The Eternity of Israel

I recently returned from a moving and emotional visit to Krakow, Poland, a city rich in Jewish history as well as tragedy.

Jews have lived in Krakow for over seven centuries, but the Germans nearly succeeded sixty years ago in wiping out any Jewish presence in the area.

Now, after Nazi persecution and Communist oppression, a miraculous rebirth of Judaism is slowly, tentatively taking place there.

As I note in the article below, it is just one more reminder that the Jewish people are eternal and indestructible.

The Jerusalem Post, November 16, 2005

A Tearful Rebirth in Krakow

By Michael Freund

This past Shabbat in Krakow, Poland, Benjamin Klein had every reason to let the tears flow freely.

The scene was the city's famed Rema synagogue, where the great 16th century scholar Rabbi Moses Isserles once presided. The small sanctuary was filled to capacity, as the melodies of Friday evening hymns and supplications filled the room.

Hundreds of religious Israeli high-school girls packed the women's section, overflowing into the hall while dutifully reciting the service. The men's section represented a microcosm of world Jewry, ranging from aging Polish Holocaust survivors to a Bnei Brak rabbi to members of a high-powered AIPAC mission from the United States.

It had been 66 years since Klein had last prayed here when, as a Jewish youth growing up in Poland, he was forced to flee in the face of the Nazi onslaught.

At the time, he no doubt thought he might never see his birthplace again, let alone experience a traditional Shabbat service in the synagogue of his childhood.

Indeed, on the eve of the Holocaust, Krakow was home to some 68,000 Jews, who constituted 25% of the city's population. Kazimierz, the old Jewish quarter, where the Rema synagogue is located, was a bustling center of Jewish religious, cultural and intellectual life.

But the Germans and their allies murdered 90% of Krakow's Jews, striking a nearly fatal blow to the city's centuries-old Jewish presence.

Now, decades later, Klein had come back to visit, having survived war, persecution and calamity. And what he found was simply overwhelming, even for a man with considerable resources of inner strength and fortitude.

In the heart of this blood-soaked land, where Jews had been so ruthlessly hunted down and killed by their former neighbors and friends, the melody of Lecha Dodi ("Let us go and greet the Sabbath bride") was once again being recited in all its power and glory.

And, just three weeks ago, Krakow welcomed Rabbi Avraham Flaks, who was sent by Shavei Israel, the organization that I head, to serve as the city's first official Chief Rabbi since World War Two.

As he took in the scene around him, Klein's eyes began welling up. "Now, I know," he whispered to me, his voice breaking with emotion, "now, I know. We really are an eternal people."

Under the devoted leadership of Polish Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich and Jewish community president Tadeusz Jakubowicz, Krakow Jewry is slowly working to rebuild, renovating synagogues and cemeteries, reclaiming Jewish communal property and trying to reach out to the unaffiliated.

Only 157 people are officially registered as members of the community, but it is widely believed that over 1,000 additional Jews live in Krakow, many of whom have only recently discovered their Jewish roots. After the horrors of the Holocaust, which were followed by decades of communist oppression, many Jews sought to hide their ethnic and religious identity, even from their own offspring.

Now, however, many of these "hidden Jews" have begun to emerge, seeking to reclaim their heritage.

ON FRIDAY evening, I met several of these heroic returnees, three young women who have chosen to defy societal pressure along with deep-seated anti-Semitism in order to embrace Judaism and return to the faith of their forefathers.

It was nearing the end of the Sabbath meal when I went over to their table to introduce myself. Noticing that they were in the middle of saying the Grace After Meals, I sat down quietly and patiently waited for them to finish.

With deep concentration, they carefully recited each sentence, taking well over 10 minutes to complete the relatively short prayer, thanking the Creator for the food and nourishment that He provides. While doing so, they slowly rocked back and forth in their seats, as though their souls were dancing in tandem with the words.

"There were all kinds of hints in my family that we were Jewish, but everyone was afraid to talk about it," said one, whom we'll call Anna. "I have no proof, I have no papers. I always felt a pull to things Jewish, but I never understood why," she said. Until, that is, when she uncovered her family's most carefully-guarded secret.

"Immediately after the war, my great-grandfather changed his family name from a Jewish name to a Polish one. As soon as I discovered that," said Anna, "I knew I had to come back to my roots."

Asked where she sees herself in 10 years‚ time, Anna blushes before letting out a nervous chuckle. "Married, with children," she says, quickly adding, "Jewish children, of course. I want my kids to grow up as proud, halachic Jews."

After getting up from the table, I notice a young bearded man wearing a yarmulke, speaking in Polish with one of the waiters. Later, when I asked Rabbi Schudrich about him, he proceeded to tell me the young man's remarkable story.

As a youth, the boy had a girlfriend. Both were fervently anti-Semitic skinheads, who later married each other. Shortly thereafter, the wife discovered that she had paternal Jewish roots. Her interest in Judaism deepened, and she began making special meals to mark the Sabbath each week. Though shocked, the young man went along because he loved his wife.

But his parents were nonetheless upset, and insisted that he put an end to his wife's burgeoning interest in Judaism. When he confronted them about the intensity of their opposition, his parents broke down and revealed to him that they both, in fact, were Jews, and that for decades, they had sought to hide their identity for fear of the consequences.

Now, several years later, that young couple, who began their married life as anti-Jewish skinheads, are now living as Torah-observant Jews.

ON SHABBAT, as the Torah was being taken from the Ark during the morning service in the synagogue, the voices of the Israeli high-school students rose up in a crescendo, their crisp and clear Israeli-accented Hebrew echoing throughout the small sanctuary, and doubtless beyond to the heavens above.

"To You, O L-rd, is the greatness, the power and the glory..." all those present sang in unison.

I turned to see Benjamin Klein's reaction and to gauge whether he found the moment as moving as I.

When I did, I noticed that the tears in this holy place were once again flowing freely. Only this time, they were my own.

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The writer is Chairman of Shavei Israel (www.shavei.org), a Jerusalem-based group that reaches out and assists “lost Jews” seeking to return to the Jewish people.

They're Killing Jewish Children

It happened just as they said it would.

For months prior to the pullout from Gaza, a range of commentators, analysts and Israeli military sources all predicted that the withdrawal would lead to increased Palestinian terror in Judea and Samaria.

In other words, by running away from Gaza, Israel was laying the groundwork for the Palestinians to target their guns and their resources on “liberating” the next batch of “occupied” territory by killing Jews.

But the left, and the media, and the Prime Minister himself all refused to listen. After all, they know better. And now, as a result, three Jewish children were murdered the other day by Palestinian terrorists in Gush Etzion, south of Jerusalem.

All together, the three victims had lived a total of just 58 years. Matat Adler was 21, her cousin Kinneret Mandel was 23, and Oz Ben-Meir was 14.

If a person were to pass away, G-d forbid, at the age of 58, people would say that he or she had died young. What, then, can one possibly say now?

This attack, like so many others before it, could have and should have been prevented. It was carried out by the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade of Fatah, the primary faction of the PLO.

For the past 12 years, Israel has sought to appease Fatah through concessions, withdrawals and retreats. The result has been nothing but bloodshed. It is time for Israel to halt this farce, and to stop yielding to terror.

It is time for the Jewish state to take action and protect its citizens, and to eliminate the terrorists who prey on innocents.

It is time for Jewish children to stop being slaughtered, once and for all.

The Vote is in...

In local balloting held this past week in several cities in Judea and Samaria, the Palestinian electorate sent the world a loud and unequivocal message: they want anti-Israel terror to continue.

Initial results appear to indicate that candidates of the terrorist group Hamas succeeded in capturing three of the four Palestinian-controlled cities, defeating Fatah by a wide margin.

Indeed, a headline from Ha’aretz said it all: “Landslide victories for Hamas in key cities”.

This fact alone should give people on the left pause – after all, if Israel were to withdraw from most of the territories, it is clear that the Palestinian entity that would emerge would rapidly turn into a Hamas-controlled state bent on destroying its Jewish neighbors.

As the results of the Palestinians elections demonstrate, that is the will of the majority of Palestinian voters, who knew quite well for whom they were voting.

So don’t let the media and all those talking heads fool you into thinking otherwise – creating a Palestinian state is a grave danger to the future of this country.

Send Assad Packing

Well, imagine that.

Syria’s thuggish regime involved in killing people not to its liking? Yes – and now its official.

According to a report released today by the United Nations, Damascus was involved in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February. German prosecutor Detleve Mehlis, who authored the report, concluded that there was “converging evidence” linking top Syrian and Lebanese officials to the killing.

CNN managed to obtain a copy of the internal version of the report that was distributed to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and to the Security Council, which includes some interesting details not contained in the version released to the public.

Specifically, the confidential version lists the names of those who planned the bomb attack on Hariri which killed him along with 22 others. The list includes Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s brother and brother-in-law, the former head of Syrian intelligence as well as one of Assad’s close personal friends.

The report notes that Syrian officials cooperated with the investigation only “to a limited degree” and that a number of them “tried to mislead the investigation.”

So, there you have it. Proof positive (as if any more were needed) that the authoritarian regime in Damascus has once again trampled on its neighbor, Lebanon, and used violence as a tool to eliminate its political opponents.

The Syrian regime under the Assad dynasty has long been a destabilizing force in the Middle East, from hosting terrorist organizations on its soil to helping the anti-American insurgents in Iraq. Syria has not hesitated to develop chemical weapons, and has a close and fraternal relationship with the Ayatollahs in Iran.

For far too long, the country has escaped punishment for the bloodshed and havoc that it has wreaked in the region. But in light of the UN report, one can only hope that it will now become clear to policy-makers in Washington and elsewhere that Syria is in desperate need of some regime-change.

Not only for the sake of the millions of Syrians living under Assad’s oppressive rule – but for that of the entire Middle East as well.

When Cynicism Prevails

Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz set a new national record for cynical opportunism today – and that is no small feat.

After days of reaffirming, declaring, insisting and announcing that he was staying in the Likud, Mofaz has now flip-flopped and said that he is bolting the party to join Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s Kadima.

And what exactly was it that prompted this dramatic change? According to various media reports, Sharon has promised Mofaz that he can remain Defense Minister.

Of course, it was just the other day that Mofaz was telling people: “You don’t leave your home,” when asked if he was planning to leave the Likud.

But then poll results were published in Friday’s newspapers indicating that he had little chance of winning the Likud leadership in the party’s upcoming primary – hence, his decision to jump ship.

So much for the man’s credibility.

This is a sorry day for Israeli politics – not so much because of Mofaz’ decision to switch parties, but more because of what it represents – a complete abandonment of any pretense of ideology, and a total embrace of crass political opportunism.

The Jewish people deserve better, far better, than this.