The Krakow Jewish Community Center last month hosted the largest Shabbat dinner in the city since World War II. Some 500 people – including local Polish Jews, tourists and non-Jewish volunteers – made Kiddush, said the motzei before breaking bread together, and sang Shabbat zemirot...
As her group sloshed through the waters of Hezekiah’s Tunnel, 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...
Earlier this year, on a bright and sunny Jerusalem day, a young boy and his family celebrated a rousing – if somewhat belated – victory over the Spanish Inquisition and its henchmen. Shavei Israel Chairman Michael Freund tells the story of Baruch Israel's bar mitzvah...
Shortly before 6 a.m, Benji Tungnung is rushing to make it in time for Slichot services. In the days leading up to the start of the Jewish New Year, scenes similar to the one above play out in cities throughout the country. But for Tungnung,...
When Miriam and Rabbi Dawid Szychowski agreed to move back to Poland, where Dawid was hired to take on the job of Shavei Israel’s newest emissary to Lodz, Miriam had one major concern: where would her three young children go to school? Miriam’s answer: she...
Shavei Israel has published two new books just in time for the Jewish High Holy Days. The first is a much-requested booklet of Selichot, the penitential poems and prayers traditionally recited in the days leading up to Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. It's in the...
Shavei Israel has once again been awarded a grant from the Natan Fund, a community of young philanthropists based in New York City, dedicated to promoting Jewish and Israeli social innovation. Founded in 2002, the Natan Fund has provided more than $10.8 million in grants...
Shavei Israel’s director of marketing Laura Ben-David gave a presentation at last week’s Limmud Jerusalem conference. It was the first time Shavei Israel has participated in Limmud, which has for thirty years run Jewish conferences around the world. Ben-David’s presentation was entitled “One nation, many...
Newsweek magazine has an in-depth feature this week on Shavei Israel's activities in Lodz, Poland. Writer Stav Ziv spoke with Miriam Szychowska, who will be the ganenet (teacher) for Gan Miriam, the city's first Jewish kindergarten in decades. The article also discusses the overall Jewish...
Shavei Israel, in partnership with the Lodz Jewish community, is opening the first Jewish kindergarten in decades in the this Polish city, some 70 years after the Germans liquidated the Lodz Ghetto and sent its remaining Jews to Auschwitz. The new kindergarten, Gan Matanel, represents...
