A Jewish wedding in Poland
Dvora, the beautiful bride
When Chaim Kobylinski and Dvora Loksova tied the knot at the end of last month in Warsaw, the ceremony was much more than just the union of two young Jews in love. Rather, their wedding served as a symbol of the remarkable resurgence of Jewish life in a place where 90 percent of the Jewish population was murdered during the Holocaust.
Shavei Israel Chairman Michael Freund attended Chaim and Dvora’s wedding. “Many believed that the Holocaust had delivered a permanent death blow to any chance of Jewish life in Poland,” he reports. “And yet, here we were, singing and dancing to traditional Jewish tunes as Chaim and Dvora were married under the chupah in the courtyard of Warsaw’s Jewish school.”
We asked Chaim about his Jewish journey. “I first encountered Judaism in 2000 when I visited Israel with my grandmother,” he says. “After that visit, I decided to join the Polish Union of Jewish Students and have been a member since 2003. In 2008, I began attending services at the Orthodox Nozyk Synagogue in Warsaw.”
Today, Chaim is studying at the synagogue’s kollel – a Jewish school for adults – and working as a Jewish culture teacher at the Lauder-Morasha School in Warsaw. He is also employed as a counselor and educator by the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Joint Distribution Committee.
Shavei Israel has been instrumental in helping Chaim explore his Jewish roots. He has participated in a number of Shavei-organized activities, including our 2008 Shabbaton in Krakow and our Summer Seminar in Israel in 2010.
Dvora also took part in a Shavei-sponsored Shabbaton in Krakow as well as our Summer seminar in Israel – although in different years from Chaim. The two only met when they both attended a Youth Leadership Forum in the Czech Republic, where Dvora had been studying. Born in neighboring Slovakia, Dvora was active in the Jewish Community of Prague and the Czech Union of Jewish Studies. She studied Hebrew in Prague’s Hebrew-language ulpan and took classes at the local midrasha.
“We ‘commuted’ for a year between Prague and Warsaw until Dvora moved here in 2010 to pursue an MA in Developmental Economics,” Chaim says.
“Their wedding symbolizes the triumph of the Jewish spirit, and it exemplifies the miraculous rebirth that is taking place as young Jews in Europe seek to reclaim their roots,” Shavei’s Michael Freund says. “Shavei Israel was delighted to have played a role in sponsoring the wedding, and we wish Chaim and Dvora many years of joy and happiness as they build a Jewish home together.”
We have a selection of photos and a very moving video from the chupah here.