Krakow Jewish culture festival honors non-Jews

-

Krakow, Poland - Non-Jewish Poles who protect and preserve Jewish culture in Poland were recognized during the annual Festival of Jewish Culture in Krakow.

Israeli Ambassador to Poland Zvi Rav-ner presented the award certificates Sunday during the 20th edition of Europe's most famous Jewish culture festival, which opened last Friday with Kabbalat Shabbat services. More than 160 Poles have been so honored since the awards ceremony was initiated 13 years ago.

The festival, which runs through July 4, will feature concerts, exhibits, lectures, workshops and guided tours. This year's lineup of performers includes the Chasidic rapper Matisyahu.

Originally held every two years, the festival was founded in 1988 by two non-Jewish Poles as a means of commemorating Jewish culture destroyed in Poland during the Holocaust, but also to demonstrate that Jews and Jewish culture were still alive around the world. It has been a catalyst in the development of the Jewish Quarter of Krakow as a tourist destination.

Performers and artists have included top names in Jewish art and performance such as Shlomo Carlebach, Theodore Bikel, the Klezmatics, Shlomo Bar and Chava Alberstam. 

JTA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Huge Japan Quake Cracked Open Seafloor

-
The March 2011 megaquake off the coast of Japan opened up fissures as wide as 6 feet (3 meters) in the seafloor, a new study finds. The fissures now scar the seafloor where peaceful clam beds once lay, according to Takeshi Tsuji, a researcher at Kyoto University in Japan . Along with seismic studies, the fissures, revealed by manned submersible vehicles that investigated the seafloor after the quake, show how the crust around the quake's epicenter expanded and cracked.
Read more

Index for a million documents on Polish Jewry to go online

-
Researchers of Polish Jewry are set to gain online access to more than 1 million new documents following an agreement signed by the Polish State Archives. Under the agreement signed last week, Jewish Records Indexing-Poland will receive indices to the documents from the Polish archives authority and place them on the website of the online database within one year, a JRI-Poland statement read.
Read more

A lot of the bread in the US will no longer be kosher

-
The largest baking company in the United States will be removing kosher certification from nearly all of its bread and rolls. Bimbo Bakeries USA confirmed to JTA that it will be removing the certification. The company produces brands including Arnold, Sara Lee, Stroehmann, Freihofer’s and others. Two of its major brands, Entenmann’s and Thomas, will remain certified kosher. So, kosher eaters, your crumb doughnuts and English muffins are still safe. A couple of rye breads also will retain their certifications. “Removing the kosher certification from some of our products was strictly a business-process decision to enable more efficient operations, and it was one we did not make lightly,” Bimbo said in a statement. “Thomas’ and Entenmann’s products as well as Arnold’s and Levy’s Rye Breads will remain kosher-certified. It is important to note that we have heard our consumers’ concerns and are working with kosher certification organizations and discussing alternative solutions.” The c
Read more