Beit Warszawa   
Parashat Noah
6 of Cheshvan, 5770 October 23-24, 2009

This week we study Parashat Noah (Genesis 6:9 -11:32). The first thing we notice is that Noah is named "ease, relief." That is an incredible irony! The French medieval rabbi, Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki) interprets the name y'nchamenu as meaning, yani'ach mimenu – "he will bring us ease," rather than "he will comfort us." What is that "ease"? The Jewish midrashic  tradition suggested that Noah's contribution to "ease" was his family's invention of the farming tool: the plough. The "ease" that Noah supposedly brings is a technical advance. Indeed, there is great comforts in our technical advances but is there comfort?
In many other cases in the Torah, the name and its explanation prove to foretell the direction of life accurately but not in Noah's case.
Instead of "ease" or "relief" Noah's life is marked by the apocalypse. Through   contemplating deep loss and anguish we recognize Noah as the troubled survivor. He saw the whole world destroyed and he alone – with his family survived! His refuge is in a postdiluvian encounter with intoxication. Who can blame him?
 In my generation, the Yiddish expression, Der mensch tracht, und Gott lacht (Man plans, God laughs or Humans propose and God disposes) was often on the lips of our (survivor) parents. This was an expression of resignation and despair on their part. A parallel despair is expressed by God in the Torah.
The Torah describes God's inner world:
God saw how great was the human's evil on earth and how every thought devised in his/her heart was sheer evil all day long. And God regretted that making the human on earth, and God was "saddened" to God's heart. (Genesis 6:5-8)
From a theological perspective this version of God is quite astonishing. God is depicted as changing his mind about humans. The idea of omnipotence and omniscience gives way as the joy of creation is lost. Our midrash in last week's "creation narrative"  we recall God "created worlds and destroyed them – God said, This one pleases Me – those others did not please Me." In this context perhaps the world from Adam to Noah is just another attempt. That "Creation" was a lab experiment that did not succeed. The slide to tohu va-vohu - primal chaos - is just God trying to get it right. But here God's sadness seems most surprising. But why?  After all, God should know that many experiments fail.
The secret of God's sadness is revealed only after the disaster. In a sense the world of survivor – our parents and grandparents – is only now becoming clear to us.
God achieves a reconciliation with Noah's post-flood world by accepting that frailty of the human kind. God contracts and accepts human frailty. The idea of God's "contraction" is called in the Jewish mystical tradition: zimzum. After the flood God promises never again to bring such disaster. God accepts that human freedom can only develop if God accepts the consequences. Aviva Gottlieb Zornberg suggest that: "God renounces playing God!"
Noah and his family receive a renewed commitment on which they re-build their lives. They become more aware of their responsibility to protect the image of God in themselves. (They are given the commandment against murder.) Eventually they over throw their fixation on death. In Mishnah Avot we read:
Beloved is the human being, since he/she was created in God's image. Extraordinary is this love when it is made known to him that he/she was created in God's image, as it is said: "In the image of God did God make the human." (Genesis 9:6) 
Noah witnessed the destruction of the creation but is conscious that he was created in the image of God. Paradoxically, Noah knows – as we learn – that in facing loss we become aware of the "extraordinary love" that emerges as comfort to us.

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Beit Warszawa         
Parsza Noah
6 Cheszvan, 5770 23-24 października 2009
 
W tym czytamy Parszę Noe (Księga Rodzaju 6:9 -11:32). Pierwszą rzeczą, jaka zwraca naszą uwagę, jest fakt, że Noe znaczy „ulga, ukojenie”. Cóż za ironia! Raszi (Rabin Szlomo Yichaki), francuski średniowieczny rabin, interpretuje to imię, jako y'nchamen, oznaczające, yani'ach mimenu – "przyniesie nam ukojenie," a nie "pocieszy nas." Czym jest owo ukojenie? Żydowska tradycja midraszy sugeruje, że Noah przyniósł “ulgę” poprzez wynalezienie, przez jego rodzinę, narzędzia rolniczego: pługu. W tym kontekście ulga, jaką Noe przynosi, to postęp techniczny. Czy jednak o to tutaj chodzi?
W wielu przypadkach, w Torze, imię i jego znaczenie, zapowiadają kierunek czyjegoś życia. Nie dzieje się tak w przypadku Noego
Zamiast “ukojenia” i “ulgi”, życie Noego naznaczone jest apokalipsą., poznajemy Noego poprzez przeżycie straty i udręki, jako umartwionego ocaleńca. Widział jak cały świat ulega zagładzie i on jedyny, wraz z rodziną, przeżył! Po potopie uciekł w uzależnienie. Któż może go za to winić?
W moim pokoleniu często słyszano powiedzenie jidysz, wypowiadane przez rodziców, którzy przeżyli Holokaust: Der mensch tracht, und Gott lacht (Człowiek planuje, Bóg się śmieje, lub człowiek proponuje, Bóg decyduje). Wyraża ono rezygnację i rozpacz. Porównywalna rozpacz jest wyrażana przez Boga w Torze.
Tora tak opisuje Boskie odczucia:
Kiedy zaś Pan widział, że wielka jest niegodziwość ludzi na ziemi i że usposobienie ich wciąż jest złe, żałował, że stworzył ludzi na ziemi, i zasmucił się. Wreszcie Pan rzekł: 'Zgładzę ludzi, których stworzyłem, z powierzchni ziemi: ludzi, bydło, zwierzęta pełzające i ptaki powietrzne, bo żal mi, że ich stworzyłem. (Księga Rodzaju 6:5-8)
Z perspektywy teologicznej, taki obraz Boga jest bardzo zaskakujący. Pokazuje on, że On zmienia zdanie co do stworzenia człowieka. Idea omnipotencji i wszechwiedzy znika, wraz z utratą radości ze stworzenia. W ostatnich tygodniach “opowieści o stworzeniu” pamiętamy Boga, który “tworzył i niszczył światy – Bóg powiedział, ten świat Mnie cieszy – inne nie cieszyły Mnie.” W tym kontekście, świat od Adama do Noego jest po prostu kolejną próbą, laboratoryjnym eksperymentem, który się nie udał. Powrotem do tohu va-vohu – pierwotnego chaosu – Bóg próbuje naprawić swoje dzieło. Dlatego smutek Boga jest tak zaskakujący. Dlaczego smutek? Przecież Bóg powinien wiedzieć, że wiele eksperymentów nie udaje się.
Sekret Boskiego smutku jest nam wyjaśniany dopiero po tragedii. Tak jak świat, tych, którzy przeżyli – naszych rodziców i dziadków – dopiero teraz staje się dla nas zrozumiały.
Bóg godzi się z po powodziowym światem Noego, poprzez akceptację frailty ludzkości, którą przyjmuje i akceptuje. Idea Boskiej "wycofania się, skurczenia" nazywana jest w żydowskiej tradycji: zimzum. Po powodzi Bóg obiecuje, że nigdy więcej, nie sprowadzi na świat takiej zagłady. Bóg zgadza się, że ludzka wolność może rozwijać się tylko, w przypadku, gdy Bóg zaakceptuje jej konsekwencje. Aviva Gottlieb Zornberg sugeruje, że: "Bóg wyrzeka się zabawy w Boga!"
Noe i jego rodzina otrzymali odnowione przyrzeczenie, na którym odbudowali swoje życie. Stali się bardziej świadomi swojej odpowiedzialności, aby chronić swój wewnętrzny obraz Boga. (Otrzymują przykazanie o zakazie morderstwa.) W końcu pokonują swoją obsesję na temat śmierci. W Mishnie Avot czytamy:
Umiłowany jest człowiek, albowiem on/ona stworzeni zostali na obraz i podobieństwo Boga. Wyjątkowa jest ta miłość, albowiem wie człowiek, że on/ona, zostali stworzeni na obraz i podobieństwo Boga, jak powiedziano: „Na podobieństwo Swoje, stworzył Bóg człowieka.” (Genesis 9:6) 
Noe był świadkiem zniszczenia Stworzenia, ale świadomym faktu, że powstał na podobieństwo Boga. Paradoksalnie Noe wie, jak czytamy, że doświadczając straty, stajemy się świadomi „wyjątkowej miłości”, jaka pojawia się aby nas ukoić. 
Specjalne podziękowania dla Avivy Gottlieb Zornberg i jej wspaniałej i eleganckiej książki Głęboki Pomruk: Refleksje nad Biblijną Nieświadomością.
--
Rabbi Haim Dov Beliak
 
Special thanks and acknowledgement to Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg and her marvelously learned and elegant book The Murmuring Deep: Reflections on the Biblical Unconscious.

Beit Warszawa   
Parashat Lech Lecha
13th of Cheshvan, 5770 October 30 - 31, 2009
An often overlooked segment of this week's Torah portion is the struggle between two women, Hagar and Sarah.  Our exploration will focus on hearing the voices of these two women and also on the other two actors God (YHVH) and Abraham.
Tradition has tended to focus on Abraham but perhaps we need to ask about these two women. Sarah is married to Abraham. Together they journey to the Promised Land but famine soon forces them to go to Egypt. While in Egypt, Sarah's beauty attracts attention and she is taken to Pharoah's palace.  When Pharaoh discovers the truth that Sarah is not Abraham's sister but his wife he sends Abraham away. It must be assumed that Hagar is among the people that join Abraham and Sarah's retinue at this time. One Midrash, suggests that Hagar is a daughter of Pharaoh and perhaps of royal status.
We do not hear from Sarah (or Hagar) until the two women are moving toward a collision. Sarah finally speaks in Genesis Chapter 16:2 when say: "Look, the YHVH has kept me from giving birth. Please go into my maid servant and perhaps I will have a child through her." Abraham listens to Sarah.
Abraham doesn't protest and in fact, he seems eager to finally have a child after ten years of promised-filled living in Canaan. The Promised Land, the Blessings, means little if there is no one who will inherit the blessing and the land. We wonder what Sarah was feeling in the first place, but more poignantly when she left the couple and walked back to her quarters alone. Sarah's moment of heartfelt unselfishness is later filled with anguish.
At this moment, we hear for the second time Sarah's voice, again to her husband: "The wrong done me is your fault. I myself put my maid servant in your bosom; now that she is pregnant, I am lowered in her esteem." (16:5)   
When Hagar conceives she thinks less of her mistress, Sarah. Later we have Hagar's words but first, only Abraham's actions. Did he think this was God's plan for providing an heir? What about the actions of Hagar who flees into the desert?
Hagar merits being the first women in the Bible to receive a direct divine communication (Genesis 16:7). The angel of the YHVH tells Hagar to submit to the harsh treatment of her mistress since a Divine blessing will be issued to Hagar (16:10-12) "I will greatly increase your offspring, and they shall be too many to count. The angel of the YHVH said to her further, Behold you are with child and shall bear a son; you shall call him Ishmael, for YHVH has paid heed to your suffering."
Hagar's words reflect a personal spiritual awakening, a key insight. But it is not just personal, since her experience of God also foreshadows the central moral experience of the entire Torah: God's concern for the downtrodden.
After the blessing Hagar, the Egyptian, describes her experience of God: You are El-roi." Hagar named her experience of God as "God of seeing" or alternatively, "God who sees me." It is in the Hagar's life that we are taught what God will enact for the entire Jewish people!  God's expression of concern for the afflicted will shape God's standing throughout history. Simply and perhaps, too baldly put: God is not on the side of rich or powerful -- in this instance, that is Abraham and Sarah – but on the side of the exploited. Needless to say, Sarah and Abraham are not given "diplomatic immunity" by their status as founders of Judaism. Their spiritual and human transformations are yet to happen. They are flawed individuals in a flawed marriage. The Bible read without its later "saintly" patina does not cover over Sarah's abuse, Abraham disloyalty, and their many flaws.

 Thanks to Charlotte Gordon's The Woman Who Named God: Abraham's Dilemma and the Birth of the Three Faith; Rabbi David Lieber's Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary; Adele Reinhartz and Miriam-Simma Walfish's "Conflict and Coexistence in Jewish Interpretation" in Hagar, Sarah, and Their Children edited by Phyllis Trible and Letty M. Russell; What's Bothering Rashi? A Guide to In-Depth Analysis of his Torah Commentary by Avigdor Bonchek; The Murmuring Deep: Reflections on the Biblical Unconscious by Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg; and Our Fahers' Wells by Peter Pitzelle.

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Beit Warszawa              

Parsza Lech Lecha

13 Cheszvan, 5770; 30 – 31 października, 2009

We fragmencie Tory, który czytamy w tym tygodniu, często pomija się motyw konfliktu pomiędzy dwoma kobietami, Hagar i Sarą. Podczas naszego studiowania, wsłuchamy się w ich głosy, a także przyjrzymy się dwóm pozostałym postaciom tej historii, Bogu(YHVH) i Abrahamowi.

Tradycyjnie, skupiamy się na Abrahamie, ale warto zastanowić się nad postaciami kobiet. Sara jest żoną Abrahama. Wspólnie podróżują do Ziemi Obiecanej, lecz głód zmusza ich do osiedlenia się w Egipcie. Uroda Sary przyciąga uwagę i zostaje ona zabrana do pałacu Faraona. Gdy ten odkrywa prawdę, że Sara nie jest siostrą, lecz żoną Abrahama, odsyła ich. Należy założyć, że Hagar jest w orszaku, który towarzyszy Abrahamowi i Sarze. Jeden, z Midraszy sugeruje, że Hagar jest córką Faraona, z królewskim pochodzeniem.

Nie mówi się nic o Sarze (ani o Hagar) do momentu, gdy dwie kobiety wchodzą w konflikt. Sara przemawia w końcu, w Księdze Rodzaju, w rozdziale 16:2, kiedy mówi: „Rzekła, więc Sara do Abrahama:, „Ponieważ Pan zamknął mi łono, abym nie rodziła, zbliż się do mojej niewolnicy; może z niej będę miała dzieci". Abraham usłuchał rady Sary.”

Abraham nie sprzeciwia się, wydaje się niecierpliwie czekać na potomka, po latach życia w Kanaanie, wypełnionych obietnicami. Ziemia Obiecana, Błogosławieństwo, nie znaczą zbyt wiele, jeżeli nie będzie nikogo, kto mógłby je odziedziczyć. Zastanawiamy się, co w tym momencie czuje Sara, ale bardziej jeszcze wzruszający jest moment, kiedy zostawia parę i sama odchodzi do swoich pokoi. Chwila, gdy z głębi serca Sara wydobywa tyle altruizmu, wypełnia się później udręką.

Wtedy po raz drugi słyszymy głos Sary, która mówi do swojego męża: "Przez ciebie doznaję zniewagi; ja sama dałam ci moją niewolnicę za żonę, ona zaś czując się brzemienną, lekceważy mnie.” (16:5)

Kiedy Hagar poczęła, zaczęła ignorować swoją panią. Później usłyszymy jej głos, ale najpierw czytamy tylko o czynach Abrahama. Czy myślał on, że taki był plan Boży, aby zapewnić mu dziedzica? Co natomiast z czynem Hagar, która ucieka na pustynię?

Hagar jest pierwszą kobietą w Torze, która bezpośrednio komunikuje się z boskością (Księga Rodzaju 16:7). Anioł YHVH mówi Hagar, aby poddała się surowemu traktowaniu swojej pani, albowiem dane jej będzie Boskie błogosławieństwo (16:10-12): „Po czym Anioł Pański oznajmił: "Rozmnożę twoje potomstwo tak bardzo, że nie będzie można go policzyć". I mówił: "Jesteś brzemienna i urodzisz syna, któremu dasz imię Iszmael, bo słyszał Pan, gdy byłaś upokorzona.”

Odpowiedź Hagar odzwierciedla osobiste i duchowe przebudzenie, jest pełna zrozumienia. Ale nie jest to tylko wyrażanie osobistego przeżycia, skoro jej odczuwanie Boga, zwiastuje główne doświadczenie moralne w całej Torze: Boską troskę o uciskanych.

Po otrzymaniu błogosławieństwa, Hagar, Egipcjanka, opisuje swoje pojmowanie Boga: "Tyś Bóg widzialny" (El-roi)." Opisała Boga, jako “Boga widzących” lub “Boga, który mnie widzi.” To w życiu Hagar widzimy, co Bóg ostanowił o narodzie żydowskim! Boska troska o cierpiących, ukształtuje Jego postawę w całej historii. Mówiąc prosto i bez ogródek: Bóg nie stoi po stronie bogatych i potężnych, w tym wypadku, są nimi Abraham i Sara, ale po stronie wykorzystywanych. Oczywistym jest, że Abraham i Sara nie mają „immunitetu dyplomatycznego” w związku ze swoim statusem założycieli Judaizmu. Ich duchowa i ludzka przemiana jeszcze się nie dokonała. Mają wady, podobnie jak ich małżeństwo. Nie pokrywa ich jeszcze „święta” patyna, kiedy Sara wykorzystuje nielojalność Abrahama.  

Podziękowania dla Charlotte’y Gordon, autorki Kobieta, która nazwała Boga: Dylemat Abrahama i Narodziny Trzeciej Wiary; Rabina Davida Libera, autora Etz Hayim: Torah i Komentarze; Adele Reinhartz i Miriam-Simma Walfish, autorek "Konflikt i Koegzystencja w Żydowskiej Interpretacji" w Hagar, Sarze, i Ich Dzieciach, pod redakcją Phyllis Trible i Letty M. Russell; Co trapi Rasziego? Przewodnik do głębokiej analizy jego komentarzy do Tory, napisanej przez Avigdora Boncheka; Głęboki Pomruk: Refleksje nad Biblijną Nieświadomością, książki Avivy Gottlieb Zornberg; i Studni Naszych Ojców, Petera Pitzelle’a.

           Rabbi Schuman’s Blog -21 June 2009

It’s been another exciting week at Beit Warszawa, featuring a visit by the noted cantor, musician, composer Mike Stein and his wife Kelly Brown Stein. Cantor Mike had us singing, clapping, toe-tapping and stretching our Jewish musical horizons this past Friday with his “Down Home Shabbat”, a very special “Sermon in Song”. On Shabbat, he joined us for Shacharit morning and later taught us some new, more traditional melodies for Shabbat morning. Our Beit Sefer Alef had its final activity for the season, a farewell picnic at a local park.

This week begins an exciting lead-up to the visit to Poland of several hundred cantors from the Cantors Assembly in North America who will be performing a series of remarkable concerts in Warsaw and in Krakow at the end of June and the beginning of July.  On Tuesday 23 June and Thursday 25 June, Cantor Lam and a few of his colleagues will conduct song workshops to help organize a “pick-up volunteer choir” for the very special service that they will be conducting at Beit Warszawa this Friday, 26 June. Please remember that due to the very high expected turnout, you must make a reservation by tomorrow afternoon, 23 June.

Reach out. Stay in touch. Become a friend, supporter and participant in the “Miracle on Wiertnicza Street.”

Kol Tuv,

Rabbi Burt Schuman

Dear Friends,

Life at Beit Warszawa continues at its usual manic pace. Our Shavuot celebration began with an extraordinary concert of both secular and Jewish art music by violinist Piotr Kwasny and pianist Wojciech Jasinsky. This was followed by a delicious cheesecake reception and the beginning of a multi-session Tikkun L'eyl Shavuot led by myself and Rabbi Katz. More than 40 people attended the earlier sessions and then more than 25 spent the night continuing their studies until it was time for a dawn Shacharit service. We still managed to have a full house for Shabbat services on Friday and Saturday. Earlier that week I had the privilege of participating in a dialogue with Rabbi Michael Schudrich at the Nozyk Synagogue on the differences between Orthodox and Liberal Judaism. Film Night was devoted to a viewing of Ron Howard's "Frost/ Nixon"and Rabbi Katz's Mitzvah Day at the Jewish cemetery in Praga this past Sunday drew a huge crowd and was a stellar success. We look forward to a Bar Mitzvah this Shabbat and glorious day in the country this Sunday for the students and parents of our Beit Sefer Alef. The following Shabbat we will be joined at services by Cantor Michael Stein whose bluegrass-country "Down Home Shabbat" has drawn rave reviews from Jewish audiences around the world. Please reach out to Beit Warszawa with your presence and support. Visit our web page at www.beit.org.pl.

Rarely have I been more proud of our Beit Warszawa family than over the past several days.

Let’s start with last Friday night, and the amazing cantorial Shabbat service and “Sermon in Song” recital led by three great cantors from Los Angeles: Cantor Nathan Lam,Cantor Joseph Gole and Cantor Marcelo Gindlin assisted by two gifted musicians and composers Michael Weiner and Charles Fox. More than 100 persons attended and the atmosphere was absolutely electric. The cantors presented a stunning array and range of Jewish liturgical music; they interacted magnificently with the congregation, and they, and the musicians responded by singing their hearts out. What an evening!

We also had a memorable and very well-attended Tot Shabbat beautifully conceived and coordinated by Natalia Zimnowodzka.

The cantors, along with several Jewish leaders from congregations throughout California, were part of a familiarization tour sponsored by the Polish Foreign Ministry who were represented here that evening by Paulina Kapuczynska, the Polish Consul-General in LosAngeles. The cantors themselves are part of an advanced guard of more than 100 of their colleagues who will be giving a variety of concerts and presentations in Warsaw, Krakow and other cities in late June and early-July. They will be returning to Beit Warszawa on 26 and 27 June and giving major concerts in Warsaw on 28 and 30 June and will perform at the Krakow Festival afterwards. We’ll keep you posted about these events over the next several weeks.

Last Saturday night Beit Warszawa embarked on its coolest, trendiest venture ever, it’s Retro Purim Ball at the extremely hip and trendy Chlodna 25. The ball was the brainchild of our new public information director, Mike Urbaniak, and it was an absolute triumph. Hundreds of people came, decked out in an absolutely dazzling array of 20s and 30s retro costumes, many of them crossing gender lines. My absolute favorites included the young man who was decked out like a dazzlingly elegant Josephine Baker, several women dressed as gangsters, a few Great Gatsby’s and a young man who dressed like a cross between a flapper and my fourth-grade teacher. For those who are curious, I was decked out as my debonair but deadly alter-ego, Rabbi Nosferatu and very much enjoyed staying in character. The Dadaist visuals and the DJ’s music mix were exceptional as we happily danced the night away. Heartfelt congratulations are due to Mike Urbaniak and to our Executive Director Jan Cudak and Office Manager Agnieszka Pozniak for all their hard work behind the scenes.

Lastly, I was equally proud of our equally successful and more traditional celebration of Purim this past Monday. The celebration started with a somewhat surreal and occasionally irreverent Maariv service, which included our falling asleep before an alarm called us to Barchu, “The Call to Worship,” a Carmen Miranda-style Mi Chamocha Conga, a weeping Veahavta and backwards bowing during the Amida and Alenu. It continued with a highly participatory reading of the Book of Esther with some Hebrew but primarily in Polish punctuated by the appropriate calls from the group not only for Haman, but for Ahashuerus, Vashti, Esther and Mordecai as well. Then four members of our community, Kinga Olgay-Stawikowska, Waldek Piekarski, Karolina Bieniewicz, and Ania Chipczynska, gave brief but informative and provocative presentations on Esther, Haman, Mordecai and Ahashuerus. This was of course followed by wine, juice and home-baked Hamantaschen. Many thanks are due to Ania Chipczynska for helping to coordinate the even, Maciej Kobylinski, Bartosz Serdakowski, Piotr Lukacz and Piotr Korzeniewski for helping with service and set-up, Rafal Krzewski who helped with translations and explanations and a whole host of others who helped with clean-up. Once again thanks are due Jan and Agnieszka for their very hard work behind the scenes and to Ella and Krystyna from our kitchen staff whose first efforts at Hamantaschen were an unqualified success. As a` member of our community so aptly said to me, we managed to have fun and engage in some serious learning at the same time.

Throughout these events, Beit Warszawa made several new friends and strengthened our tieswith people from across the Jewish spectrum and across Jewish denominations. We were also able to welcome back several old faces and long-time members to the fold. Pleas be assured that we are committed to being a warm, welcoming and inclusive community that serves a wide variety of interests and needs.

Now we ask your help. Please reach out to us, with ideas, with memberships with financial support. We cannot do this without you.

Kol Tuv,

Rabbi Burt Schuman

Dear Friends,

The crush of events this week forces me to brief, but I promise a more extensive blog next week.

This Shabbat, we are thrilled to be hosting a special cantorial Shabbat service and program with a group of visiting cantors from Los Angeles, headed by Cantor Nathan Lam. In addition, we will be welcoming several distinguished lay leaders including members of Stephen S. Wise Temple in Los Angeles and leaders of AIPAC sponsored by both the Polish and Israeli foreign ministries.

We look forward to this evening with great anticipation. Please consult our web page and Facebook for more information. In addition, mark your calendars for an unforgettable series of concerts and lectures sponsored by Cantor Lam and the Cantors Assembly in Warsaw and Krakow in late June and early July.

One of the key themes of this week’s Torah portion is Hiddur Mitzvah, the beautification of Mitzvah. I can think of no finer example of Hiddur Mitzvah and great chazzanut.Tomorrow evening, Beit Warszawa is sponsoring a memorable Purim ball with a retro 1920s and 1930s theme. This very stylish and trendy event will be held at Chlodna 25.The cost is 20 zl. with a costume and 4O zl. without. As they say in the US, “Be there or be square.” Our celebration continues this Monday evening at 18:00 with a Purim, a reading and discussion of the Book of Esther and Hamantaschen.

This Wednesday at 19:30, we are looking forward to a presentation by former Foreign and Finance Minister Dr. Andrzej Olechowski on the current economic crisis and the political situation in Europe today.

We at Beit Warszawa are encouraged by the growth of participation in all our events and the breadth of programming, religious, educational, social and cultural, that we are able to provide. Come and experience the “Miracle on Wiertnicza Street.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Burt Schuman

Dear Friends,

It has been an interesting week for me personally, for Beit Warszawa and for the world at large.

Let me start with the most significant world news item of the previous week—the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States. I had the honor of being invited to the residence outgoing U.S, Ambassador Victor Ashe, for light refreshment and a live viewing of the inauguration ceremony on a mammoth-sized television screen.Everything about the ceremony was thrilling, from the huge crowds, their spirit and their diversity to the sight of strangers becoming friends before your very eyes across racial, religious and cultural lines, to the ritual of the peaceful transition of power from one administration to another and one party to another, to the time-honored rituals and symbols of the inauguration, to the rich and varied music, to the handsome, elegant and dignified demeanor of the new first family, to the monumental feeling of change that accompanied the recital of the Oath of Office by the first man of African descent ever to assume the American Presidency, something that I never thought possible in my own lifetime. The new President’s inaugural address was powerful, eloquent, direct and at times brutally honest. It was what the country and the world needed to hear at a time when the richest and most powerful nation on Earth is beset with two ongoing wars the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and world-wide threats to our environment and our security. The challenges are daunting but the hope for change and for healing is palpable.

I would also like to express my deepest thanks to Ambassador Victor Ashe for all the gracious hospitality and support that he has extended to me and the members of the Beit Warszawa over the last several years. He has been a great friend to our community, to the Jewish community at large and to Poland.
He will be sorely missed.

This past week proved a lively one for Beit Warszawa as well.
Our interfaith programming continued with a presentation by Father Marek Nowak from the Dominican community on the topic of the “Hebrew Prophets from a Roman Catholic Perspective” and a very lively lecture discussion led this past Friday by Farther Wieslaw Dawidowski, Chaplain of the English speaking Catholic Community in Warsaw on both interfaith and Polish-Jewish dialogue in Israel and ways to combat racism and anti-Semitism among today’s youth. This was followed by a particularly lively Friday night service, which included an excellent D’var Torah by Malgosia Rosen, piano accompaniment by her daughter, Magda Sawicka, a new Appalachian-style Lecha Dodi and an 18th birthday celebration and welcome back for student intern Alachua Haskins who was also joined by her mother visiting from Florida. Shabbat morning services drew 17 people and a very lively discussion based upon our Torah portion on when oppressed people see the possibility of change.

This coming week, we are pleased to be joined by our distinguished scholar-in-residence, Rabbi Aaron Katz, who will preach and teach this coming Shabbat morning, and give a whole series of classes next week. This Friday evening
we will also have Tot Shabbat at 18:00.

Next Shabbat, 6 February, we will have a workshop on Shabbat table ritual and Zemirot (table songs) at 18:00, hold a B’rit Chayim (Covenant of Life) ceremony for Jim and Agnieszka Van Bergh’s new baby daughter, and have three
Members of our Service Leaders’ class read from the Torah scroll during services on Saturday, February 7.

Finally, don’t forget our Israeli Film Night on February 7 and our TU Bishvat Seder on February 8 at 15:00

Good things are happening at Beit Warszawa; come and experience the “Miracle on Wiertnicza Street”

Kol Tuv,
Rabbi Burt Schuman

Dear Friends,

This is the first edition of what I hope will be a weekly sharing of experiences, opinions and ideas with our many readers and friends as we “publicize the miracle” of Beit Warszawa and the rebirth of Progressive Judaism in Poland.