Israeli yeshiva students discover Polish Jewish life on the rebound
Highlights of Rabbi Avi Baumol’s activities in Poland
Shavei Israel’s Polish emissary, Rabbi Avi Baumol, has had a busy few months. In the few weeks since Passover, our man in Krakow visited Bulgaria to attend a conference of Israeli rabbis who are working with communities in Europe. He has also started training for a new Jewish fundraiser called “The Ride for the Living,” (a variant on the long standing “March of the Living”) in which he will cycle some 50 miles from the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp to the Krakow Jewish Community Center.
Both are palpable indications that Jewish life in Europe is steadily rebounding. This is on top of Rabbi Baumol’s regular responsibilities, teaching classes and visiting factories across Poland to supervise the growing number of kosher products in the country.
Perhaps the most personal sign for Rabbi Baumol that Jewish life in Poland is alive and well was a visit to Krakow by a group of students from the Har Etzion yeshiva in Israel – the very yeshiva that Rabbi Baumol attended when he was studying towards rabbinic ordination.
“They got in touch with me several months ago and expressed an interest in doing some of their programming together with the present Jewish community in Krakow,” Rabbi Baumol explains. “They understood that hearing the narrative of an 85-year-old survivor, as well as a 25-year-old Pole who recently found out that she was Jewish, gives the depth and profundity of the Polish Jewish experience today. So they sought me out and asked what we could do together to enhance their experience.”
Rabbi Baumol put together a jam-packed weekend program. It started with the yeshiva students praying together with the Polish community at the Krakow JCC. “I thought it would be very meaningful for my community in Poland if they saw what a prayer service, with Jews singing their hearts out, sounds like,” Rabbi Baumol continues. “It was amazing. The yeshiva boys sang in full force. They even tried to understand my speech in Polish!”
On Shabbat afternoon, the two communities sat together – each table had six or seven yeshiva boys and two or three Polish Jews – and used the Passover Haggadah as a springboard for a timely discussion about “modern day persecution and how to rebuild Jewish life after ‘slavery,’” Rabbi Baumol reports. At the conclusion of Shabbat, the two groups sang and danced together as part of a festive Havdalah ceremony.
“For some of the Polish young people, this was their first Havdalah service ever,” Rabbi Baumol says. “How fortunate were they to experience it together with a group of fantastic, open-minded and intelligent students from Israel.”
We have a video from the Havdalah here.
And we have pictures from the visit here.
Rabbi Baumol adds that he’s not sure who was more touched by the experience – the Polish Jews or the yeshiva students. “Growing up with the luxury of being immersed in Jewish life in Israel somewhat constricts your view of the greater Jewish world and its complexities,” he says. “But it also makes you realize the heroic steps taken by this young group of Poles who, against the status quo, have made real strides in enhancing their Jewish roots.”
With the yeshiva students gone, Rabbi Baumol is focusing on getting in shape for the “Ride for the Living” which will take place on June 6, 2014. You can help sponsor Rabbi Baumol by visiting the ride page.
“A donation of $36 will help support programming for over 100 Holocaust survivors in our community,” the rabbi says. A donation of $100 or more supports special programming and Shabbat meals, such as the get together with the yeshiva students.
If you make a gift, please make a note of Rabbi Baumol’s name in the “comments” box on the donation form.