I met Paulina in 2010 when my husband Rabbi Allen Maller and I went to help the Reform Jewish Congregation in Warsaw. She was a slender, blue eyed, young woman in her late twenties. Allen asked Paulina to write a paper about why she wanted to convert to Judaism. I have edited what Paulina wrote, […]
Jarek’s Story
During the Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in 2010, my husband Rabbi Allen Maller, and I lived for two months at the Progressive Jewish congregation Beit Warzava in Warsaw. He was conducting services for the High Holidays and I volunteered to sing in the choir. One morning, I woke early and walked out […]
Majdanek and Darish
My husband a retired rabbi from LA and I were invited to Poland to help emerging Jewish congregations in 5 cities. We found ourselves in a very lovely apartment near the old walled city of Lublin. Our host and interpreter was Piot, a twenty six year old student with a Jewish studies major at the […]
Szira
I met Szira in Warsaw at Beit Warszawa. She was the temple librarian. The congregation had worked out an agreement with Alex Lauderback our neighbor in Encino, California. He is a man in his late 80’s, a Polish Holocaust survivor. Alex found Jewish books from synagogues and temples that had surplus Jewish books. He would […]