'Hidden Jews' get their first Polish-language guide to Hannukah
Guide to be circulated during the festivities throughout Poland, and will be handed out for free.
By Haaretz Service Tags: Israel newsThe Shavei Israel organization released on Monday the first Polish-language guide to the holiday of Hannukah geared toward Poles who have only recently discovered their Jewish roots.
Lights for Polish Jewry will be circulated for free during the week of the Jewish holiday throughout Poland.
According to Michael Freund, chairman and founder of the outreach organization,the reason for the sudden publication of the guide is due to the fact that many Poles have of late leared that they are "hidden Jews" and wish to reconnect with the traditions they know little about.
"In recent years, an increasing number of Poles have rediscovered their Jewish ancestry, seeking to reclaim the precious heritage that was so brutally taken from them and their forebears," he said.
"It is our hope that this book will, in some small way, enable a new generation of Polish Jews to celebrate Chanukah with joy, as well as gain a better understanding of our eternal faith, its principles and beliefs," Freund added.
Although there are only 4,000 Jews officially registered in Poland, the organization estimates that there are tens of thousands of others who have concealed their true identity, or are simply unaware of it.
Many people have lost their connection to the Jewish tradition in Europe, and often did even know of their Jewish ancestry due to years of anti-Semitism, communist regimes which denied the Jews from practicing their Judaism. Many older Polish Jews who were brought up by Catholic families during the Holocaust also lost all connection to the religion, and only now have learned the truth of their ancestry.
Shavei Israel was founded by the American-born Freund following his immigration to Israe. His goal is to strengthen ties between Israel and descendants of Jews around the world.
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With all due respect to Michael Freund and his Shavei Israel organization which has done and is doing important work in Poland and elsewhere, this year's Hanukkah guide is by no means the "first" such guide in Polish. Many such guides have been published since the late 1980s by the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, the Warsaw Jewish Community, the Polish Union of Jewish Students [PUSZ] and its successor organization, the All-Polish Jewish Youth Organization [ZOOM}, the Reform congregation Beit Warszawa and, inevitably, by Chabad-Lubavitch of Poland. All the same, Shavei Israel's input is always welcome; we can never have enough teachers! Chag samaeach!
Jews and persons with Jewish roots are alive and kicking in Poland. Synagogues have been renovated, cemeteries taken care of. There are many Jewish festivals and events both in Warsaw and Krakow. There are forums of Polish Jews and their friends, e.g. forumfzp.net or forum.jewish.org.pl - anyone of you is welcome, of course if only you can understand Polish :) . We have contacts with Jewish emmigrants from Poland to Israel and many come and visit Poland. Some polish ministers and politicians had Jewish roots, like Bronislaw Geremek, Adam Rotfeld (MFA), Adam Michnik (editor of largest circulation newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza), Marek Borowski and other. We are still there :)
It looks like you think that only because Poland had many Jews was it able to prosper. Actually, now there are only a few thousand of Jews in Poland and that country is growing the fastest in Europe. I hope not too many people share the way you think. Given the opportunities most of the peoples of the world were able to thrive, with or without Jews ,Poles ,Chinese or others. greetings.
In the late Middle Ages the Polish Royal family encouraged the migration of Jews to Poland. Over the centuries the Jews lived under mild but still somewhat hostile anti-semitism...yet they multiplied and gave a richness to the country. A richness in both monetary and cultural ways. As a result of WWll Poland and a lot of the other Eastern Bloc countries losing their Jewish populations, the economies tanked. Maybe this can be the beginning of a new era in Poland.