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From: "Zachary Foreman"
I know that I keep promising to tell you about my wonderful three week vacation, but I think I have entered this Vortex of Insanity and I must therefore share these experiences with you because I fear that I will lose touch with reality (i.e. non-Krakowness). First, let me tell you that I moved back to my old room (just in case you were still planning that visit). Bob moved out on Monday. But before he did, we had a little conversation....It was about 10:30 and I had a little chocolate desire, so I went down to the bar and was about to get a bar of "czekolada mleczna" when who should greet me but Bob!So, I ask him (ironically of course) why he hasn't visited me in my new room. I was honest with him and told him that I couldn't live with him because I felt uncomfortable, etc. The I said that I didn't slam his door. He started complaining about people making noises (slamming doors, lighting firecrackers, banging pots) to persecute him. Of course, these people were Satanists. (In new years' in Krakow the tradition is to light firecrackers, the more and bigger, the better). And it's a student tradition to bang pots and sing at midnight (not unlike primal scream). As soon as he was assured that I was a good Catholic and not a satanists or, worse, a freemason, he began to talk to me. I discovered many things that I was unaware of from my (former) suite-mate: 1. He was the Soul of David. That is, David, King of Israel and Judea, circa 3000 B.C. 2. Most nights he is bi-located against his will (often to California) and raped and tormented by groups of men, who laugh at him. They also torment the Virgin Mary at the same time, but she suffers silently. 3. If (or when) he is killed (by Freemasons), he will return as the Beast (of Revelation). He made a deal with God that if he was killed, God would tell him who killed him so that as the Beast he could exact his revenge. 4. In 1986 three aliens, disguised as the Trinity, asked him if he "wanted the world". His answer: "Yes, and I will give it to God." And since the ruler of the world (who is a Freemason) will go to hell, it is a major sacrifice on his part. (But, of course, only his spiritual body would be in hell, his soul would be with Mary in heaven. (paradox!) 5. He has seen the inside of the Holy Grail. It is on Oak Island, in Nova Scotia. (Read Treasure Island, RLS was a freemason and it is a thinly disguised story leading to the Grail). In fact, there are three grails: one in NS, one at the North Pole (magnetic) and one in England (have you seen it, C?) He showed me the size of it with his hands and described the dried blood still adhering to the sides of the inner surface. 6. He only mentioned this in passing, and I didn't ask him to elaborate, but he said that he was also the Pontiff, and the Father of Christ. 7. The body of Christ is buried underneath the stone that contains the Holy Grail (and there are pieces of the cross here too). He told me that the Grail is "cast in stone" and drew the parallel to Christ's well known command, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone", therefore proving that the Grail is there. (He drew a picture of the island for me and showed me that "x marks the spot" (he says that various relics form a cross on this manmade island) 8. This July, Christ will be reborn, but only if the Freemasons are successful in exhuming the body of Christ and something else from the Island of Koku (near Japan). 9.The apparition of Our Lady at Fatimah was a complex plot by Islam to take over the Trinity (Allah, Mohammed and Fatimah (Mohammed's daughter). 10. In 1988, he lost custody of his son because he was accused of physical assault and abuse (his son was 7 at the time). The entire judicial system, police force, social workers, etc are freemasons or controlled by them and thus it was a sham trial. 11.He parallels his life after Pope John Paul II (even though he considers the Pope to be "deceived" through a complex associations of life events and holy apparitions. 12. As mentioned before, Treasure Island is a Templar's allegory, as is Moby Dick, Ivanhoe (the north pole is the seat of power for the Masons.) Also, the Wizard of Oz (Tinman-Scarecrow-Lion=Trinity).So, I guess you learn something new everyday...That was on Saturday night. I also asked him (as compassionately as possible) if he had found an apartment yet, because I had heard that he was being forced out on Monday. He said that he hadn't but that he wanted to stay at a convent and if the ministers of Satan visited him there then he would fight it out there....I wished him well and bid him good night and good luck. On Monday, as I was bringing a post-box to 507 because I wanted to mail some books home, Bob confronted me, in the same place as always, the little common area in the suite. He asked me if I was moving in, I (lying) said no, I was just taking the last of my books out and down stairs. Then he asked me if I had really asked the administration to change rooms. I said, simply, yes (and I admit a bit enthusiastically). His face clouded over angrily and he slammed the door. I went into my room, locked the door and busied myself for about 20 minutes and then Bob, thankfully, left for the last time. A new person, Agnes, just moved in last night. I feel much safer.Ok, so I've talked about freemasons and satanists and even tried to bring in Dorothy (oh, yeah, she is Mary and Toto is "totus tuus" or All to you, the Pope's Motto (to Mary), but what about the third part of my title... and how could I associate Judaism with the other two parts? Well, for that, I apologize, and claim ignorance of much of Judaism. But perhaps that will quickly change, for, it seems, I am Jewish. Now, I know what you're thinking... this is another joke (and in poor taste, too), but in fact, it's very serious and I am still not sure if it will or should change me in any way. Actually, I am, or rather, I probably am only 1/16th Jewish but it is a very important 1/16th (although not through the maternal line). It is the Foreman 1/16th. Or actually the "Formanski" part. It seems that Formanski is a Polish/Jewish name. Or so says my father, who just revealed all this to me on Monday. When he came to visit me I mentioned that I hadn't found any Formanskis in phonebooks. He thought that odd and then he found in a book of surnames, the history of Foreman. It came from Forman and originally meant "leader of pigs" and then "leader of men" and leader of horses". It is related to the German "Fuhrman" and Formanski/y is the Slavic Jewish derivation. For my father, this seemed to have answered many peculiarities of family history as well as why there are no longer any Formanskis in Poland. A Formanski(Polish Jew and my great-great grandfather) from Silesia (major coal- mining area of Poland) which was part of the Austrian Empire at the time married a gentile woman and had a son, Joseph Formanski. Then he went to Recklinghausen, Germany (another major coal-mining area in the Ruhr valley area, near Dortmund). There he married a Catholic German. In 1911 they moved to the US (many did because that is when the coal-mines began to go bust). My grandfather was born in 1914 in the US. He was still a Formanski (I had previously thought that they had changed their names at Ellis Island but I guess not). Then in about 1920, My great-grandmother decided to take the children back to Germany. Before she left, though, she changed the children's names to Foreman, so as not to sound Polish, or Jewish. When she got to Reckinghausen, though, she discovered that the Great Patriotic War had destroyed much of Germany and turned around and went back, to Ohio. So I guess that makes me 1/2 Korean, 5/16 Polish, 1/8 German and 1/16 Jewish. I'm really not sure what that changes though, or even if it's valid to say that since my Jewish ancestors likely lived in Poland for hundreds of years, yet still were not considered Poles (but part of that could be because you were polish due to race not citizenship because there was no Polish state for over 100 years.)What it does change the most is my own view of my studies. I have always been interested in WWII and now that I am learning more about my background, I discover that my relatives could have lived (or perhaps died) in it. I always felt a sort of connection and deep sorrow whenever I read about the Holocaust or visited Auschwitz. But now that I realize that my family name is Jewish and that most, if not all, of the Polish Formanskis were killed or forced to flee their home, I feel different, or I feel that I should feel different. I also realize that Jews were definitely not the only victims and that many Poles died too. Still, it's a part of me that I never knew about, never though about. I have read the Old Testament, and many of my friends are Jewish, but I really don't know that much about it, especially the more cultural side. (I've read The Chosen, and learned some Chanukah songs and the national anthem of Israel (thanks Mr. Marrett) but that's about it). And the weird part is that, after my conversion to Catholicism, one of the reasons I gave was the history and tradition of the Church attracted me and I felt that it was the religion of my forefathers. I used to joke that I would be Jewish if I could, since its about the only thing that has a (much) longer tradition than the Church. I don't know though, that might be farther then I'm willing to go (how many Korean Jews are there?).So I guess I wrote this to entertain you all but I think there must be a deeper significance. In the space of a few days, I find out that I am part-Jewish and that my suite-mate is the incarnation of David. There must be something there, something life-changing. But I haven't figured it out yet. If any of you have any ideas or comments or just want to talk, I would love to. I am all finished with everything and the only thing that gets me out of bed is email. I am planning on going to a museum a day and a movie every night (movies are less than 2 dollars). I hope to see you all soon (Stanford, early March; parents, Feb 28; Zareen, February 21stish; Carolyn, February 19thish, Michel February 16thish). I'm off to dinner now. |