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Friends of Jewish Renewal in Poland

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FJRP Suspends All Collaboration With and Support of Beit Polska Pending Investigation

By 1 Comment Filed Under: Official Statements

Friends of Jewish Renewal in Poland (FJRP) has been a funder and supporter of Beit Polska since its founding. Beyond significant funding, it has provided programmatic support, teaching, Jewish liturgical leadership training, cultural enrichment offerings, rabbinic and cantorial visits, and more.

Throughout the past months, FJRP has received numerous credible reports and complaints of Beit Polska’s governance failures, mismanagement and misappropriation of funds, mismanagement of religious books and artifacts, repeated exclusion of long-time members, and elections and appointments that lacked procedural integrity. The gravity and extent of these issues are unprecedented and bring into question the integrity of Beit Polska, the fitness of its leaders, its values, and its functions.[…]

Jozef Pilsudski: Founding Father of Modern Poland by Professor Joshua D. Zimmerman

By Leave a Comment Filed Under: Freighted Legacies

Part II: Focusing on Chapter 14 State Builder

WEBINAR 2/15/26 – The story of the enigmatic Jozef Pilsudski, the founding father of modern Poland: a brilliant military leader and high-minded statesman who betrayed his own democratic vision by seizing power in a military coup.

In the story of modern Poland, no one stands taller than Jozef Pilsudski. From the age of sixteen he devoted his life to reestablishing the Polish state that had ceased to exist in 1795. Ahead of World War I, he created a clandestine military corps to fight Russia, which held most Polish territory. After the war, his dream of an independent Poland realized, he took the helm of its newly democratic political order. When he died in 1935, he was buried alongside Polish kings.[…]

Pharaoh’s Grip and Modern Chains: Redefining Personal Freedom

By Leave a Comment Filed Under: Sermons

Thoughts on Parashat Bo 5786

The wine problem

Moshe says: I don’t have a drinking problem.

His friend, Shmuel, says: You just finished the entire bottle yourself!

Moshe answers: Yes, but I shared the guilt with my mother.

Yes, it’s possible that Pharaoh who had a hardened heart problem shared his guilt with his mother. But even if he had any guilt, sharing it, let alone putting the entire blame on someone, doesn’t help. What helps is making real change and being firm about it. But Pharaoh most likely didn’t like the word “change”, especially if it was to be used in reference to any of his traits or decisions.[…]

The Fragile Gift of Free Will

By Leave a Comment Filed Under: Sermons

Thoughts on Parashat Vaera

In our parasha for this week (Exodus 6:2–9:35), we encounter one of the Torah’s most profound explorations of human agency amid divine intervention. As God unleashes the first plagues upon Egypt to liberate the Israelites from bondage, Pharaoh’s response reveals a chilling dynamic: the hardening of his heart. The text alternates between Pharaoh hardening his own heart and God doing so, raising timeless questions about free will. Does divine involvement negate human choice? Or does it illuminate the consequences of our repeated decisions? Drawing from the wisdom of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, of blessed memory, in his Covenant & Conversation essays on this parasha—such as “Freewill” and “The Weighing of the Heart”—we can uncover a powerful message: while from the social and political perspective individual freedom is or should be a fundamental human right, this right does not guarantee it will become a reality. Our individual free will is a delicate capacity that can erode through our own actions, turning us into prisoners of our choices.[…]