PICTURES: Shavei Israel’s summer seminar for young Polish Jews
Polish seminar participants sift through archaeological treasures in Jerusalem
What was the highlight of your summer vacation? While it’s still only early August, for 21 young Poles with Jewish roots, the answer is already clear: Israel.
Shavei Israel’s annual summer seminar in Israel for a group of “Hidden Jews” of Poland concluded last week. The group traveled up and down the country as they toured, studied and discovered the beauty of the Jewish people.
Their two-week itinerary included Shabbat in the Old City of Safed; scaling the heights of Mount Arbel and hiking in the Judean Desert (including up the “snake path” to uncover the mysteries of Masada); and taking a break from the heat by traipsing through a river near Beit Shean. The group had a full schedule of activities in Jerusalem: a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Remembrance museum and nearby Mount Herzl military cemetery, exploring the narrow alleyways of Nachlaot in the city center, plunging into the tunnels that run alongside and under the Western Wall, and sifting through archaeological treasures at Emek Tzurim near the City of David.
There was also a full day set aside for studying at yeshiva; for some, it was their first opportunity to learn in the classic Jewish hevruta style – poring over texts in pairs.
The group was accompanied by Shavei Israel emissaries to Poland Rabbi Avi Baumol, Rabbi Yitzchok Rapoport and Rabbi Yehoshua Ellis, who gave classes in Hebrew and Jewish studies throughout the trip.
At the conclusion of the seminar, a ceremony summarized the experience and participants each received a “diploma” and gift from Shavei Israel: a challah cover and t-shirt – you can see the group proudly wearing their new shirts in the pictures below.
We have a selection of pictures from the trip below.
The group also put together a video with highlights from the seminar. You can see it here.
You can read our previous coverage of the summer seminar here.