BS”D 3 Tamuz 5781 R. Luzzatto then (Mesillas Yesharim par. 3, chap. 2) touches on self-awareness, reminding the reader that Yirmeyahu was aware of the evils of his generation, saying that many were paying no heed to their actions and instead just kept doing whatever they were doing. Impulsiveness, as R. Luzzatto states, leads into wrongdoing. The text can be easily applied to the present day. I find that resisting against impulsiveness in the current world is much harder than – say – twenty years ago. The temptation to write and send text, to buy without thinking, is much greater than before the advent of instant communication. Messages are written and sent immediately without thought. They do not take hours to write – compared to a letter…
Plaques dedicated to the victims of the forced labour camps of Julag II and Baudienst were unveiled on the last 11 June at midday, on ul. Podmiłów and on the corner of Bieżanowska and Młodzieży in Kraków-Prokocim. Present at the ceremony were: Counsellor Tal Ben-Ari Yaalon, Chargé d’affaires, a.i., of the Embassy of Israel in Poland; the Chairman of the Council of the City of Kraków, Dominik Jaśkowiec; the substitute of the President of the City of Kraków, Bogusław Kośmider, the Chairman of the Council of the 12th district of Kraków, Zbigniew Kożuch; the Director of the Institute of National Remembrance (INR) in Kraków, Cecylia Radoń; the Director of the Galicia Jewish Museum, Jakub Nowakowski as well as counsellors of the City and of the 12th district,…
BS”D 3 Tamuz 5781 Shavua tov! Friday as usual we had our shabbat dinner. During prayers the synagogue was visited by many pious people and was filled with the joyous sound of prayers. Jews are welcome in the synagogue, whatever their minhag and we do not impose a single one on everyone. The Jewish Religious Community of Kraków, the beating heart of the Community and its true centre, has been helping Jews through the darkest times in the past decades. The dedication of those who work in silence in the Community, away from quick fame and gratification, is commendable. Their rewards in the world to come are immeasurable. After prayers we had our meal, in which, as every Saturday, English speakers, Polish speakers, Yiddish speakers – and…
BS”D 3 Tamuz 5781 We are now publishing a chapter by chapter summary of Majer Bałaban’s Historia Żydow w Krakowie i na Kazimierzu 1304-1868 (Kraków, “Nadzieja”, 1931) – History of the Jews in Kraków and in Kazimierz – which will be able to be found under the category “Bałaban” and “History”. We express our hopes that it might be useful. This is chapter one, tome one, pages three to fifteen, titled “Oldest News about the Jews in Kraków” The Jewish community in Krakow is, according to the author, not the oldest in Poland. Jews came to what is now Poland both from the West and the East, those in Krakow settling mostly from the West. Jews, however, were in Poland since the end of the 11th century.…