Haim dov beliak biography for kids

In , a loosely organized progressive Jewish congregation called Beit Warszawa was founded by Severyn Ashkenazy, 76, a Polish-born Holocaust survivor and successful businessman, who returned to Poland in to reclaim family property. On his arrival, he sought to meet members of the Jewish community, only to be told that there were very few Jews remaining in Poland and that they were either elderly survivors who were dying or young Poles who were leaving the country.

It seemed that there would be no next generation of Jews in the country. For the first few years after his arrival, he focused his efforts on providing a nourishing Sabbath dinner with a Jewish cultural program for those Jews who self-identified and would show up for the evening. Initially, attendees admitted to only a passing curiosity about Judaism and Jewish culture.

In time, however, many admitted that they were not merely curiosity seekers, or what I like to call Jewish cultural anthropologists, but that they yearned to return to their Jewish roots. Eventually, out of the Sabbath dinner and program, a bonafide Jewish congregation and gathering place was born. In , Ashkenazy founded a US nonprofit organization, Friends of Jewish Renewal in Poland, to raise funds to support what was becoming a growing Jewish community.

Three years later, in , Ashkenazy founded Beit Polska House of Poland to minister to the Jewish population of Warsaw as well as to encourage the formation and support of other Jewish congregations elsewhere in the country. Since its inception, Beit Polska has become the umbrella organization for all progressive Jewish communities in Poland and has trained, together with the Friends of Jewish Renewal, 15 lay cantors and five teachers who teach an Introduction to Judaism course.

Lay cantors are taught by Cantor Mimi Shefer, a professional singer and cantor who lives in Berlin. The current chair of Beit Polska is Piotr Stasiak, a physicist turned businessman turned Jewish community leader. I know that some of these city names are known not only for the vibrant Jewish communities that once inhabited these places but for the ghettos that were built in their midst during the Holocaust.

We also know that large numbers of Jews died in each of them or were deported to the concentration camps. The revival of Jewish life in these places adds to the miracle of their existence. My own involvement in Poland began in when I spent several months in Warsaw as a sabbatical replacement for Rabbi Burt Schuman, who played a key role in the development of Beit Warszawa.

I found the experience of supporting a Jewish religious and communal revival in Poland truly gratifying and determined to stay involved. I returned to Poland in and , spending about ten months there altogether. Today I serve as executive director of Beit Polska and spend six months a year there as a volunteer. Many of these young people hope to participate in the Birthright to Israel program, enabling them to connect in a direct and meaningful way with their heritage and with other young Jewish men and women.

In addition to Rabbi Beliak, their instructors were Errol Abrahams, a beloved history teacher, and Shul Donk, president of the congregation. In addition, a weekly Torah portion class discovered the world of classic Jewish study.

Haim dov beliak biography for kids

With a view to the future, the new education committee of Neve Shalom, initiated by Rabbi Beliak, began its efforts to educate 20 children in the community. And so it went: Jewish education, holiday celebrations, community activism, community building, life-cycle events. Along the way, Rabbi Beliak managed to meet most of the Jews of Suriname at least once in their homes.

While his visit highlighted what could be done, it also identified what else needs to be done. Pirke Avot, a book of ethical maxims from the Talmud, teaches us that it is not incumbent on any one person to finish the job, but it is incumbent on each person to begin. If we were to list some of the important priorities for the Suriname Jewish community, they would be:.

Rabbi Beliak has many ideas and perhaps you, our readers, will have some too. Rabbi Beliak is now back in the United States. For the last four years, I have served as spiritual counselor for a Jewish-inspired palliative and hospice center, Skirball Hospice. My work focuses on offering comfort and insight to people. I also frequently help patients develop life summary videos and ethical wills.

The Skirball work is spiritually rewarding engagement. Rabbi Beliak chose this prayer because it reflects the things that are universal. He also said that biography of a person has a lot to with how he or she has been shaped. Since he said he was also born in Germany and displaced to the United States in the 50s, his family was amongst the survivors of the holocaust.

His and other Jewish people story is the struggle of Jewish emergence from powerlessness. Jewish people historically felt to be in exile. So in the present day sense of being in exile does not mean much for the Jews….