Working Together to Renew Judaism in Poland
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Our religious education programs are designed to serve a large number of children from interfaith homes. We work diligently to create an atmosphere that the children enjoy. The friendships they form and the dynamic projects that are offered encourage the children to return.
Music is the heart and soul of our outreach. Having music at worship is key to the prayer experience. Poles regard music, both performance and participatory, as indispensible to communal life. Shir Aviv Choir performs a unique and compelling combination of pre-World War II synagogue music and contemporary Israeli songs all over Poland.
We are training a new generation. The talented graduates are already bringing prayer, music, and a sense of Shabbat and holiday celebrations to Poland’s newly forming Jewish communities. Our lay cantors are able to focus on music that accompanies “life cycle” events, the Passover Seder melodies, Hallel, and some key High Holiday music.
In Poland, because there has always been great incentive for Jews to assimilate or leave, people have only the sketchiest sense of Jewishness, Judaism and being Jewish. Many people are tentative about their connection to Jews and Judaism. Beit Polska and Beit Warszawa offer an open and welcoming spirit to all who seek to connect to Judaism and the Jewish People. We are working enthusiastically to re-build a revived Jewish community in Poland.
The flagship congregation, Beit Warszawa, in Poland’s capital Warsaw, draws large crowds for Friday evening and Saturday morning prayer and holiday celebrations. Established in 1995, Beit Warszawa offers study, Sunday school, religious school, and delicious Shabbat meals.
Beit Polska is most pleased to announce the publication of a historic prayer book for the Union of Progressive Congregations in Poland – Sidur Beit Polin: Modlitewnik na Dni Powszednie, Szabaty i Swieta. This prayer book is the first Polish Progressive prayer book since before World War II. Sidur Beit Polin; a new prayer book, a new moment for jewish rebirth and development.
Creating new Jewish life in Poland requires many educational strands, which, when woven together create a tapestry of Progressive Judaism. Most significant in our panoply of educational outreach programs is Step By Step, an introduction to Judaism’s holidays, customs and traditions. For many newcomers, it provides the gateway to community membership.
Four of our prayer leaders have taken their Judaism on journeys to rabbinic and cantorial schools. Rabbi Mati Kirschenbaum was ordained in July 2020 from the Leo Baeck College in London. Cantor Ana Silverman completed her cantorial ordination at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York in 2019.
Menachem Mirski completed his Ph.d. in Philosophy from Maria Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin, and rabbinic ordination from the Ziegler Rabbinic School 2023.
Rabbi Gosia Korodowicz ordained at the Jewish Theological School in 2017.
Anna Rivera continues to record and perform in Warsaw.
Rivka (Iza) Foremniak studying for a masters in Jewish studies at Jaegelonian UniversityMiriam Klimowa completed her B.A. and M.A. in Hebrew philology and now, graduated from Hebrew Union College and was ordained in the fall of 2023.
Strategic Ideas for Building a Progressive Jewish Movement in Poland
Working Together to Renew Judaism in Poland
