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Adam Borowski

A meeting with the Chief Rabbi of Poland

I had an opportunity to take part in a meeting with the Chief Rabbi of Poland – Michael Schudrich. A NYC native, he has been the Chief Rabbi of Poland for twenty years now. His Polish is excellent. The meeting took place at a local cultural center on the edge of Warsaw, not far from where I live, so I thought, ”Let’s go and check it out.” I was also hoping for some controversial questions from the audience to spice things up in the spirit of courteous but candid debate, maybe even an argument or two. I don’t need to tell you there are many contentious issues to pick from.

Well, if you think there was controversy, or other surprises, sorry to disappoint. The meeting – a Q&A session themed, ”A hundred questions for the Rabbi” – was peaceful. There was no security, no tense moments, nothing nefarious some of you might imagine going on. Compared to all the developments in Israel, Poland (for now, anyway) is a boring place. You live in a dramatically different geopolitical reality that feels like a parallel, inexplicable, universe to most Poles. But again, it all could change, depending on what Russia does next.

The average age of the participants? 70+. Around thirty of them. Young Poles, overwhelmingly, aren’t interested in the intricacies of the Jewish culture that much, but, as I wrote in one of my earlier blog posts, there’s a revival of interest in the Jewish culture. Still, given all the geopolitical developments in the Middle East, some Poles aren’t that keen on the Jewish culture at the moment. But many Poles understand that Israelis must do what they must do and Iran certainly deserves a harsh lesson. Besides, there are quite a few Polish citizens living in Israel, some, let’s say, with interesting biographies, and I’ll leave it at that.

One man asked the Rabbi to name five things that make a person Jewish. To my surprise, the Rabbi didn’t mention the fact that a mother must be Jewish (one of the most widely known facts), and his answer was rather long-winded, but interesting nonetheless.

Well, I did take a calendar describing all sorts of facts about Hebrew, Yiddish and the Jewish culture with me – all that with a flavor of local history, showing the Jewish presence in my area of Warsaw. And, as you likely know, Warsaw had a major Jewish presence before World War 2. And when I write major, I mean just that. Many of the Warsaw Jews were poor, just small business owners trying to make ends meet. The remnants of their presence are still here, often forgotten and abandoned by the world in a hurry, like the hospital for the mentally ill Jews near Warsaw, now basically a ruin people use for paintball and ghost hunting.

Overall, the Chief Rabbi of Poland has a lot of work on his hands and a lot of questions to answer from a bunch of curious Poles who know about our shared history of a thousand years, and all the tragedies, but often don’t know much more beyond that and, to many, Israel is just another tourist destination with nice beaches and good food.

About the Author
Adam Borowski is a technical Polish-English translator with a background in international relations and a keen interest in understanding how regime propaganda brainwashes people so effectively. He's working on a novel the plot of which is set across multiple realities. In the novel, he explores the themes of God, identity, regimes, parallel universes, genocide and brainwashing. His Kyiv Post articles covering a wide range of issues can be found at https://www.kyivpost.com/authors/27
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