Beit Warszawa Synagogue

The Beit Warszawa Synagogue (Polish: Synagoga „Beit Warszawa”) is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 113 Wiertnicza Street, in the district of Wilanów, Warsaw, in the Masovian Voivodeship of Poland. Designed in the Modernist style and completed in 2003, the synagogue has regular events, including Friday night and Saturday morning prayers. Beit Warszawa is a member of Beit Polska, the umbrella organization for the Progressive and Reform Jewish community in Poland.

Beit Warszawa started in 1999 when Jonathan Mills and others individuals gathered a group of friends to explore the possibility of creating a Reform synagogue. Previously, the only choice had been the Orthodox Nożyk Synagogue in the centre of Warsaw. Initially, Oneg Shabbat were held once a month in the house of one of the congregants. However, as time passed and the community grew, Shabbat started to be held every Friday night. Increasingly various events were held during the week as well. In 2000 Cynthia Culpeper became the first female rabbi to lead religious services in Poland when she conducted High Holy Day services at Beit Warszawa. The congregation moved from a rented flat into dedicated premises at ul. Wiertnicza in Warsaw in 2003. A series of rabbis visited Beit Warszawa but the first distinctive and ongoing presence was that of Rabbi Burt Schuman from 2006 to 2011. In June 2012, Beit Warszawa announced the appointment of Rabbi Gil Nativ as rabbi. Nativ was previously in Cincinnati, Los Angeles, and Israel. After a long illness, Schuman resigned. Rabbi Daniel Alter served on an interim basis during the initial period of Schuman’s illness. During Autumn 2011 and Spring 2012, Rabbis Reich, Bruce Kadden, and Beliak filled in. Barbara Kadden was an influential presence during the months that the couple visited Warsaw.

Beit Warszawa Synagogue has an attendance of around forty to eighty people on most Friday nights. Attendance on Saturday mornings is well above the minyan. On occasions such as Passover or Rosh Hashana, the synagogue is full. There are regular courses in Hebrew and Judaism as well as cultural events such as lectures and films. The people who belong to this synagogue are often people of Jewish descent who were raised as Christians and did not know that they were Jewish, as well as American Jews living in or visiting Poland and growing numbers of Israelis with Polish roots. Increasingly the five medical schools teaching in English at Polish universities have attracted Jewish students, who have attend services at Beit Warszawa. There are also converts without known “Jewish roots” and Israeli families who have joined the community.

Sunday School, Day Camp and Summer Camp, the youth of Polish Jewry have a growing system of formal and informal education. During the summer there is a day camp that celebrates Jewish holidays especially the weekly Shabbat with the baking of Hallah. Naturally, there are the visits to the swimming pools and museums. This summer, the youth movements of Progressive Judaism in Poland and Germany, Beit Polska and Netzer, joined for a two-week overnight camp. This was the first meeting of Jewish young people from the Reform movement since 1927.

Synagogue data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).