Beit Warszawa Synagogue

Beit Warszawa Synagogue in Warsaw Beit Warszawa
Basic information
Location	Warsaw, Poland
Geographic coordinates	52°10′31″N 21°04′37″E
Affiliation	Reform Judaism
District	Wilanów
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	active synagogue
Leadership	rabbi Burt Schuman
Website	www.beit.org.pl
Architectural description
Architectural style	Modernism
Completed	2003
Specifications

Beit Warszawa is a liberal Jewish congregation formed in 1999. It has regular meetings in Warsaw, including Friday night and Saturday morning prayers amongst other events. Beit Warszawa is a member of Beit Polska, polish organization for the reform judaism.

Origins

Beit Warszawa was founded by Seweryn Ashkenazy in 1999 when he asked a group of friends if they would like to form a reform synagogue. Previously, the only choice had been the orthodox Nożyk Synagogue in the centre of Warsaw. Initially, meetings were held once a month in the house of one of the congregation. However, as time passed and the community grew, meetings started to be held every Friday night and then increasingly events were held during the week as well. It moved from a rented flat into dedicated premises in ul. Wiertnicza in Warsaw in 2003.

Beit Warszawa today

Beit Warszawa has an attendance of around sixty to eighty people on most Friday nights. Attendance on Saturday mornings is much lower. On important occasions such as Passover or Rosh Ha Shana attendance is much higher. There are regular courses in Hebrew and Judaism as well as cultural events such as films. The people who belong to this synagogue are especially people of Jewish descent, who were raised as Catholics and did not know, that they are Jewish, and American Jews with Polish roots. There are also some converts without Jewish roots and Israeli families.

External links

• www.beit.org.pl official Beit Warszawa website
• Beit Warszawa Synagogue at Museum of the History of Polish Jews, Virtual Shtetl