Shavei Israel’s summer seminar for young Polish Jews changes lives
Polish group at Hezekiah’s Tunnel in Jerusalem
As her group sloshed through the waters of Hezekiah’s Tunnel, the underground conduit that nourished the ancient city of Jerusalem in the days of King David, Sandra from Warsaw reflected on the remarkable journey that had brought her to Jerusalem for a two-week seminar sponsored by Shavei Israel.
“I come from a Catholic family,” she explains. “I only began to discover my Jewish identity seven years ago. Before that I knew nothing.” And yet her family kept traditions that were different from her friends and neighbors.
“On Christmas Eve every year we would have latkes and sufganiyot (potato pancakes and fried doughnuts traditionally eaten at Hanukah time),” Sandra, 21, continues. “That’s just what we did. We never thought anything of it. In fact, my grandmother would even spin a dreidel. In the spring, we had to clean the house, buy new clothes and change all the plates around. Again, that’s just what we did. When my grandmother would bake challah, my grandfather used to remove it from the oven when it was still hot and give it to my mother to smell. She still remembers that smell!”
Sandra is one of 20 “Hidden” Jews of Poland who recently completed Shavei Israel’s annual summer trip to Israel. The August adventure, now in its seventh year, mixes daily classes in Polish on Judaism and Hebrew; tours to the Jewish Quarter, the Western Wall tunnels, Yad Vashem and Mea Shearim in Jerusalem; field trips to Safed, Masada and the Dead Sea; and homestays with families on Shabbat.
With the Jewish High Holy Days rapidly approaching, the theme of this year’s seminar was “A New Year” with a focus on the holidays of Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur and Sukkot. Teachers include Shavei Israel’s past and current emissaries from Poland, Rabbis Avi Baumol, Yehoshua Ellis, Boaz Pash and Yitzhak Rapoport,
Following World War II, Sandra’s family paid to have their papers changed to show that they were Catholic, in order to avoid the anti-Semitism rampant in post-Holocaust Poland. Paula, 32, says her family did the same. Her mother revealed the family’s Jewish roots only when Paula was a teenager. It was a shock.
“My mother was raised by her aunt, and during the war, something happened in my aunt’s mind and she decided she hated Jews,” Paula says. “It made my mother very anti-Semitic too. I think it was a form of protection for them.”
Paula didn’t relate to her mother’s revelation at first, but a few years ago, after a visit to the Krakow JCC she decided to explore what this all meant and she started taking Hebrew lessons. “I wanted to meet other Jews too,” she says, “but I was shy. Then I met Rabbi Avi Baumol in a mall. We started to talk and I told him I wasn’t Jewish, that just my mother and my aunt were. He said, ‘if your mom and your aunt are Jewish, then you are too.’ I’ve been learning more about Judaism every day since then. It’s added an entirely new dimension to my life.”
Grzegorz, 34, found out he was Jewish at the same time as his own mother did – when his grandmother was dying. As grandma shared with her daughter and grandson the story of how their family survived the war, she brought out a beautiful Magen David (Star of David) that had been hidden in the attic along with a small menorah. We have a picture of it here.
Grzegorz was able to locate the official documents demonstrating his family’s history and Jewish connection. With those in hand, he applied to come to Israel on a Taglit-birthright trip in 2005. From there, his life has become infused with Judaism. “I connected first to the Jewish community in Warsaw,” he says. “I became a madrich [counselor] for a Polish Jewish summer camp. Then I did my master’s thesis on ‘Discovering Jewish Roots and its Influence on Identity.’” He is now writing a new paper on the kibbutz movement.
Nowadays, Grzegorz lives in Slupsk, which is 200 kilometers from the nearest Jewish community in Gdansk. Even so, he doesn’t hide his identity. “I wear a Magen David on a pendant around my neck at all times,” he says. “I’ve never experienced any anti-Semitism. I’m looking now for new opportunities for developing my Jewish awareness.” That might even include living in Israel someday, he adds. His participation in Shavei Israel’s summer seminar is his third trip to the country.
Sandra is also on her third trip to Israel, and has made study of Judaism the focus of her education. She is currently studying for a double degree in law and “the history and culture of the Jews” at the University of Warsaw. For Paula, this is her second trip to Israel with Shavei.
As the twenty young Polish Jews emerged from Hezekiah’s Tunnel, their guide shared with them how soldiers from the tribe of Judah used this same tunnel to conquer the city some 3,000 years ago. “Just imagine,” the counselor said, “a group from Poland, a people who almost got lost from Am Israel (the people of Israel), is here now, in the freezing water and darkness, singing Am Israel Chai – the people of Israel lives!”
For Sandra, Paula and Grzegorz, it was more than just a flash of imagination, it was their lives. In Israel, in Poland, truly, the people of Israel endures…and flourishes.
Shavei Israel is proud to be able to help so many young Polish Jews rediscover and reclaim their Jewish roots on their way to building a new Jewish future.
We have some pictures from the seminar below, as well as this video.
