Tribe go back to their roots for inspiration in Poland
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Thursday 5th November 2015

Last week, Tribe took close to 50 Year 12 students to Poland for an inspirational and educational six day experience.

The group was led by Rabbi Tzvi Sperber from JRoots and Tribe Central Rabbi, Yisroel Binstock, and saw them travel to several places including Warsaw, Krakow, Lodz, Majdanek, Lizhensk and Tarnow. Rabbis Marc Levine of Hampstead Garden Suburb US and Eli Levin of South Hampstead US joined the group to help forge closer community ties with participants.

The group visited Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II Birkenau, where they walked from the gas chambers through the camp to the crematoria. They later visited the memorial of ashes in Majdanek. Seeing the place where millions were murdered for being Jewish made participants appreciate the religious freedom they enjoy today.

Participants learnt about life in Poland before World War II and the vibrant Jewish community that lived there, which included a visit to Yeshivat Chachmei Lublin. Whilst in the Yeshiva, they learnt about the great rabbis who revolutionised the study of Torah in the 20th century. The now quiet Yeshiva was brought back to life as the group learnt passages from the Talmud there.

On one of the more emotional and touching parts of the trip, the group travelled to Zbylitowska Gora, a forest with numerous mass graves. Afterwards they went to a town square in Tarnow, where they learnt about Jewish children who were sent to monasteries in order to save their lives and the rabbi who came to find them after the war. There the group sang a beautiful version of Shema Yisrael. The inspiring song rang out around the square as it had done many years before.   

The emotional trip bonded the group together as they took the lessons of the Holocaust to heart. One participant, Ella Marchant commented, “Going to Poland with Tribe was an unbelievable and life changing experience for me. It has provided me with the knowledge and skills I need to shape my life for the future, and has secured my true sense of Jewish identity”.

Speaking after the trip Rabbi Binstock said, “I’m proud that once again Tribe have organised such an inspiring trip. It has given the students a greater sense of their own Jewish identity and has encouraged the group to be proud, inspired and engaged Jews connected to their Jewish heritage.”

To see a photo gallery of this trip click here