"Jewish Revival" in Poland

[laura marler]

Mr. Levin, just curious, what language did you use to explain the signage
to the woman at the gate? 


> [Original Message]
> From: Jules Levin <ameliede at EARTHLINK.NET>
> To: <SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU>
> Date: 7/12/2007 8:07:03 PM
> Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] "Jewish Revival" in Poland
>
> At 05:28 PM 7/12/2007, you wrote:
> >Dear SEELANGers,
> >The Jewish Revival in Poland has been going on for some time. I was
> >fortunate to stay at Hotel Ester, next to a beautiful Synagogue in
> >Krakow three summers ago (in the heart of the newly, and fabulously,
> >renovated Jewish district), and I had ample opportunities to sample
> >Jewish cuisine, Jewish music, and Jewish culture.
>
> I also stayed at a hotel in Kazimierz, and was touched by the 
> eagerness of the young
> university student staff to provide shabbat assistance to observant 
> guests.  There was a
> lot of good will there, but in the end Kazimierz can be summed up in 
> 3 words--Jewish Theme
> Park.  It is like the American Indian pavilion at a World's Fair, 
> with periodic demonstrations
> of the most stereotypical cultural artifacts.  The "Jewish" cuisine, 
> decidedly not kosher, is on menus
> that include pork products, the Jewish music is performed by groups 
> imitating old records, and the
> Jewish culture includes souvenir shops with carved figures of dancing 
> Hasidic rabbis, etc.  In short,
> Jewish kitsch.   One memory stands out--during Yom Kippur services at 
> the Rema shul I went out into
> the courtyard for some fresh air, and I noticed two women opening the 
> gate.  Since the gate has a notice
> (in Polish and English) that tourists were not admitted when services 
> were going on, I directed her attention to
> the sign and explained what it meant, she argued [not rudely] that 
> she just wanted to look around for a short
> time, etc.  I told her that in any case she could only go into the 
> women's section in the back, which was very crowded,
> and really, she should come back another time (she had a German 
> accent, which didn't help my emotional response).
> Finally she left, reluctantly.  For me this illustrated the tension 
> between the very modest effort to carry on with real Jewish
> life, and the maintenance of the tourist-attracting theme 
> park.  Finally, I must say that my wife and I had only positive contacts
with
> the local Polish inhabitants of Krakow.
> Jules Levin
>
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