A Special Shabbat in Lodz, Poland
Group at the guesthouse in Lodz
Some 40 “Hidden Jews” of Poland gathered last month in the town of Lodz for a weekend seminar sponsored by Shavei Israel. The Shabbaton was geared specifically for graduates of previous Shavei seminars for Polish Jews, including our three-week program in Israel last summer, which we covered here. We have some fantastic pictures of this most recent seminar in several special photo galleries – click here to view them.
The theme of the weekend, which included communal prayers, meals and classes, was “Jewish responsibility” and it touched on Jewish law, Jewish ethics, and group memory. One of the speakers was Rabbi Jeffrey Saks, director of WebYeshiva, a Jerusalem-based online Jewish learning program with more than 8,000 registered students, including some in Poland. It was Rabbi Saks’ fourth visit to Poland, but his first time at a Shavei Israel seminar. He shared with us some thoughts on the nature of Jewish life in Poland today.
“Most people are shocked when they hear there are still Jews in Poland,” he begins. “They think, weren’t they all killed or didn’t they all leave? And, yes, the Holocaust is always hanging over everything; it’s there in between the lines. Yet, despite that, the community is caught up in so many other, positive, things. There’s this whole process of rediscovering [their Jewish heritage]. The place is so full of life. In Krakow, they have a beautiful JCC. It’s almost as if they’re saying, leave the Holocaust at the door, we’re moving forward.”
Indeed, it’s that fresh embrace of Judaism, for many young Poles who only recently found out they have Jewish roots, that has been the catalyst for Shavei Israel’s work in Poland. We have two emissaries in the country – Rabbi Boaz Pash and Rabbi Yehoshua Ellis – as well as close ties with Poland’s Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich. You can read more about our activities here.
Rabbi Saks described the significance of the Shabbaton setting. “The town of Lodz found itself on the German side of the border during World War II and as a result it was not destroyed during the fighting. The Jewish community includes four buildings around a central courtyard. There is a guest house, a mikve (ritual bath), a beautiful shul and a communal kitchen. There is also a small Jewish community that lives in Lodz full time.”
In the pictures, you can see the leader of the community, Simcha Keller, leading the havdalah service at the conclusion of Shabbat. He is one of two men wearing a traditional fur hat; the other is a local named Shimon who runs the kosher shop in town, which sells a kosher version of Slivovitz, the region’s famous plum brandy. “I can’t tell you how many bottles we drank during the weekend,” Rabbi Saks marvels. “That stuff is something like 78% alcohol. We went through it like water.”
Simcha Keller is also a musician and played flute during a Saturday night kumsitz – a concert composed of local Jewish musicians. You can see pictures from that event here [link]. Following the musical festivities, Rabbi Pash led an educational Purim quiz based on the format of the popular “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” TV show. On Sunday morning, following another class and breakfast, the Shabbaton concluded with a tour for out-of-towers of Jewish Lodz.
Despite the festive atmosphere, the history of the Jews in Poland is never far away. “Everyone is still suffering from that trauma, whether they know it or not,” Rabbi Saks says. “And so all of the work we do in Poland is really trying to repair this catastrophic breach of what happened during the Holocaust.”
The ongoing success of the tikkun (the Hebrew for “repair”) can be seen in the enthusiasm for Shavei Israel’s seminars and programs in Poland. Rabbi Ellis, who helped organize the Shabbaton, reports that interest was so high in this most recent weekend, space was particularly tight, “although we made room for everyone,” he insists. Which is important, because in a place like Poland, the effect you have can be as unpredictable as the revival of Jewish life in a land where it was so nearly extinguished.
That Shavei Israel has assisted in the creation of an environment where young Poles from diverse backgrounds are rediscovering their roots and contributing to the renewed vitality of Jewish life in Poland only underlines the importance of our continuing work there.
Click here to view the photo galleries from the seminar.