taught Polish in Łódź, at school for foreigners studying in Poland. I asked her about Ahmed. (She was sure she taught also Ahmadu), what’s more, she confirmed all known to me details and gave me her and his valid address. Thank the Lord! Oh! How God is Great!

Translated by Barbara Vujcic


[1] „The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and for evermore” Psalm 121, 8 (Translation after: Holly Bible, the Gideons). This is a great reason for joy on every way.

The conversation for $100


Commotion on the platform – in a moment a fast train ‘Beskidy’ is arriving at the station. (In the summer season it runs from Gdynia to Jelenia Góra; from Kracow as a slow train).The end of June: the beginning of school holidays and the vacation season promise increased tourist activity. – I do not like crowds. To Nowy Targ I am going to spend about 9 hours on the train and later about one hour on the bus to Krościenko. I hope I will come to ‘the Oasis’, with God’s help, on time. (Moderate heat, considering the season, but clothes and luggage can make you sweat). For a moment I take off my rucksack and ‘inspect’ if I have packed everything: personal things, a sleeping bag, a foam pad, a small case, and food and the Bible on the top. (Anyway, we usually realise what is missing only at our destination.) I learn to limit my ‘equipment’ to what is ‘necessary’, but with age the luggage gets smaller. Is this the beginning of ‘smug’ habits?! (– Is it necessary to give up even a tie and a suit – I am going to celebrate!). I have explained myself to myself. Suddenly the train enters the station and pulls me and the other travellers out of laziness and pretended rest caused by the heat. The first wave of passengers get on the train as if running. What for to crowd? Take it easy. The platform slowly becomes empty. I get on and look for a right compartment. Everywhere is full of (usually) young people. – ‘The atmosphere’ of agitation spreads on me. I pass smoking compartments and those where is too much noise. Oh, they are even playing cards – it used to be forbidden in the public places, and here they are drinking beer. Young men looking like ‘reservists’. – I prefer to travel with students or school children, if I have a choice. I am going to read and talk.  All day travelling is alone an attraction. I discover this again and again since I got a special blessing for the occasion.[1]If I remember well all that happened on the twelfth of March in nineteen eighty-two, when I was reading a meditation from a prayer book by Spurgeon: The Jewels of God’s Promises.
          I enter a compartment. ‘Good morning! – Can I?!’ – ‘ You are welcome!’ – I hear encouragement. ‘Thank God I have got a seat!’ – I think; nine hours on the train will not make me tired too much. I peep at passengers. – Friendly young people – maybe students? They make an impression as if they knew each other. (– ‘A gang ‘?!)  After  freeing myself from the luggage I take off my jacket, pull out a book from the case and start reading. (I overhear conversations which prove that my co passengers are students. – later I found out that they were my son’s school friends. – The world is like a global village!)
          Before the train starts one more student is ‘joining in’, but he is not from the same ‘gang’. – His ‘tropical’ look suggests that he is African. He wants to pay his footing in a ‘society’ of students very much, he is even offering ‘a drink’, but they ignore him. The Newcomer has not given up straight away, but I could see that he has been humiliated. (He seems a bit ‘tipsy’ and because of some reason is very eager to talk). He has shown them a riddle – a puzzle from matches – probably a mathematical rebus. ‘The students’ have not accepted a challenge. I observe the situation with the corner of my eye, and I can see how much it has hurt him, immediately I loose interest in reading. I put my book aside and ask the Newcomer to share with me his riddle. The proposition visibly cheeres him up. – The riddle is difficult and I cannot decide, which one of three possibilities is correct. – This clearly made an impression on the ‘mathematician”’– he suggests that all the answers are correct, but before he has thought that there is only one possible solution. ( Oh irony, such thinking has often ‘limited’ my freedom of choice too.) This occasion solves a bigger puzzle. – He has been looking for the company to drink, because an unusual thing has happened: his baby daughter was born. I congratulate him and explain that I am a teetotaller and I do not drink alcohol, no matter how important is the occasion. He has not really understood what it is all about. So I try to tell him about ‘a huge’ problem  of alcoholism in our country, which the ‘ Light-Life’ Movement ‘struggles’ with, and The Men Delivery Crusade, which I have voluntarily joined, in order to help about 5 million alcoholics get free from their addiction. He has listened carefully and then briefly comments: ‘First with all force and in the systematic way you create a problem and later you fight it?! (– ‘I did not shoot from Aurora!’ Once said same Editor. I would like to comfort myself the same way; but inside I feel that it is not like that: where is my responsibility?!) – After a minute I say that I just go to the retreat of our movement to Krościenko on the Dunajec for two weeks.
          The Newcomer says that his name is Ahmadu and, to prove it, he shows me his Polish ID. ( – As a Senegal citizen he would only have a passport, but because he has married Polish woman he also has got ID). He confesses that his wife Basieńka, who gave birth to his daughter, waits for him in Kracow, where they live. It becomes known during further conversation, that his mathematic studies on Mining Metallurgic Academy has been quite advanced ( – he just writes his doctorate.) He is so sincere that I am worried about his safety. (– How could that happen that an adult man retains a spirit of a child?!). Mr Ahmadu becomes very interested in this Krościenko, ( because there is another one in Bieszczady), and in the retreat, ‘Light-Life’ Movement and The Men Delivery Crusade. I try somehow, sensibly as much as I can, to satisfy his curiosity, although I do not know what can come out of it. ( I believe that this meeting must mean much more than only sharing a common space on the train, what passengers usually accept out of necessity of travelling. I will say more about it a bit later, on other occasion.)
          Krościenko on the Dunajec – a national centre of ‘Light-Life’ Movement is a small, mountain town, situated almost along the valley of the Dunajec, surrounded by Beskidy, with a newly created, artificial lake in Czorsztyn in a close neighbourhood. About 6 km. far from Krośnica from one side, and down stream of the Dunajec with the same distance from Szczawnica, where are famous health resorts. For centuries there has been drown healing spring water (the springs are called ‘szczawy’). Krościenko with its landscape and simplicity of the style reminds of the Holly Land. – For many people it is, as if, the Holly Land. ( If it is all right to use such analogy, considering great things which happen there.) I mean not only a wonderful rest in the open space; – fast restoration of a body, regaining of health and energy, but also everything what happens in the spiritual area during the time of the retreat. It is a harvest time in the fields, and just next to them in the Oasis of New Life centres there is a joyful celebration, which lasts for two weeks. Incredible transformation happens as a result of the participants living by the principles described in the Bible. Often the faith in God’s Promises, although not always and necessarily, is confirmed through signs and strange events. The reality next to us: everyday events and the people, whose secrets we hardly ‘touch’ with words, the usual – ‘unusual’... Does it have to sink into oblivion, or ignorance, not noticed?!
          A conductor has checked tickets and again walking along compartments he asks: ‘Has anybody got on?’ Mr Ahmadu, as it seems to me, is clearly moved in a new way. An interest, even excitement about something unknown, for the time being, calms down emotional tension of so active waiting of the meeting with his wife (Basieńka) and their baby daughter. The heat on the train is bearable. A stream of fresh air comes through the opened window. I make sure that I am not sitting in the draught: problems sometimes occur when it blows on sweated shoulders. The tipsy ‘reservists’ are behaving quieter – probably tired have fallen asleep? Just after the conductor, who has just left the train, another ‘official’ pushes his way through the corridor, carrying two enormous tourist bags, which look especially heavy... He does not look for a seat, he rushes to deal with his business while the train is on the halt. He quickly passes through, peeping into compartments and shouting: ‘Ale! Light Beer! Who wants a beer?! Some agitation and noise – Have the ‘reservists woken up’? – Apart from that, despite the heat, only single orders?! So he moves on! (Anyway, the price is not encouraging – more or less, three times the price in the shop.)
          It is time for a snack. We offer food to each other. First, wonderful rolls with coffee from a flask, later early wine-sour apples. Delicious. Then filled mint sweets! To Kracow is about one hour of travelling. Five hours has passed like an entertainment programme... My interlocutor after some thinking has got a great idea. He will get off in Kracow to hug and kiss his wife and daughter, and later, if they agree to ‘let him go’, he will come to me to ‘the Oasis’ in Krościenko. The train from Kracow via Habówka to Nowy Targ crowles uphill for a long time, so he can ‘catch me’ by bus still in Nowy Targ, or better straight to Krościenko! I wonder if Ahmed’s enthusiasm will not die out as soon as last heat. Anyway I decide to give him time to cool down. He wants some ‘materials’ about ‘the Oasis’. I have booklets about four rules of spiritual work and notebooks written by the priest Franciszek Blachnicki and some ‘treatises’. I give him this things which I do not need, others are in the ‘Oasis’ shop in Kopia Górka. He is sacredly watching my Bible and ‘small icons’, which are used as bookmarks – they are usually some photographs. At the end he takes out money and wants to give me a 100-dollar bill. I say I cannot accept this money. Then he shows me a pile, which he can hardly encircle with his hand: $2000 ( his doctorate grant) later he explains: ‘I am giving from God!’ (Before he said he was a Muslim). He is confused and embarrassed  more than me. I have a feeling he will not come...

Translated by Barbara Vujcic


[1] "About Zebulun he said. ‘Rejoyce, Zebulun, In your going out, and you Issachar, In your tents’" Deuteronomy 33,18 (Tanslation after: Holy Bible, the Gideons)

sobota, września 25, 2010

SHALOM JERUSALEM


High summer. Half of the holidays have past: the first and the second term of ‘the Oasis’ in Krościenko on the Dunajec are behind us. Returning again... There are things and matters which are difficult to recollect without reflection. Tiredness of travelling? Does not matter – tourist attractions can recompense the night spent in a waiting room at the Easter Station. The last train to Białystok has just gone, and the next is only after five in the morning... Oh no, just this was missing! First, I take to my supper, this will let me regain strength and control irritation. A station bar is opened all night. I buy some sandwiches and tea – coffee later – and wait a moment until any place at the marble table becomes free. Travellers are sitting on high, fixed to the floor stools. They ‘are consuming’ in silence and leaving...
          In the waiting room on the first floor some people seem to be waiting for morning trains, and others simply for a new day. Some old people with bundles ‘are kipping’ on radiators next to the walls. They are sleeping, sitting or lying disorderly on benches like defeated warriors... Some are ‘vigilant’ talking or quarrelling, others are snoring loudly. My stomach turns. My stoical peace – maybe only an old habit of suppression of negative feelings... I ‘ve got a book... After all I am not in a hurry: there are still holidays! There is one free place for me as well! I am reading and dozing off in turns. Is this a coincidence that we are waiting the morning together and in the end it will catch us, although everyone in a different way? The night has passed, the bright light of a day like a good wish without words has broken into the waiting room. In one minute ‘ the battlefield’ emptied before the morning cleaning. Thank the Lord for a new day.
          Downstairs in the main hall near booking-offices formed long queues of travellers. ‘It’s known thing the capital and every word needless...’ In front of me a man asked in English for a ticket to Vienna. A cashier tried to explain him that such ticket must be bought in Orbis at Bracka Street, if I heard well. I knew that until departure of the train I had two hours; I felt irresistible need to take care of that man. I could go by train with him to Bracka Street and later go further, and my time would not be wasted. The traveller without hesitation accepted my proposition of me becoming his ‘new’ guide. We got on the nearest tram going along Aleje Jerozolimskie. I thought that we had to get off near the monument of Chopin at Nowy Świat. Only then I thought of ‘a red colour’[1] of a jacket, a rucksack and a cap of my ‘comrade’. What could that ‘fireman’s’ red outfit mean ( I do not remember whether his trousers were red as well)? Communist, Red Khmers’ Fighter, or other brigades? What guesses! Intuition on holidays too?!
          Orbis would open in a few hours. In the youth hostel in Bracka Street the left-luggage office was closed as well. I do not know whether THAT MAN wanted to leave his rucksack there or collect other luggage. I guessed he lived (spent a night) at that hostel. We both decided to go somewhere for breakfast. I smiled to a thought that a Newcomer and what is more ‘the red one’, whatever that ment, gave me a chance of evangelical talk about Jesus in English. Going on foot to a bar down Nowy Świat to Krakowskie Przedmieście we had more time and less embarrassing situation to talk freely. (Red colour, – what alarm?)  In fact I found less and less ‘obvious things’. (Common sense demanded tact and caution, but policy of effective evangelisation lies in talking about Jesus directly.) I started as I was thought. After a few sentences of introduction my interlocutor said that he thought differently, but he is not an atheist. I asked him to specify it (that would make our conversation easier). He said he was a Jew and was coming from Israel after a year of work in kibuc[2] to continue studying biology in Amsterdam. Instead of hugging him I said conciliatorily that I would take him to a milk bar, (which I liked as a student). There would be for sure tasty and ‘kosher’[3] dishes. Despite the lack of experience I did not give up further conversation... My interlocutor was familiar with the subject, because he stated that Romans crucified Jesus. To what I fired that refusing him as a Messiah – the King, Jews drew down on themselves his blood – ‘his blood on us and our sons’ (Com. Matthew 27, 25). The young man saddened. Then I told him that Jesus forgave them ( i.e. Jews and Romans) of his own free will, out of love he gave up his life for brothers and all mankind, in order to restore for us eternal life. ( Com. John 10, 16).
          I remember when over ten years ago my professor conferring a degree prof. Marek Fritzhand invited me for consultation to his flat. I was guessing that he was a Jew; I liked him and I tried to help him... (Although then I did not really know how.) I brought him a wonderful book by Roman Brandstaetter: Jesus of Nazareth. (– The novel about Jewish Messiah written by a Jewish messianist). The professor answered with honesty for honesty:    ‘Roman Brandstaetter is my friend’. I also wanted to encourage him (the Professor) to read the Bible. ‘Of course, he answered, I read it every day in original’. Immediately I came down from ‘my pulpit’ – such a lesson of humility could give me only a Friend – an Older Brother in faith...
          After a bar ‘ kosher’ breakfast we went  further with our rucksacks little using public transport, in order to talk easier and more honestly. (I decided to go back in the evening – my ticket was valid till tomorrow). I also began to discover  the reverse of the medal: First he led me to the Jewish Historical Institute near Plac Grzybowskiego to search his genealogy, because his father with the family emigrated from Poland, and precisely from Radzyń Podlaski. Mosheh ( Moses), that was my new acquaintance’s name, in a few minutes found his genealogy, and later we watched an exhibition dedicated to the history of Pawiak, Ghetto and Warsaw Uprising. I was shocked. That horrible nightmare is not a dream, but we need to awake... During our meeting with a manager of the Institute, Mosheh confessed him in my presence: ‘Are you circumcised?’ ‘Do you eat kosher meals?’ ‘ Do you celebrate SABBATH?’ – The manager complained about the guest’s cheek.
          After leaving we both entered some little church for a moment. Later we were going to  the Jewish Theatre ( unfortunately it was a vacation break). Not far from there is a Synagogue. ( It was also closed I do not know why). Mosheh started to laugh: After a while he said: ‘ A Jew with a catholic walk like twins...’  Next to the synagogue in a courtyard we met two men. One of them, toothless, poorly dressed and intoxicated was sitting on a stone; the second one was reprimanding him, that Sabbath and he was unprepared. That second one was an owner of a flat at Twarda Sreet (‘Twerda syks’ as he told us himself). He invited us to the flat. On the door was MEZUZAH[4]. After a while he had to give an account of his conduct. ( Was he circumcised, how he treated kosher, was he practising?) Mosheh was simple-minded like Nehemiah!
          The test fell out well. The host had got prepared earlier Sabbath meal. – ‘ Bobys’ – boiled broad beans strongly salted, with a peanut flavour. A white set table and candles; a bottle of vodka ( kosher). He proposed a toast: SHALOM JERUSALEM, and then he filled three glasses. (They put on scull caps: round caps on the top of their heads, and I covered the top of my head with my left hand). Looking towards the east with tears in our eyes we drank to: ‘SHALOM JERUSALEM!’ Then I felt a Zionist... ( Since that time I have kept absolute abstention from alcohol...)


[1] „Red colour” – some kind of alarm? ( in Hebrew language “CEWA ADOM” means “ALARM”)
[2] Kibuc – a collective farm in Israel
[3]KOSHER – suitable, proper, fit; KASHRUT - Jewish laws about ‘ritual purity’.
[4]MEZUZAH – a scroll with quotations from the Bible: Deut 6, 4-9; 11, 13-21; in a tube fixed to the doorframe of believing Jews.

                                                                                                                Translated by Barbara Vujcic

wtorek, września 14, 2010

MOSES’S DESIRE

          "Dziękuję!" "Toda Raba! "Dziękujemy!" Pozostawienie Mosze dotyka mezuza prawą ręką, po nim ja i Host tego samego; przyjmującego uśmiecha się smutno licytować nas pożegnanie, patrząc na nas, a nad naszymi głowami, jak gdyby chciał dobrze pamiętam (naszej) twarze. Po raz kolejny bierzemy w gościnnym domu gospodarza z "kontroli" wygląd. Mosze wyciąga aparat fotograficzny. - "Czy mogę?" Koncentracja, przystawki, przystawki i wyjeżdżamy. Z pewnej odległości, patrząc na zniszczony tynk i popękane okna kamienicy, pyta: "Czy wszystko w porządku tutaj?" - "Bardzo dobrze! - "A co zrobisz, kiedy zaczyna się rozpadać ... - Naprawa "! - "Odejdę, BEHUC" (za granicą) - odpowiada. - "Ale może jeszcze naprawy?!" Mosze dokucza.
          Mijamy stragany z kwiatami. Mosze wyjmuje aparat fotograficzny - "Zdjęcie z kwiaciarni. Co do - Zastanawiam się, ale on, jakby czytał moje myśli, powiedział: "To stalle budzą mieszane uczucia - zachwyt i prawie zazdrość. Chciałbym mieć takie stoisko z pięknymi kwiatami. Czy mogę sprzedać kwiaty tutaj? " "Możesz, możesz nawet własnego kwiaciarnia, jak nasza znana piosenkarka blisko Marszałkowskiej" - odpowiadam bez myśli. (Nie mam pojęcia jak one stosowane w leczeniu prywatnych sklepikarzy były one postrzegane niemal jako "wrogów socjalizmu" Własność -.. Rodzina jest podobny do innych "społecznej" własności, dziwne, ale nie był tolerowany przez system komunistyczny ).
          Mosze biologii i marzy o sprzedaży detalicznej ... Mijamy obok straganów - warzywa, owoce i różne drobiazgi. Wszystko to przyjemność oka. - Ekscytujące ... Normalny ... Kupujemy jagody, zgrabna i riped. Siedzimy w pobliżu fontanny i cieszyć się świeżym, chłodzenie, wilgotny chłód. Na rynku jest mnóstwo pieszych i gołębie ... Jagody są szczególnie soczyste i smaczne. (W milczeniu wytrzeć ręce puste worki papierowe i czekam na bin w pobliżu.) - Mosze lekko unosi ręce i pokazuje mi dłonie czerwony sok z jagód - "Jezusa! Blood" - Mówi ze smutkiem. Robię podobny gest mu dłonie. - To krzyże, moim zdaniem, że to jest jak ilustracja do jednego tekstu z Listu do Rzymian: "Nie ma żadnej różnicy, dla wszystkich zgrzeszyli i brak im chwały Bożej, i są usprawiedliwieni darmo, z Jego łaski, przez odkupienie, , która weszła w Chrystusie Jezusie. Bóg przedstawił go jako ofiarę przebłagania przez wiarę w jego krwi. " List do Rzymian 3, 22-25[1] - Czy jesteśmy solidarne w grzechu! - Guilty ... (List do Rzymian Komp. 3, 9-20).
          "Czy są jeszcze Żydzi w Warszawie? Czy są jeszcze jakieś życie "kraju ludziki" - braci? Gość zwraca się z podniecenia. I naprawdę nie wiem, czy jest to retoryczne pytanie. Moshe jest szemrania pół do mnie i pół do siebie. "Musimy patrzeć w książce telefonicznej. Musimy się pośpieszyć do budki telefonicznej. (Jest to bardzo rozdarty książce telefonicznej, teraz tylko trzeba monety lub żetony). Mosze czyta nazwy jeden po drugim, nie ma pewności. "Czy możesz mi pomóc?" - Domyślamy się, kto może być Żydem. (To nie jest takie proste, wiele polskich ludzi "nie-słowiańskie" nazwiska, a bardzo często mniejszości narodowych oraz cudzoziemców używać zmieniło "Polsko-jak" nazwiska; one porównane ...) Nagle jestem striken z myśli, która kontekście Nie rozumiem. Ocalić od siebie ten uszkodzony generacji.'(...) "[2] Dz 2, 40 - Kto tak naprawdę szukać?! Gdzie jest bezpieczne kryjówki? Czy będziemy deconspirate lub zapisać ktoś? W końcu to nie to samo! Co robić dalej? Po kilku nieudanych próbach możemy zrezygnować z tego "cywilnych dochodzenia".
          Od ulicy Marszałkowskiej, w dół Zgoda i Brackiej chcemy, mówiąc trochę jak harcerze. Szukamy się. W kilku kamienicach znajduje się kilka starych płyt, które Mosze jest dokładnie oglądać, biorąc na aparat, zatrzaski, zatrzaski i "Dalej!" Idziemy w kierunku Łazienek, że chciałby zobaczyć Pałac Łazienkowski, a po drodze życia, o ile pamiętam, mój kolega z pracy jest czas, który jest Żydem. Mamy zamiar odwiedzić go, czy on nadal tam mieszka. - Niestety ... Przy Placu Trzech Krzyży widzę bar. Jest późne popołudnie, my nie jadłem kolacji. - "Czy jesteś głodny lub spragniony? - Pytam właśnie w chwili, gdy mój towarzysz również to zauważył. - "Jestem głodny Jezusa jestem spragniony Jezusa!" - Powtórki Mosze. Idziemy dalej. - W jego oczach jest ogień i smutek, a raczej pragnienie ... On gwizdki mało, to jest jakby próbą, a później śpiewa cicho. Wytężam uszy i umysł ... To może być coś takiego: "KEAJAL TAAROG AL-AFIKE-Maim, KEN Nafshi TAAROG ELEICHA Elohim"[3] - Może to był tylko śpiew duszy? - To drodze mijamy Plac Trzech Krzyży ...
          Idąc w kierunku Łazienek oboje jesteśmy podekscytowani. Nie czuję zmęczenia bezsennych nocy, lub ciepła upalny dzień. Stopniowo, nie wiem dlaczego, wypełnia się radością. Jego nastrój na śpiewanie dotarło do mnie. Nieco podziękować za wspólnie spędzony czas, ale więcej się pożegnać proponuję mój śpiew towarzysz conjointly. Mosze zgadza się, ale to jest możliwe, co możemy śpiewać razem!
 - "Ja cię nauczę pieśń nową, dobrze?! -Kto w rzeczywistości jest nauczanie, którzy tej "nowej" piosenki? Chodzi mi o piosenkę "Oasis" - to jeden z śpiewnika przez księdza Franciszka Blachnickiego. "ALEHEM SHALOM HEVENU! Słysząc to propozycja jest wyraźnie zadowolony. Ja mu dam, melodię i po chwili zaczynamy śpiewać:

ALEHEM SHALOM HEVENU! ALEHEM SHALOM HEVENU! ALEHEM SHALOM HEVENU!
 SHALOM HEVENU SHALOM ALEHEM Shalom!

pax Et sit nobiscum semper pax et semper nobiscum siedzieć! pax et semper nobiscum siedzieć!
SHALOM HEVENU SHALOM ALEHEM Shalom!

Sia la E noi con tempa! Sia la E noi con tempa! Sia la E noi con tempa!
SHALOM HEVENU, Shalom, ALEHEM SHALOM.

Et la Paix avec nous soi! Et la Paix avec nous soi! Et la Paix avec nous soi!
SHALOM HEVENU, Shalom, ALEHEM SHALOM.

A pokój niech będzie z nami! A pokój niech będzie z nami! A pokój niech będzie z nami!
SHALOM HEVENU, Shalom, ALEHEM SHALOM.

Und sei mit uns der Friede! Und sei mit uns der Friede! Und sei mit uns der Friede!
SHALOM HEVENU, Shalom, ALEHEM SHALOM.

Budiet wsiegda s mir Nami! Budiet wsiegda s mir Nami! Budiet wsiegda s mir Nami!
SHALOM HEVENU, Shalom, ALEHEM SHALOM.

Pokój niech Bedzie z Nami! Pokój niech Bedzie z Nami! Pokój niech Bedzie z Nami!
SHALOM HEVENU, Shalom, ALEHEM SHALOM.

          Śpiewamy i idąc jak po drinku ... Na szczęście policja nie jest w pobliżu, w przeciwnym razie możemy mieć kłopoty ...
          (Nie mam zamiar odwiedzić Pałac Łazienkowski dzisiaj). Patrzę na zegarek i jak nieproszony, niespodziewany policjant przychodzi myśl o blisko wyjazdu na pociąg do Białegostoku. Wtedy to przychodzi inny, bardziej radosny jedno: "To nasz wspólny spacer po Warszawie jest w rzeczywistości" aż "cóś jak" Alija "(- repatriacji, zwrotu, wymiany, będzie w górę, rozwój duchowy). Uśmiecham się. - "Przepraszam ..." Mosze wyjmuje coś z małą torebkę i zbliża się, stojąc naprzeciwko mnie. - "To przypomina naszego spotkania." Dyskretnie wręcza mi banknot: 5 lirów. (Wydane w Izraelu w 1973 roku), opisane w języku hebrajskim, arabskim i angielskim. Po jednej stronie jest portret premier Goldy Meir pani, z drugiej strony jest, jak się wydaje, mur z bramą owiec. A wiadomo, znak z pióra: Castello de Pieredea Viena. Prawdopodobnie chodzi o zamek w Wiedniu? Czy jest to dowód, że w rzeczywistości Mosze będzie Wiedniu? Staram się odmówić: nie zapłacić! Raz jeszcze Mosze zapewnia mnie, że to tylko na pamiątkę ... (Znalazł sposób: "Poszanowanie siebie jak bracia ...') chciałbym powiedzieć:" Oto prawdziwy Izraelita, w którym nie ma nic fałszywe "(Komp. Jana 1, 47)[4] - "Good-bye! Do zobaczenia! " - "LEHITRAOT SHALOM!
          Listy prawdopodobnie nie będzie odpowiedni ... Jego uczeń adres w Amsterdamie jest już nieważne ... Ale nie jest to mało prawdopodobne, jeżeli jest wola Boża, że pewnego dnia Mosze czyta ten esej, a może spotkamy się na jakąś górę to utwór ?!...
 
                                                                                         Tłumaczone przez Barbara Vujcic



[1] Tłumaczenie za: Pismo Święte, Gideons.
[2] Tłumaczenie za: Pismo Święte, Gideons.
[3] "Jak jeleń dla strumieni wody, tak dusza moja pragnie Ciebie, Boże". - Komp. Psalm 42, 1
  (Tłumaczenie po: Holly Biblii, Gideons)
[4] Tłumaczenie po: Holly Biblii, Gideons