BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

Menorah Lit at Polish Parliament This was a long time coming. As a great-granddaughter of Polish Immigrants who ran from religious persecution - this is wonderful event. A light of hope in some dim times for the Jewish people. Może Bóg Przynoszą Pokój do *Jews* Polski The Jewish community in Poland made history last week when Vice President Jaroslaw Kalinowski hosted a Chanukah menorah lighting in the Sejm, the Polish parliament. Poland has had a mixed history in its relationship with the Jews who settled there since the Dark Ages. Kalinowski lit the shamash candle last Monday night accompanied by Rabbi Shalom Stambler, co-director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Poland who organized the event, Chabad.org reported via Catholic World News Friday. "It is highly symbolic for Jews and non-Jews alike that the Chanukah candles could be illuminated from the very halls from which Polish laws are made," said Stambler. Jewish leaders noted that of late Poland has had a...

Half a century on, Polish Jews rediscover religious heritage Great-grandfather Josef, (wielki dziadek) and Nana Magda -- wherever you are now - I hope you are reading this one! Ludmila Krzewska has decided it is finally safe to be Jewish ( ŻYDOWSKI ) in Poland again. She endured anti-Semitic taunts as a child. Her grandmother would have been killed by the Nazis had a Catholic family not taken her in. And her mother was too traumatized to practice Judaism after the war. That all caused her to bury her background as she grew to adulthood in Warsaw. But when the 25-year-old biology student ventured to recover her heritage five years ago, she met a different kind of rejection. She sought out Warsaw's Orthodox Jewish community, but was discouraged by one member because "I have a 'goyish' husband," she recalls. The message did not come from the rabbi - but it was enough. So she turned to Warsaw's fledgling Progressive Jewish community, her husband eventually conver...