BS”D 8 Ijar 5781 An image is said to be more than a thousand words and I am proposing here a short series on the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising by a well-known English presenter, Mark Felton: part 1: https://youtu.be/NILGN8Zu4YY part 2: https://youtu.be/DyCuW-wChrw Part 3: https://youtu.be/15kettj4BxU Hashem willing, we’ll meet on Friday! 🙂 Layout and text: Dr. D. Cohen
BS”D 7 Ijar 5781 On 19 April 1943 at 6 AM the Germans went into the Warsaw Ghetto and were met with “strong and planned counterfire from Jews and bandits. The tank and armoured cars that were involved in the operation were attacked with Molotov cocktails. The tank was set on fire twice. This attack from the enemy caused the initial retreat of the units involved in the operation” – such was the report of the SS and police commander of the Warsaw district, who would then become the executioner of the Warsaw ghetto, Jürgen Stroop. So began the uprising of the Warsaw ghetto, that is, the heroic reation of people who were sentenced to death just because that they were born. On the pictures, starting from…
BS”D 6 Iyar 5781 Renata Zisman, of blessed memory, of the Springut family, was born on 18 April 1921 (10 Nisan 5681) in Zablocie. She was a pianist and a teacher. She graduated from the Public Higher Musical School in Krakow as well as from Wroclaw. She spent the war in the ghetto in Krakow and in the camps in Plaszow, Auschwitz-Birkenau, Ravensbrück and Neustadt-Glewe until the liberation. After the war, she taught classes in piano and conducting in the Witold Rowicki First Degree Public Music School in Zywiec, as well as being the school’s director. She then taught the piano in the Wladyslaw Zelenski Public Middle Music School in Krakow. She retired in 1995. She was awarded the Gold Cross for Service, the Auschwitz Cross, and…
In the 15th. of April edition of the TVP program “Kroniki”, the President of the Jewish Religious Community in Kraków, Tadeusz Jakubowicz, touched on a project titled “KL Plaszow. Historia, która łączy” (“The Concentration Camp of Plaszow, History that Unites). The interview, which we encourage our readers to hear, can be found on krakow.tvp.pl/53321741/15042021-1830 trans. D. Cohen
BS”D 5 Iyar 5781 Today we continue with Mesillas Yesharim and we are on paragraph 8 of Chapter One, “Man’s Duty in the World.” R. Luzzatto states that the world was created to serve mankind. Yet, he observes, the world itself stands in the balance. If a person is drawn towards this world, forgetting about the world to come, and distances himself from his creator, then he will be corrupted and will corrupt the world with him. The author then says that, nonetheless, if man can rule over himself and use this world to serve the Creator, he will be elevated and the world will be elevated with him. This is described in some sciences as a feedback loop or a vicious circle. As an example, a…
BS”D 4 Iyar 5781 We continue looking at Rabbi Luzzatto’s text (Mesillas Yesharim, now at paragraph six in chapter one). Rabbi Luzzatto states that everything, for good or bad, is a test. If one finds oneself in a bad situation one can misuse the name of Hashem. If one finds oneself in a very good situation one can think one is satiated and does not need to follow the mitzvot. The author compares this to fighting a war on two fronts. It is true that someone in dire need may pray fervently or wonder why his prayers are not fulfilled and it is also true that, once one’s wishes are fulfilled, one may pray less fervently and forgive to give thanks for what one has. It is…
BS”D 3 Iyar 5781 Today we look at Mussar, specifically at Chapter One of Mesillas Yesharim. The author, R. Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, of blessed memory, begins by stating that the foundation of devotion is to clarify and verify one’s duty in the world and that one should make an effort to achieve that in all of one’s labours through one’s lifetime. It is important to note here that R. Luzzatto does not give an endpoint to this. One must strive to know better what is one’s duty in the world but not rest once enough is achieved. The search for one’s duty is constant and does not end. How does one know better and know one’s duty? By studying and learning. This, however, should not be limited…
BS”D 2 Iyar Today we celebrate the Independence of Israel, on the Fifth of Iyar 5708, when the dominion of the Jewish people was returned to part of the promised Land of Israel. After many long years during which the Land lay forsaken in a state of ruin and destruction, during which we, her children, were dispersed in bitter exiles, where we were enslaved, humiliated and persecuted, Jewish sovereignty was re-established in the Land of Israel. Three thousand, seven hundred and six years after God, the endower of all lands, had promised Avraham, at the covenant drawn between them, that To your seed I have given this land, from the River of Egypt to the Great River the Euphrates (Bereshis 15:18), Avraham’s children were able to once…
We invite you to take part in a series of online events accompanying the commemoration of the 78th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. From the 19th to the 26th of April we will present you online: a play a lecture a concert a recital dedicated to ghetto themes. Broadcasts – on Facebook and the TSKŻ Youtube channel. The events are organized by: TSKŻ Kraków TSKŻ Warsaw TSKŻ Częstochowa
“WE REMEMBER – Theatres on the 78th Anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising” – is a nationwide theatre initiative by Gołda Tencer, director of the Esther Rachel and Ida Kamińska Jewish Theatre. Warsaw Ghetto Poetry on the 78th Anniversary of the Uprising Over 30 theatres from the whole country have responded to Gołda Tencer’s appeal for a joint commemoration of the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising by sending the Jewish Theatre their actors’ recorded interpretations of Holocaust poetry – including poems from Children of the Ghetto, by Stefania Ney (Grodzienska). The recordings will be posted on the social media profiles of participating theatres on the anniversary of the uprising and the Jewish Theatre will broadcast footage from all the theatres throughout the week starting on 19…