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Friends of Jewish Renewal in Poland

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Poles and Jews: A Call for Myth Reconstruction

By Leave a Comment Filed Under: Freighted Legacies

Back for a Deeper Understanding

WEBINAR: Please join us January 11, 2026, when Freighted Legacies returns with a conversation featuring author Jennifer Stark-Blumenthal and her monumental book, Poles and Jews: A Call for Myth Reconstruction. We will focus on Chapter 20, “Myth Reconstruction and the Backlash in Poland.” Understanding the complex political and cultural dynamics within Poland will be a key takeaway from this upcoming webinar. Stark-Blumenthal also poses the significant question: Could the study of history replace nationalist slogans and tired prejudices? We hope you will join in the conversation.

Power and Identity: Balancing Assimilation With Our Jewish Identity

By Leave a Comment Filed Under: Sermons

Thoughts on Parashat Miketz, 5786

There are moments in your life that are irrelevant in terms of their influence on your life journey in general. In these moments you are temporarily allowed to give up a lot of your power, even control over yourself, especially if you know that someone you love is around and will not only not betray you but will take care of you the best way she or he can. There are also moments that are pivotal for you and whatever you do or whatever decision you make at this particular moment will determine the path of the rest of your life. And because we are never certain if the moment we live through at this moment is crucial or not, some say that we need to stay vigilant. Every day and the entire time, and that minimizes the risk of failure of any kind. And strengthens our relation with God.[…]

Anxiety Won’t Burst the Bubble – Humility Can

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Thoughts on Parashat Vayishlach 5786

Let’s set the scene: Yaakov is sitting in a café in Nowy Świat in Warsaw, or perhaps in the Kazimierz district of Kraków. A friend comes over. “Hey Yaakov, jak leci? How’s life?” Yaakov smiles: “Life? It’s wonderful. Good job, kids in excellent schools, Shabbat dinners with friends, holidays in the mountains or by the Baltic… The only thing is, when everything feels this calm and normal, I keep waiting for the antisemitism to flare up again.”[…]

Laurel Kratochvila and Polish Baking—A Culinary Meet-Cute

By Leave a Comment Filed Under: Freighted Legacies

In 2009, Laurel was living in Prague, aimless and bartending when a “nice Moravian guy” took her to buy pickles in Poland. “I wound up on a second date, skidding around snow drifts to cross the border into Poland, the first time anyone in my family had been back in about a hundred years.” Carrying an enormous plastic pickle bucket between them, the couple eventually stumbled into a local bakery, where Laurel found herself ogling an “almost impossible variety” of beautiful baked goods. The experience launched her love affair with Polish baking, and pushed her further toward her culinary career. She’s now a French-trained baker and the owner of Berlin’s acclaimed Fine Bagels. And she married that nice Moravian guy. […]