Synagogue (and sunny Saturday)

I can't believe Shabbat #4 in Eastern Europe is already over! Friday night services were at the Nozyk Synagogue, about a 15 minute walk away from my apartment. If you read last week's post-Shabbat post, you might recall that I met the Chief Rabbi of Poland, Rabbi Michael Schudrich, at synagogue in Krakow. Rabbi Schudrich spends most of his time as the Rabbi of the Jewish community of Warsaw, so naturally, he was at synagogue last night. He remembered me, and invited me to a community dinner that's held after services each week. On the way to dinner, I met two graduate students who are also visiting Warsaw--Alexandria and Hailey, both fellows at the Auschwitz Jewish Center. Since there was a large group from California also at Shabbat dinner, to make room for everyone, Alexandria, Hailey, and I sat up front with Rabbi Schudrich. It's kind of crazy that we had dinner with the Chief Rabbi of Poland! But really he's just a normal guy, an American, who's set on revitalizing the Jewish community of Warsaw and greater Poland. He told some stories about people who have come to him in the past, wondering if they were Jewish or not after evaluating strange family customs--like not drinking milk after eating meat, or grandma baking a strange pancake once a year (Matzah), or being called "Meshugganeh" when misbehaving.

Anyway, over dinner I explained to Rabbi Schudrich what happened in the civil registry office on Friday, since I thought he might know someone who could help me figure out what to do next. He told me that the director of the Genealogy Center at the Jewish Historical Institute would be at synagogue this morning, and that he would introduce us. This morning, I returned to synagogue, and met some Chicago high-school students on a Shorashim trip to Berlin, Warsaw, and Israel--including my kindergarten teacher's niece! I was just about to go ask the Rabbi to introduce me to the director of the Genealogy Center when Alexandria and Hailey, who were talking to a local woman, called me over. I told them that I was looking for the director of the center, and it just so happened that the woman with them was the director's wife! She introduced me to her husband, Yale Reisner, and they both graciously offered me to stop by his office to talk about my project and to ask any questions!

Next was lunch, which was again a community meal, but this time minus the Rabbi and the California group from last night. Which left Alexandria, Hailey, and I, a few Israelis, and a group of Polish community members. Only one of them seemed to speak English, and she told us how she used to work as a professional translator, since she speaks 10 languages. Overall, the lunch was interesting, to say the least. It was clear that most of the older people there survived the war, but depending on their situations, likely came back to Judaism much later in life. In a way, it was very familiar to me--old Polish people eating eggs and herring and speaking in a mix of languages--so I'm glad I'll be back to talk to them next week.

After lunch, the three of us walked around Warsaw, mostly through two of its many parks--Ujazdow Park and Park Lazienkowski. Luckily, the rain from last night subsided, and it was a beautiful day. A highlight was seeing the massive Chopin statute in Park Lazienkowski. Apparently there's a group trying to build a replica in Chicago! After our walk I took a nap, then returned to synagogue for the afternoon services. There I met a Harvard student my age who's traveling with his mother. It was great to not only hear about his trip but talk to someone my age here--something I realized I hadn't done yet! Judging by the amount of people I met this Shabbat, I'm sure there will be more to meet next Shabbat as well.

Tomorrow is my second Sunday here, but it will hopefully be my first sunny one here! I think I'll visit some of Warsaw's museums...before getting back to work on Monday. Shavua Tov!