[Project] Galicia, Silesia and Spiš in the light of common Jewish heritage

Project Final Evening, Kraków, November 28, 2021 – see here!
Wieczór Finałowy, 28 listopada 2021 – zobacz tutaj!

Our foundation, the Center for Progressive and Reform Judaism foundation in Krakow with partners – Beit Silesia (Czech Republic) and the Mojše Band (Slovakia) is proud to present a unique cultural interchange program that aims to present and explain to the wider public Jewish history, culture, and art common for the regions of Galicia, Silesia and Spiš. The project is taking place thanks to the support of the Visegrad Fund (www.visegradfund.org).

PLEASE NOTE: All events are also available online, via Zoom and Facebook, register your spot today!

PROGRAM:

1. Jewish Spiš – culture that survived through music

10/10/2020 g. 18:30
Spišská Belá (Slovakia) & on-line

Facebook  – ZOOM WWW

The number of seats for in-person participation in the event is limited, please reserve seats at mojseband@gmail.com 

Music workshop, lectures and a unique live concert of Jewish music of Spiš that will take place online & in-person in Spišská Belá (Slovakia), a medieval city on the Bela (White) River, in the residence of the Jewish music researcher, composer, and cymbal virtuoso Michał Paľko. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn not only about the music of Spiš. Thanks to the participation of the invited guests from Slovakia and Poland, we will also hear about the history and the present day of Jewish life in the Moravian-Silesian region (presentation of mgr. Aharon Tesař, Krnov, Czech Republic) and learn a bit about the significance of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot in a short lecture by Rabbi Tanya Segal (Krakow, Poland).

The workshop and lectures will be followed by a concert “Zipserim” by the famous Mojše Band – Jewish music of Spiš in modern arrangements, with live comments by the researcher and the composer.

more about this event >>

Language:  Slovak, Czech and Polish (with translation to Slovak/Czech).

Educational materials will be available on the project website after the meeting.

 

2. Jewish Krnov – open lecture in the time of Jewish New Year 

6/09/2021 at 6PM
Krnov (Czech Republic) & online

 

 

Open lecture about Jewish Krnov followed by a question-answer session with a rabbi, that will take place around Rosh Hashanah  – Jewish New Year.

Following the lecture participants will then have the unique opportunity to join the holiday evening prayers in the Synagogue in Krnov (reform service).

In case of questions, please let us know via email at office@tempel.pl

 

3. Jewish Opava – a one-day seminar

27/10/2021from 4PM

Klub Art

Beethovenova Street, Opava (Czech Republic) & online

If you have questions, please let us know via email at office@tempel.pl

A seminar about Jewish heritage of Opava (a city in Moravian-Silesia region in Czech, near Polish border). Jewish life of Opava through stories of famous Jewish families of Opava, who are buried in the Opava Jewish cemetery, which on its own is an exceptional historical monument.

The seminar will include a lecture by Opavian a historian and archivist Mgr. Zdenek Karavar, Ph. D. about Jewish life in Opava, a lecture with rabbi of the Jewish Community in Ostrava – Rabbi Tanya Segal, about Jewish burial customs and laws. In the evening, in the most famous club in Opava, a concert of Jewish music from the regions of Galicia, Silesia and Spiš by the Mojše Band.

more about the event >>

 

4. Project Presentation Evening – Jewish history of the region: Galicia, Silesia, Spiš

28/11/2021
Kraków (Poland)
& online 

 

 

 

A series of lectures about Jewish history of the Galicja, Silesia and Spiš – regions historically connected by a common spiritual and academic center – Kraków. The lectures will present the history and future of Jewish life in the regions.

 The project presentation evening will be a part of a series of fundraising events for a renovation of a historic synagogue in the center of Krakow – a project led by the Center for Progressive and Reform Judaism in Krakow.

more about this event >>

Our Motivation

The tragic Jewish History of the 20 century left in the Central Europe region similar signs – empty areas on the site of synagogues, forgotten Jewish buildings and cementers, small local Jewish communities dealing daily with a painful memory and challenging rebuilding process. With all the effort of repairing we still have these monuments of the common tragic past, particularly in the small towns. The common Identity brought us some years ago to start to visit each other, to study and to celebrate the Jewish holidays together. Each of the partners in this project has its own achievements in the process of the revitalization of the Jewish heritage in its region: Center for Progressive and Reform Judaism in Krakow has today dealing with the renovation of the unique architectonic synagogue complex in the city; Beit Silesia ( beitsilesia.cz, Opava and Krnov in Czech Republic) is the young Jewish community built itself through 20 years involvement of its leaders in the renovating process of the city synagogue before the community even existed; The Mojše Band (mojseband.sk, Spišská Belá, Slovakia) approached to the rebuilding of the cultural heritage of its town by the reconnection to the music of the region which naturally brought them to the historic cultural connection between all three regions: Spiš – Galicja – Silesia. The project seeks to increase the awareness of the common Jewish Identity and history, to renew the historic cultural connection between these three regions, and to promote the common Jewish heritage inside and outside of our countries.