Shabbat Services at Ec Chaim Synagogue

Submitted by Jeremy Nesoff, Judi Bohn and Lisa Lefstein-Berusch

Tonight 15 members of our trip visited Ec Chaim, a synagogue founded by the Center for Progressive Judaism 15 years ago to create a second place of worship for Jews in Warsaw. This morning we heard Barbara Kirshenbaltt-Gimblett, Program Director of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, discuss the museum's mission to show that the story of Jews in Poland didn't end with genocide; the 1000 year history of Jews in Poland continues today. Judi, Lisa and I saw evidence of that in person at Ec Chaim this evening.

We found a welcoming, vibrant and growing Jewish community whose members shared their stories with us. Located on the 4th floor of an office building, there was a beautiful arc and reading table with seats for about 40 people. Rabbis Stas Wojciechowicz and his congregants warmly welcomed us as he began the services. Since the prayer book's phonetic hebrew was in Polish, our group followed along as best we could depending on our level of Hebrew and familiarity with the service.

At Kiddush following the service, we heard individual stories. Rabbi Wojciechowicz told us that he immigrated from Uzbekistan to Israel 20 years ago, has been the Rabbi here for 2 years and is still struggling with his Polish. Their President, Anna, said her story was similar to a number her congregants: she found out later in life that she was Jewish and decided to find out what that meant for her. She shared that although her congregation considers themselves Reform, they have become more traditional as they learn about Judaism together, and indeed the service was almost entirely in Hebrew. Esther, a 23 year old woman told us she found out about her Jewish roots three years ago. When asked why she chose this synagogue, she shared that many of her friends are gay and she wanted to go somewhere they would feel welcome. An older congregant shared that he was child of survivors and was born in Warsaw in 1950 when his parents returned. In 1968 he fled Poland, like most remaining Jews, because of the government's antisemitic campaign. He returned to Poland after falling in love with a Polish Catholic woman he met in Germany.

We were moved to join this Jewish community for shabbat. We could easily choose to focus on the Jewish life that has been lost in Poland. Tonight we experienced how Jewish community life is thriving in Poland.