+ Trip to Poland, Mar 23-29
Dear Members and Friends,
Many of you know that we had the honor of rescuing a Torah and an Ark from the old Mezeritch Shul on East 6th St. last June. We’ve recently been using the Torah at the holidays, shabbat, and at our Bar/Bat Mitzvah celebrations and our plan is to re-dedicate the Ark this May at the holiday of Shavuot.
This has become more than a rescue project. It’s become a journey of discovery. Over the past six months, many former members of the Mezeritch Shul have connected with Tamid. Most special has been the relationship we’ve formed with our new members, Bruce and Ellen Salkin. They read the news of our efforts in the Downtown Express and it sparked an intergenerational memory for Ellen: “my family was from Mezeritch,” she said. After calls and meetings with relatives, it turns out, her father had his bar mitzvah at the old Shul on E 6th St. and her grandparents and aunts/uncles were deeply involved in the Mezeritcher Society here in New York, now long past.
The unfolding of our story is bigger than a New York tale. We’ve been in touch with the Polish Consulate in Washington DC, soon the Ark will be re-dedicated for our regular Shabbat worship, and to bring this full circle, we’regoing to Poland in March and I hope you will be part of the delegation.
We’ll visit Warsaw, Lublin, and Mezeritch.We’ll meet with local residents, tour villages, and make a pilgrimage to Treblinka and to Majdanak, two former concentration camps.
This is an important journey to make, especially within the context of a congregation. Visiting Poland is surely a trip, but the experience of seeing the camps and walking in the cities where our ancestors lived needs many years to fully process and to comprehend. It will be the beginning of our city to city, international relationship, New York and Mezeritch. Having a chance to travel together will give us the opportunity to build on this experience and the memories now and for many years to come.
I know that March is only three months away and the timing may not be right for you or your entire family. Whoever can come should come. If your child is 14 or older, we will oversee them. The plan is to leave on Sunday morning, March 23 and return on Saturday evening, March 29. If it suits your schedule better, meet us in Warsaw for dinner on March 23rd, that’s when the journey will officially begin.
If you are interested in being part of our delegation, please contact me directly.
Shalom, Darren
(images above: Andrew and Miles Greenblatt in front of original Mezeritch ark one day before removal; Center City Market, Warsaw, Treblinka Rail Sign, Village of Lublin)
