Beit Warszawa Synagogue
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| Beit Warszawa Synagogue in Warsaw Beit Warszawa |
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| Basic information | |
| Location | Warsaw, Poland |
| 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 |
| Year 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.
[edit] 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[1] 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.
[edit] 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, who work in Poland. There are also some converts without jewish roots and Israeli families.
The rabbi is Rabbi Burt Schumann from New York. Rabbi Schmann is an accomplished cantor in English, Hebrew and Yiddish.[2] He hopes that there will be 50,000 reform Jews in Poland in ten years. He thinks about people who are of Jewish descent, but are not affiliated by other Jewish organizations.
[edit] References
- ^ Alan Heath The Nozyk Synagogue http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=ASsEkjrLq-c
- ^ Yiddish songs at Beit Warszawa http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=KYYIYb_wUw4
