B'nai B'rith International - The Global Voice of the Jewish Community

Poland's Chief Rabbi: Former New Yorker Toils to Revive Polish Jewry
By Hiram M. Reisner

WARSAW, Poland -- In 1973, Michael Schudrich, a New York City native, took a high school trip to Poland, his ancestral homeland. He learned of Poland and the horrors of the Holocaust from family and concentration-camp survivors, who also instilled in the youth the notion that the once-vibrant Polish-Jewish culture had ceased to exist and could not be revived.

Schudrich was told there was nothing left of the Jews of Poland, but after meeting several young people there who claimed to be Jewish, he refused to accept that all that remained of the pre-World War II community, to which nearly two-thirds of American Jews could trace their family roots, were several hundred aged Jews.

The dogged Schudrich returned several times in the 1970s and 1980s, studied Polish, and received rabbinic ordination. He served a stint as the rabbi of the Jewish Community of Japan in the 1980s. But the call of Polish Jewry was strong; he returned to Poland to work for the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation.

In 2000, he became the spiritual leader of the Nozyk Synagogue -the only synagogue in Warsaw that survived the war - and, in 2004, the chief rabbi of Poland.

While Poland's Jewish community is small (estimates vary wildly), it is growing-a growth sparked by the end of communism in 1989 and a resurgence of the need to understand the commu-nity's difficult history. Many Jews in the decades that preceded communism's fall hid their Jewish heritage and, as a result, many of the younger generation are now just discovering their Jewish pasts.

These efforts to nurture the Jewish cultural revival are not only precipitated by Jews.

Schudrich, 52, notes that between the end of World War II and the fall of communism, an active Jewish community was nonexistent; neither were Polish-Jewish relations. But now, the Jewish traditions of Poland, which many say defined the dominant culture of the Eastern European country for decades - if not centuries - is being revisited by many Poles, who view it as a journey of discovery into a time when the country was not dominated by aggressive interlopers.

Schudrich, who participated September 9 in the revival ceremony of B'nai B'rith Poland, bringing the lodge back to life after 70 years of dormancy, spoke with B'nai B'rith Magazine about the status of Jews in Poland, the state of Polish-Jewish relations, and the importance of B'nai B'rith Poland.

Q -- How many Jews are there in Poland?

A -- No one has any idea. Because of the nature of what it is to be a Jew in Poland and because of the processes needed to find out, and the [pending] results from the investigations that are still going on, there's no way of knowing, but I would say at least 40,000.

Q -- What does it feel like these days to be a Jew in Poland, and what is currently happening to Jews living in Poland?

A -- In the last five to 10 years things have changed. What happened in Poland between 1939 and 1989 made it very difficult to be a Jew. After the war, it was still difficult to be a Jew in Poland, as it was a negative under the Soviet occupation of communist Poland. So the reaction of Jews was not to talk about their Jewish identity.

Since 1989, those seeking their Jewish roots have been experiencing a new situation: the problem, the challenges, [and] the dangers of being Jewish apparently no longer exist. And many things since 1989 have happened here [that make it easier] to be Jewish.

Poland's is an abnormal Jewish history, a powerful Jewish history, but in terms of the situa-tion today, Poland is just a normal country like anywhere else where a person can be a Jew. You can openly talk about being Jewish in front of people; people can openly practice their Judaism.

What does it mean to be a Jew in a normal country? It means that you have people who hate you, and people who like you, and a whole lot of people who don't think about you.

Q -- What about antisemitism?

A -- The antisemitism that has infected Western Europe has not had any significant impact on Po-land. And, as a matter of fact, the papacy of John Paul II [a Pole] has made a huge difference in the way many Poles relate to Jews. John Paul II taught very strongly against antisemitism. That has had a huge impact on the way that Poles think; not all Poles, but many Poles. John Paul II said that if you don't understand Judaism, you can't understand Christianity. It was a very important statement.

Q -- Can you explain the resurgence of Jewish culture even among those who do not claim to be Jewish? And why do non-Jews seem to be so interested?

A -- Three reasons: First, when you're denied access to something for several decades, it becomes something interesting. And certainly, under the communists, Jewish culture was not an open subject to be discussed, so when it becomes another subject that one can talk about, it is of interest.

Second, again, are the teachings of Pope John Paul II, which had a significant impact on Polish-Jewish relations. And the third reason is that often people will sense the presence of something that's no longer there more than when they actually have it. You miss a loved one after they're dead; when they pass away or they're taken away from you, then all of a sudden we sense that, ah, we miss something. That very much also explains the relationship of Poles to Jewish culture. Now that it's gone, there's a sense of loss.

Q - How do the Poles face their recent history with the Jews, particularly during World War II?

A -- [To] whatever extent Poles collaborated with the Nazi occupation, and we've had a huge discussion with [Polish authorities on] how many people collaborated, whatever the number is, most people think it's much smaller than it was. So the popular belief is that very few Poles collaborated; therefore, trying to wipe out the memory of Poles' collaboration [comes] only after the realization that it existed. You can only deny something if you believe in it.

Q -- Can you tell me how you and other Jewish leaders are working to preserve Jewish heritage in Poland? A -- There's a lot of multi-tasking and multi-level work that goes on when it comes to preserving Jewish heritage in Poland. The first challenge for the Jewish community is to reach out to those who have Jewish roots. It's not about preservation of buildings. It's not just about preservation of a culture. But it is about reaching out to the people who haven't had the chance to learn about their Jewish heritage for 50 years. That's the most important thing.

But along with that, what's also important is to give a chance for non-Jews who haven't had the chance to learn about anything Jewish for 50 years, to give them an opportunity if they're so in-terested. We Jews, through our long, not always happy history, have learned unfortunately in a very necessary way how to identify and help to fight antisemitism. And Jews unfortunately are not as good at identifying friends and potential allies in nurturing that relationship.

We need to learn to use the amount of energy and resources in identifying antisemitism and fighting antisemitism to nurture friends and potential allies and to empower them.

Q -- Can you tell me how you communicate with the government?

A -- There very much is now an open line of communication between myself and the Polish government. There is an ever-increasing sensitivity that they want to understand Jewish needs and sensitivities. For years, there were no normal relations between Poles and Jews. Since 1989, only 18 years ago, there have been tremendous changes. And really people, many in government - not all, but certainly as high up as the prime minister and president - very much want to understand what are Jewish sensitivities and sensibilities on issues.

Q -- Can you tell me the importance of having a strong Jewish presence in Poland, where most Ash-kenazim can trace their roots, for the rest of world Jewry and the world at large?

A -- Anywhere in the world where people discover their Jewish roots, and the community where they live is not yet developed sufficiently to handle it themselves, it becomes the obligation of world Jewry. How much more simple in Poland? It all developed here in Poland - from Zionism, to Hassidism, to secularism, to nationalism; all these expressions of how one expresses their Jewish heritage today. Pretty much it all…was created in Poland. It was nurtured and blossomed in Poland. And today, we in world Jewry have the unique opportunity to give back to the descendants of those people who created the way we practice and express our Judaism today.

Q -- How do you view the importance of the revival of B'nai B'rith Poland?

A -- The revival of B'nai B'rith Poland is extremely important. In 1989, with the collapse of com-munism, basically one could say there was no functioning Jewish community. There were Jewish organizations that were created by the communists…they were Jews, but they really had no place…to express their Judaism in an open, creative way.

What has happened since 1989 is that a variety of different organizations have been created and they've been doing wonderful work in the Jewish community, in the synagogue and other places.

But what also has happened is that there is, in a certain way, a lack of what I would call neu-tral Jewish space. What do I mean? I mean, if a person wants to express…Judaism in a more tradi-tional fashion, they become a member of the Jewish community of Warsaw or join with the syna-gogue. Not that we don't let anyone join…but some people don't want to go to synagogue, don't necessarily want to express their Judaism in that way, and don't have a place where they can meet other Jews who do want to go to the synagogue.

The creation of a truly neutral Jewish space is what is needed; [it is] a very important need, which B'nai B'rith Poland has begun to play, and will blossom and fill that role. B'nai B'rith is creating neutral Jewish space where Jews of all kinds can meet together, and that's a wonderful thing. I really wish the synagogue could do that, but by definition it can't.

Q -- How important to Polish Jewry is moral and financial assistance from the Diaspora?

A -- Well, it was the Jewish community that was destroyed, in terms of communal life. And then this great miracle of democracy happened; the miracle of Solidarity and the fall of communism. And then, all of a sudden, Jews can be Jews again in Poland. Now that's a challenge in and of itself, of a spiritual nature.

But also what was lacking is that, along with the spiritual and infrastructure destruction, there was also a destruction of a huge amount of material wealth and, frankly, it was stolen. And slowly we've been getting some of it back, but we are really missing the natural material wealth that one Jewish generation passes on to another, and that's one kind of help that the West and the Diaspora is providing.

But along with that is a tremendous need for healing that comes when you discover you're a Jew and that it was denied to you by your parents. There's a great sense of loneliness, of alienation. And when someone from abroad who really doesn't have to think about it says, "You know, I care about you being Jewish and I want to help you in your return to the Jewish people," and [help in] the rebuilding and strengthening of your Jewish community, it has not only material benefits, but it has important and deep spiritual benefits. In a more practical way, you know you're not alone.

Q -- Do you find any resentment in the world community about trying to put efforts into Poland? Are there any elements that are saying, "Enough with Poland already, we're finished with Poland, why are you even trying?"

A -- There is no human situation where you will not hear some individuals who state incorrect views. They're simply wrong. Some people believe that, and I fully support the right to be absolutely wrong. If you're going to tell me that a person whose grandparents hid their Jewish identity from them, and the Nazis tried to kill them or their ancestors, and the communists wanted them to forget…they were ever Jewish, if you want to tell me such a person doesn't deserve our support, that this person doesn't have a right to be Jewish, then I think that [as a Diaspora Jew] that is just wrong. We have the most basic obligation; our obligation - not for them, for us - to be able to provide these people with a way back to the Jewish people.