Beit Warszawa Synagogue

Infobox religious building
building_name=Beit Warszawa Synagogue in Warsaw
Beit Warszawa

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caption=
location=Warsaw, Poland
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religious_affiliation=Reform Judaism
district=Wilanów
status=active synagogue
leadership=rabbi Burt Schuman
website= [http://www.beit.org.pl/ www.beit.org.pl]
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architecture_style=Modernism
facade_direction=
year_completed=2003
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Beit Warszawa is a liberal Jewish congregation formed in 1999. It has regular meetings in Warsaw, including Friday night and Saturday morning prayers amongst other events.

Origins

Beit Warszawa was founded by Seweryn Ashkenazy in 1999 when he asked a group of friends if they would like to form a reform synagogue. Previously the only choice had been the orthodox Nożyk Synagogue [Alan Heath The Nozyk Synagogue http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=ASsEkjrLq-c] in the centre of Warsaw. Initially meetings were held once a month in the house of one of the congregation. However as time passed and the community grew meetings started to be held every Friday night and then increasingly events were held during the week as well. It moved from a rented flat into dedicated premises in ul. Wiertnicza in Warsaw in 2003.

Beit Warszawa Today

Beit Warszawa has an attendance of around sixty to eighty people on most Friday nights. Attendance on Saturday mornings is much lower. On main occasions such as Passover or Rosh Ha Shana attendance is much higher. There are regular courses in Hebrew language and Judaism as well as cultural events such as films.

The rabbi is Rabbi Burt Schumann from New York who is assisted by Rabbi Tanya Segal from Israel. Rabbi Schmann is an accomplished cantor in English, Hebrew and Yiddish [Yiddish songs at Beit Warszawa http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=KYYIYb_wUw4] . Rabbi Segal is Poland's first female rabbi. [Poland’s first woman rabbi seeks to restore traditions , by Vanessa Gera, Associated Press, February 17, 2008 http://www.kdhnews.com/news/story.aspx?s=23054] Born in Russia, she grew up and was educated in Israel. [Poland's first female rabbi hopes to 'bring Jewish life, USA Today, 2/14/2008 http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2008-02-14-poland-female-rabbi_N.htm]

References