Download THE HOLIDAY OF DIALOGUE – DAY OF JUDAISM

COEXIST: POZNAŃ AND JEWS
THE HOLIDAY OF DIALOGUE
– DAY OF JUDAISM
Since 1998, the Day of Judaism is celebrated each
year by the Catholic Church in Poland as a holiday of dialogue. And each year it spans a vast range
of religious and cultural events which through
theory and practice show and teach all the participants about the nature of the mutual bond in faith
which connects Jews and Christians. The Church,
Jews and all who gather there are given the opportunity of discovering how to live together in freedom, dignity and safety. Sharing one homeland,
they learn how to instil the spirit of dialogue and
collaboration in all political, religious and cultural
milieus; how to see, respect and explore the rich
and diverse cultural achievement of Christians
and Jews, treating it as a realm of encounter and
ever more profound dialogue.
COEXIST: POZNAŃ AND JEWS
In Poznań, the idea of the Day of Judaism is
expressed through particularly positive and creative manifestations. The occasion is celebrated
throughout the country, but here its formula is
singularly broad: all sorts of accompanying events
take place over two weeks surrounding the Day
proper, i.e. January 17th, with the Church and social
organisations involved along with central and
local authorities, cultural and educational institutions. The organisers share the conviction that
the meditation of prayer and theological reflection
on the very Day of Judaism should be preceded by
an encounter with the word, imagery, and music
which introduce one to the colourful universe of
Jewish culture. Hence every year there are concerts of Jewish and klezmer music, exhibitions
dedicated to the oeuvre of Jewish artists or the
Land of Israel, theatre performances, educational
projects for children and young people, symposia
and discussion panels. A number of splendid art
and music events have been held at the New Syn-
COEXIST: POZNAŃ AND JEWS
agogue, which the Nazis have so heinously desecrated. All of that has one goal: to awaken the imagination of dialogue. This year for instance, one
of the discussed issues was “Why Christians need
Jews”, Jewish songs were sung by rabbi Symcha
Keller, the outstanding klezmer band Kroke gave
a performance, some learned about the three pilgrim festivals, Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot, others
considered the message in Joseph Roth’s Job. All
these events were taking place in churches, music
clubs, theatres, galleries and various prestigious
venues in the city’s. The person who has been
behind the Poznań celebrations since the beginning is Rev. Jerzy Stranz, who heads the Coexsist
Association, an institution dedicated to promoting
and propagating dialogue.
In fact, the Day of Judaism celebrates the
centuries of Polish and Jewish coexistence in
Poznań, which naturally obliges all to nurture
a wise memory of living together.
COEXIST: POZNAŃ AND JEWS
DESCRIPTION:
Ilona Dworak-Cousin, president of the Israeli-Polish Friendship Society
lights the Menorah of Dialogue during the biblical service on the Day of Judaism in 2008
LEGAL NOTES:
Photograph by Maciej Kaczyński.