Poland Shabbat

Celebrating Shabbat in Poland was incredible. After spending a week learning about the flourishing Jewish life in pre-1940s Poland and the genocide which almost eradicated Judaism from Poland entirely, it was an amazing opportunity to be able to celebrate Shabbat there.  

On Friday night we celebrated with a small congregation in downtown Warsaw. The beauty of this service was in the realization that in our prayer, we were bringing the Judaism back to a place where it was virtually destroyed less than 80 years ago. Another notable aspect of this service is that although the service was in English, Hebrew, and Polish, the melodies we sang were the same. This is a beautiful representation of the connection Jews share from America to Israel to Poland. 

On Saturday morning we held services in a private room Sossier (a restaurant in Warsaw). For me, this tfilah seemed to mean more than just a regular Saturday morning service. It was a group of American, Jewish teenagers saying “we’re still here.” We prayed in Warsaw where our ancestors had prayed for centuries before. It also symbolized an end to our Poland pilgrimage and an opportunity for emotional, if not physical, rest. 

Shabbat in Poland was an experience incomparable to anything else I have ever experienced. Despite tremendous sadness regarding the content of the preceding week, we were able to come together and pray. 

Sidur at Poland Synagogue

1. How did it feel to attend a service that was conducted partly in a language other than Hebrew or English?
2. How did you feel about having service in a restaurant?