Israel Independence Day booklet published for first time in Polish
Cover of Yom Ha’atzmaut booklet in Polish
This year, Jews in Poland have an added reason to celebrate Israel Independence Day: the first ever booklet in Polish on Yom Ha’atzmaut has been published by Shavei Israel. The booklet was a real team effort. The idea came from Shavei Israel’s emissary to Krakow, Rabbi Avi Baumol, who noted that, while the Polish Jewish community enthusiastically marks the founding of the state of Israel, it has never its own guide to the customs and prayers of the day written in Polish. Rabbi Baumol wrote and prepared the texts; Olga, a young Jewish Polish woman who visited Israel in 2014 on a Shavei Israel-sponsored seminar, translated it; and Shavei Israel staff members Tzivia Kusminksy and Esther Surikova created the graphics.
Rabbi Baumol and his team worked fast – in just under three weeks, they created the 60-page book, which includes articles on Yom Ha’atzmaut written by Rabbi Baumol, Polish Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich, and Shavei Israel Chairman Michael Freund; the full text (in Polish and Hebrew with transliteration) of the prayers recited during the evening service on Independence Day; classic songs of Eretz Israel to sing during the traditional Independence Day festive meal; and even a few Israeli recipes for falafel and chopped cucumber and tomato salad.
Fifty copies of the Independence Day booklet have been printed to distribute in Krakow. But most of the Polish Jewish community will download it themselves, then either print it out or view it on their iPhones and iPads (the booklet is free).
If you’re a Polish-speaker and you’d like a copy of your own, just click the link below and the booklet will be on its way to you.
Happy 67th Israel Independence Day – whether you’re in Poland or Peru or somewhere in between – from all of us at Shavei Israel.
