The Taube Center for the Renewal of Jewish Life in Poland was established by the Taube Foundation for Jewish Life & Culture in 2009 to serve as its representative office in Poland, to oversee its educational and cultural heritage tourism program, and to support its Jewish Heritage initiative in Poland (JHIP). The Center connects Jews from around the world with their East European heritage through educational and cultural programs in tourism, Jewish studies, publishing, and the arts and media. The Taube Foundation for Jewish Life & Culture is the only American Jewish foundation to have an office in Poland.
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Taube Jewish Heritage Tours
Tours for individuals and groups are important means for introducing Jews to Polish Jewish culture, celebrating Jewish heritage, and renewing connections between Jews in America and those in Poland. The Taube Heritage Tour Program offers tailor-made study tours for individuals, families, and groups from around the world seeking to discover their personal histories, explore a collective past, and participate in the continuing revival of Jewish life in Poland. The tours integrate sites of Polish Jewish heritage and memory with visits to cultural venues and to Jewish institutions, and include special meetings with individuals dedicated to Jewish heritage preservation and those active in contemporary Polish Jewish life. The Taube Center for the Renewal of Jewish Life in Poland also offers tour consultations and provides speakers for organized tour programs.
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Field Guide to Jewish Warsaw and Kraków
As part of its mission to preserve cultural memory and to foster understanding among Jews in Poland and throughout the world, the Taube Center for the Renewal of Jewish Life in Poland commissioned the writing of a guidebook to the Jewish sites in Warsaw and Kraków. Completed in 2012, the richly illustrated Field Guide to Jewish Warsaw and Kraków complements the Taube Center Jewish Heritage Tours of Warsaw and Kraków. The Guide begins with a concise overview of the thousand years of Jewish life in greater Poland and then presents eight specially designed walking tours, four in each city, accompanied by full-color maps, detailed directions, and illustrated discussions of important sites and personages. The Field Guide to Jewish Warsaw and Kraków was created by an international team of experts and writers and underwritten by the Taube Foundation for Jewish Life & Culture and the Rothschild Foundation Europe.
Mi Dor Le Dor Educators Program
In 2012 the Taube Center for the Renewal of Jewish Life in Poland began a new educational initiative called Mi Dor Le Dor (Heb.: “From Generation to Generation”) as a programmatic response to requests from young Jewish educators, tour guides, and graduate students to learn Polish Jewish history in the very place where it happened. Mi Dor Le Dor teaches the history and traditions of Polish Jewish culture, focusing on Jewish life while honoring the Jewish past. This unique experiential learning program enhances Jewish literacy, instills cultural pride, and prepares participants to assist in the year-round Taube Jewish Heritage Tour Program. The fall 2012 edition of Mi Dor Le Dor expanded the original five-month pilot program to ten months and drew participants from across Poland, and it continues today.
Sefarim – “Books”
The Taube Center for the Renewal of Jewish Life in Poland is pleased to have received a grant from the Dutch Jewish Humanitarian Fund in support of its book publishing project, Sefarim (Heb.: “Books”). The grant is matched by support from the Taube Foundation for Jewish Life & Culture and will enable the Taube Center to expand this valuable endeavor.
Sefarim supports the publication of non-fiction works that add new perspectives on Polish Jewish history, heritage, and contemporary Jewish life, and promote public discourse. The educational goals of Sefarim further the Taube Center’s mission of enriching Jewish life in Poland and connecting Jews from around the world with their East European heritage. Inquiries can be made at: sefarim@centrumtaubego.org.pl
The 2013 recipients of grants from its Sefarim Book Publishing Project are:
- Halina Grubowska "Rzecz o Irenie Sendlerowej" ("About Irena Sendlerowa")
- Erica Lehrer "Pamiątka, Zabawka, Talizman" ("Souvenir, Talisman, Toy")
- Paweł Maciejko "The Mixed Multitude. Jacob Frank and the Frankist Movement, 1755–1816"
- Irena Wiszniewska-Buvet "My, Żydzi z Polski" ("We, Jews from Poland")
- Anna Sommer Schneider "Ocalić ostatnich Żydów Polskich. Działalność American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee in Poland w latach 1945-1989" ("Saving the Remnant of Polish Jewry. The Activities of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee in Poland, 1945-1989")
- Joanna Mazurkiewicz (translation) - Nahma Sandrow "Vagabond Stars: A World History of Yiddish Theatre”
The Sefarim Book Project is co-funded by the Dutch Jewish Humanitarian Fund, the Taube Center for the Renewal of Jewish Life in Poland, and the Taube Foundation for Jewish Life & Culture.
The books awarded in 2013 will be published in 2014 (and one in 2015). The Taube Center for the Renewal of Jewish Life in Poland is currently planning book events around the release of each publication.
