Rabbi Schudrich recalled a 52-
year old man who came to him
several years ago and is now an
active member of the Jewish com-
munity.
"The previous day his mother
had died, and after the funeral
the neighbors told him it wasn't
his mother," explained Rabbi
Schudrich. "He was a Jewish
baby given away. The woman
who risked her life to save him
never wanted to tell him that he
wasn't really her own, so the
neighbors kept a secret for 52
years."
Despite a recent firebombing
of a shul in Warsaw, Rabbi Schu-
drich is optimistic about the fu-
ture of Jewish life in Poland and
is not especially concerned about
anti-Semitism.
"The anti-Semitism in Poland
is not as overt as the impression
is," he said, adding, "I walk as I
look —with my beard, yarmulke
and nose — and basically no one
bothers me terribly. The real
problem with anti-Semitism is
that it can be a factor in limiting
Jewish identification for certain
Jews. In other words, [people say]
I will not be accepted socially and
professionally by my colleagues
if they know I'm Jewish."
Rabbi Schudrich was pleased
by the overwhelmingly sympa-
thetic response of the non-Jew-
ish community in the wake of the
firebombing.
The evening following the at-
tack, he invited all the citizens of
Warsaw to attend Ma'ariv ser-
vices with synagogue members.
"We had over 300 people in shul,"
he said. Of those, approximately
50 were politicians, including a
representative of the prime min-
ister, the mayor of Warsaw, and
the governor of the district of
Warsaw. In addition, the presi-
dent of Poland came out with a
statement within hours deplor-
ing the bombing, for which no one
claimed responsibility.
Authorities are currently in-
vestigating the bombing, and se-
curity for the synagogue has been
stepped up. The Polish govern-
ment has agreed to cover all
expenses of restoring the syna-
gogue.
`They could have pooh-poohed
it, but they came out unequivo-
cally against it," Rabbi Schudrich
commented. "It really was very
reassuring and in a very ironic
way hopeful to see the response."
During his time in Poland,
Rabbi Schudrich has watched the
Jewish community there blos-
som.
"In 1989, this was a post-as-
similationist community," he
said. "You would have had basi-
cally no young people in shul.
THE BEST KEPT SECRET
IN MICHIGAN
Now more than half the people
that come to shul are young." At
Friday night services, Rabbi
Schudrich estimates that 90 per-
cent of those attending are under
40.
The Lauder Foundation has es-
tablished a Jewish school, four
youth clubs and a summer camp.
It also supports a national Jew-
ish newspaper and a Jewish stu-
dents' magazine and helps repair
Jewish synagogues throughout
the country. Now that computer
use is becoming more widespread
in Poland, the foundation hopes
to enhance outreach by con-
structing a Polish Website with
information about being Jewish.
According to Rabbi Schudrich,
the Lauder Foundation fulfills
two roles: providing funding for
programming and for four full-
time staff members from abroad.
'We hope that within ten years,
young Polish Jews will be taking
over those positions," he said.
Rabbi Schudrich spoke on
"Jewish Life in Poland Today," in
a program sponsored by Congre-
gation B'nai David and the
Midrasha Center for Adult Jew-
ish Studies at the Agency for
Jewish Education. For more in-
formation about the Lauder
Foundation's work in Poland, con-
tact Michael Traison at (313)496-
7657.
❑
A Gift Of Learning
Elliott Baum, a graduate and parent, donates
a Sefer Torah to Hillel Day School.
JULIE WIENER STAFF WRITER
H
illel Day School students re-
cently had a lesson in Torah
writing.
After a hatchalat ktivah
(beginning of the writing) cere-
mony, Rabbi Zvi Chaim Pincus,
who is coordinating the project
with a sofer (scribe) in Israel, trav-
eled from classroom to classroom
last week. Rabbi Pincus explained
the process of producing a Sefer
Torah and honored each student
with a letter written in the Torah.
Denise and Elliott Baum, par-
ents of four Hillel students, do-
nated the Sefer Torah to honor the
memory of both Mr. Baum's fa-
ther, Fred Baum, and good friend
Jimmy Caplan.
A graduate of Hillel, who has
"nothing but positive things to say
about the school," Mr. Baum has
been thinking about memorializ-
ing his father and friend (a class-
mate at Hillel) with a donation for
several years. He decided that a
Sefer Torah would be the most
meaningful, lasting gift he could
make. "I thought by doing this I
would ensure that values of Torah
would go on forever at Hillel," said
Mr. Baum.
"How wonderful it is that El-
liott Baum and his family have
provided every member of the Hil-
lel community with the opportu-
nity to participate in the mitzvah
of writing a Sefer Torah," said Hil-
lel Rabbi Michele Faudem.
The Sefer Torah will be com-
pleted in October, in time for the
celebration of Hillel's 40th an-
niversary.
❑
Corrections
This month's AppleTree incor-
rectly listed the date through
which coloring contest entries
will be accepted. These may be
delivered to our office until 5
p.m. March 31.
The Passover Apple Cake
recipe in AppleTree should have
said, "Bake for one hour at 350
degrees."
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