POLAND: Ancient Jewish school rebuilt in Lubin

A higher Rabbinical School or Yeshiva in Lublin is being restored to pristine original condition after years of total neglect. The original designs no longer exist so those who remember it in its prime are helping in its renovation. The Polish town of Lublin was once home to one of the most important Jewish communities in Eastern Europe. It was where the Yeshiva, or Jewish seminary, was established by Rabbi Meir Shapiro in 1930 and regarded as one of the most prestigious Rabbinical establishments in the world. A Yeshiva is a Jewish, religious seminary for boys and men where the traditional Jewish law, which includes the Bible and ancient rabbinic commentaries, is studied. Jews flocked to the school not only from all over Poland, but from as far a field as South America. Like many other Jewish communities in Eastern Europe, most of the Lublin community was perished during the Nazi Holocaust, and its Yeshiva was destroyed. These days, this important centre is being transformed to its pre-war condition. This, says head of the reconstruction, is not an easy task. "Unfortunately none of the pre-war documents describing the design survived. All of the documentation and archives concerning the Yeshiva building were destroyed during the war. This has caused a rather large problem for us, Rabbi (name inaudible) came and with him we agreed on how the building probably looked before the war", said said the head of reconstruction, Piotr Korkosz . Brick by brick, the interior of the school is built. Windows are replaced walls are repainted. One of the most important features of the school is the 'Mikveh', or the ritual bath. According to Jewish beliefs the Mikveh must contain 'living' water straight from nature. These beliefs require the Mikveh have a specialised catchment and drainage system which delivers water from the roof to the baths. During work on the Mikveh, original tiles decorated with the star of David were found and are about to be re-laid. "We determined the details concerning the installation of the Mikvah (ritual bath). Collecting of the holy water, which come from God, is the most important component of the installation. Now everything is clear and we are only working on the pump room," Korkosz added . "On the map of orthodox Judaism, and generally the history of Jews, Lublin is a very important place. This is especially due to The Yeshiva and Meir Shapiro. Lublin was regarded as the Jerusalem of the Polish Kingdom. It was here where religious life was blossoming and was influential until 1939," says historian Robert Kuwalek Lublin was captured by the Germans on September 18, 1939. Two ghettos were established in the city soon after the occupation, where about 34,000 Jews lived before most of them were killed in the Nazi death camps. Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939, starting World War Two. By the time it was expelled in 1945 some 3 million ethnic Poles and 3 million Polish Jews had been killed, many in extermination camps such as Auschwitz. Most of Poland's three million Jews -- then the world's largest Jewish community -- were killed in the Holocaust. Thousands of survivors emigrated in 1968 after an anti-Semitic campaign by the then-ruling communists.

ITN Source | November 30, 2007

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