FOSTERING A VIBRANT RENEWAL OF JUDAISM IN POLAND
Acknowledging with gratitude is an opportunity to do a Mitzvah. This Lifecycle Events page offers a spotlight to share your memories, joy, and appreciation. We welcome your designated donations! You may select your preferred campaign or project once you’ve landed on the PayPal donation page here.
To participate you may email a brief written description and photo to RabbiBeliak@jewishrenewalinpoland.org, or simply enjoy scrolling through the mitzvahs below.
Our family gathers to eulogize my mother-in-law, Edith (Bram) Ballonoff (1922 – 2023). Edith was the mother of my wife, Lynn (Ballonoff) Beliak, and Rabbi Martin Ballonoff (z”l).
Edith was adored by her five grandchildren, their spouses, and twelve great-grandchildren. Her commitments to her own Jewish education from her early mastery of Rashi as a child growing up in Cleveland – an unusual commitment on her part in a time “when women were not supposed to…. Edith was a lifelong learner, and a supporter of Jewish schools, Hillels, and teacher & rabbinic training programs in the Orthodox, Progressive and Masorti (Conservative) movements. She maintained the family correspondence in Yiddish with the Lomza, Poland relatives and their few descendants in Paraguay. Edith was descended from Cohanim (priestly lineage) through both her parents. In later years, when women were finally called to recite the Torah blessing she took pride of place in her status of being called first. This was an honor inherited and deserved.
Edith took great joy in fostering Jewish life and that will be continued through the Edith (Bram) Ballonoff Education Fund.
(Written by Rabbi Haim Dov Beliak)
We are addressing the humanitarian aid needs of Ukrainians in Poland, especially women and children. This aid demands organized professional efforts. Friends of Jewish Renewal in Poland and the Progressive congregations of Beit Polska have been actively supporting these projects since the beginning of the war. Ilan has chosen to follow the example of his father as you will read below.
IN ILAN’S WORDS… “To elaborate more on my Mitzvah project, I want to talk about what it really does. As many of you know, my dad went to Poland to help support the Ukrainian refugees. He met up with an organization known as “Beit Polska.” Their main goal is to revive the Jewish community in Poland. However, when the war started, they began to focus more on the millions of Ukrainian refugees coming through Poland. They are currently raising funds to help build preschools and daycares for Ukrainian children. I would like to support them and their efforts. Their ideas also connect to my Torah portion. Like Lot and Abraham, they are showing hospitality. They are welcoming strangers that have fled from their homes.”
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