Conference: Mikveh: Space, Function, Law and Motive in Wroclaw, Poland.

Cologne, Germany. Mikveh. Parts of the mikveh date at least to the 9th century. Most of the impressive structure visible today was rebuilt during the Romanesque period. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2007.

Mikveh. Mss. illustration. German, c. 1428. Hamburg Staats und Universitatsbibliothek, Codex hebr 37 folio 79, verso, dtl. This is one of the earliest (the earliest?) known representation of a mikveh.

Conference: Mikveh: Space, Function, Law and Motive in Wroclaw, Poland.

The 8th Wroclaw Conference in Jewish Studies is devoted to the them Mikveh: Space, Function, Law and Motive and will take place on May 25th-26th, 2011.

The conference is organized by the Jewish Studies Department of the Wroclaw University . The aim of the conference is to initiate interdisciplinary studies on the mikvah understood as a cultural and architectural space, connected with the tradition as well as the religious and state law. For more information please visit the website of the Jewish Studies Department of the Wroclaw University http://www.judaistyka.uni.wroc.pl/judaistyka

Siracusa (Sicily), Italy. Mikveh. Photo: Alberto Jona Falco in A. Sacerdoti, Guide to Jewish Italy.

Boskovice, Czech Rep. Mikveh in house basement across from synagogue. Photo: Samuel Gruber (2004)

Cleveland, Ohio (USA). Former mikveh, Morrison Ave. now Morrison Ave. Missionary Baptist Church, built 1925. Photo: Samuel Gruber (1997).

The conference language is Polish. Here is the schedule.

Conference Program (in Polish)

VIII Wrocławska Konferencja Judaistyczna
Mykwa – przestrzeń, funkcja, prawo i motyw

25 V 2011 (Instytut Filologii Polskiej, pl Nankiera 15, sala Nehringa)

9.45-10.45 otwarcie konferencji,
słowo wstępne:
Mariola Apanel (Urząd Miasta Wrocławia);
Rabin Icchak Rapoport (Gmina Wyznaniowa Żydowska we Wrocławiu): Mykwa według halachy (prawa żydowskiego i haszkafy (ideologii żydowskiej)


I sesja ( prowadząca Joanna Lisek)
11.00-11.30 Marta Kowalska (Uniwersytet Wrocławski): Rytualne łaźnie żydowskie na przestrzeni wieków
11.30-12.00 Bartłomiej Stawiarski (Uniwersytet Wrocławski): Mykwy aszkenazyjskie w średniowieczu
12.00-12.30 Lara Lempertiene (Uniwersytet Wileński): O biednych niewiastach i białych koszulach (czystość rytualna w czasachWaadu Litewskiego)
12.30-13.00 Ignacy Einhorn (Zawodowe Studium Medyczne w Kłodzku): Uzdrawiająca moc wody – mykwa z punktu widzenia historyka medycyny

13.00-13.15 przerwa

II sesja (prowadząca Bella Szwarcman – Czarnota)
13.15-13.45 Karolina Szymaniak (Uniwersytet Jagielloński): Genderowe odczytanie motywu mykwy w literaturze jidysz
13.45-14.15 Joanna Lisek (Uniwersytet Wrocławski): Problematyka mykw w księgach pamięci
14.15-14.45 Marzena Szugiero (Instytut Historii PAN): Obraz mykwy w reportażach Wandy Melcer Czarny ląd – Warszawa
14.45-15.15 Sylwia Karolak (Uniwersytet Adama Mickiewicza): Uniwersum polskich zobowiązań – o Mykwie Piotra Rowickiego raz jeszcze
15.15-15.45 Anna Małecka: The Mikvah Project - o współczesnym doświadczeniu mykwy

15.45-17.30 przerwa obiadowa

17.30 zwiedzanie synagogi i mykwy wrocławskiej
19:00 film produkcji czeskiej Golet v udoli (1995), reż. Zeno Dostal, scenariusz na podstawie powieści Ivana Olbrachta - Jana Dudakova [Synagoga pod Białym Bocianem]


26 V 2011 (Instytut Filologii Polskiej, pl Nankiera 15, sala Nehringa)

III sesja (prowadząca Agnieszka Jagodzińska)
9.00-9.30 Marek Tuszewicki (Uniwersytet Jagielloński): Cadyk w mykwie - rytuały oczyszczające Chaima Halberstama z Nowego Sącza (1793-1876)
9.30-10.00 Anna Ciałowicz (Gmina Wyznaniowa Żydowska w Warszawie): W mykwie na sadogórskim dworze
10.00-10.30 Piotr Grącikowski (Uniwersytet Wrocławski): Isze, nidde, mikwe - wierzenia, zwyczaje, przesądy ludu żydowskiego związane z menstruacją. Refleksje nad nienapisaną rozprawą Reginy Lilientalowej
10.30-11.00 Hanna Grzesiak (Uniwersytet Adama Mickiewicza): ”Mikwa parties” – ich przebieg i znaczenie w życiu wybranych etnicznych grup żydowskich
11.00 – 11.15 przerwa


IV sesja (prowadząca Karolina Szymaniak)
11.15-11.45 Monika Krawczyk (Fundacja Ochrony Dziedzictwa Żydowskiego): Ochrona mykw w Polsce.
11.45-12.15 Grzegorz Syrek (Pracownia Architektoniczna ASPA), Jerzy Kichler (Gmina Wyznaniowa Żydowska we Wrocławiu): Mykwa przy ulicy Włodkowica 9 we Wrocławiu - przestrzeń zapomniana – przestrzeń odzyskana
12.15-12.45 Agata Rybińska (Uniwersytet Wrocławski): Mykwa niechciana-mykwa zapomniana? - mykwa nieobecna w procesie modernizacji Żydów niemieckich w XIX wieku?
12.45-13.15 Tamara Włodarczyk (Uniwersytet Wrocławski): Przepisy prawne dotyczące mykw w Polsce w okresie dwudziestolecia międzywojennego i ich egzekwowanie na przykładzie powiatu włocławskiego

13.15-13.30 przerwa

V sesja (prowadząca Lara Lempertiene)

13.30-14.00 Bella Szwarcman-Czarnota (Stowarzyszenie „Midrasz”): Źródło Miriam w Torze i literaturze midraszowej
14.00-14.30 Aleksandra Przeździecka-Kujałowicz (Instytut Badań Literackich PAN): Nowe rytuały związane z mykwą.O feministycznym podejściu do tradycji rytualnego oczyszczenia
14.30-15.00 Anna Wiatr: Brud i ‘oko patrzącego’. Żydowski feminizm wobec przepisów ablucji kobiet
15.00-15.30 Artur Kamczycki (Uniwersytet Adama Mickiewicza): Jona w paszczy ryby. Genderowe refleksje nad wodą Zamknięcie i podsumowanie konferencji

Organizatorzy:
Zakład Studiów Żydowskich Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego
Związek Żydowskich Gmin Wyznaniowych w RP Odział Wrocław
Patronat:
Fundacja Ochrony Dziedzictwa Żydowskiego w Polsce
e-wydawnictwo.eu Portal Publikacji Naukowych

Wroclaw, Poland. White Stork Synagogue. Photo: Ruth Ellen Gruber

Poland: White Stork Synagogue of Wroclaw Rededication Ceremonies all this Week

Years of work culminate this week with the formal rededication of the historic White Stork Synagogue in Wroclaw, Poland. I have written about this synagogue, its history and the resotration project before. According to the JTA "Events through May 9... include an inaugural ceremony, concerts, art exhibits, guided tours, religious services and an international conference on Jewish life in the city."

Read more here.

http://www.jta.org/news/article/2010/05/06/2394693/wroclaw-synagogue-rededicated

Poland: Wroclaw's White Stork Synagogue Restoration Complete, Re-Dedication Set for May

Photo: Gazeta Wroclawska newspaper. Click HERE

Poland: Wroclaw's White Stork Synagogue Restoration Complete, Re-Dedication Set for May

(ISJM) The long-awaited restoration of the interior of the historic White Stork Synagogue in Wroclaw has been completed. Gazeta Wroclawska newspaper reports that the synagogue is to be rededicated in May, with the interior furnishings will be installed in April. It's taken about 20 years to complete this project.

See pictures new here. See Ruth E. Gruber's pre- and post- restoration pictures here.

The facade restoration was completed in summer 2008. Read my past posts about the synagogue here:

Vandalism at Wroclaw Synagogue
Jun 19, 2009

In Wroclaw, swastikas and anti-Semitic slogans were painted on the buildings of the White Stork Synagogue, the facade of which has been recently been restored, and Jewish Information Center in Wroclaw. The case is being investigated by ...

Wroclaw's White Stork Synagogue Facade Restoration Complete
Jul 03, 2008

The on-gain, off-again restoration of the White Stork Synagogue in Wrocław , Poland (formely Breslau , Germany ) is nearing completion. The historic is the center of the local Jewish community. It was returned to the Jewish community in ...

Poland: Vandalism at Gdansk and Wroclaw Jewish Sites

Poland: Vandalism at Gdansk and Wroclaw Jewish Sites

(ISJM) The Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland this past week reported two incidents of vandalism at recently restored Polish Jewish sites.

On June 16, 2009, the Jewish cemetery in Gdańsk-Chelm was vandalized by still-unknown attackers, who painted an anti-Semitic slogan in Polish ( "Jews to the oven, for this is your place") on a placard placed at the gate of the newly-renovated cemetery. The local Jewish community reported this case to the Police, and the President of Gdansk, Pawel Adamowicz, expressed his regret in an official letter to the local community. The cemetery has vandalized in the past.

In Wroclaw, swastikas and anti-Semitic slogans were painted on the buildings of the White Stork Synagogue, the facade of which has been recently been restored, and Jewish Information Center in Wroclaw. The case is being investigated by the Police. Last January (2009), a ‘Free Palestine’ slogan was painted at the Center’s window in January 2009. The Wroclaw municipality will clean the graffiti, which will cost about 1500 euros.

Poland: Wroclaw’s White Stork Synagogue Restoration Continues, Neo-Classical Façade (1829) by Carl Ferdinand Langhans now Complete

Poland: Wroclaw’s White Stork Synagogue Restoration Continues,

Neo-Classical Façade (1829) by Carl Ferdinand Langhans now Complete

by Samuel D. Gruber

The on-gain, off-again restoration of the White Stork Synagogue in Wrocław, Poland (formely Breslau, Germany) is nearing completion. The historic is the center of the local Jewish community. It was returned to the Jewish community in the 1990s, and was on the first Jewish heritage projects in Poland to receive substantial funding from Germany. But after initial building stabilization work and interior restoration, the project slowed. Now, ISJM member Ruth Ellen Gruber reports that work is continuing at a faster pace thanks in part to efforts of the Norwegian Jewish singer Bente Kahan and the Bente Kahan Foundation, established in 2006. Restoration of the impressive synagogue and the Aron ha-Kodesh (ark) are almost complete.

The three-story neoclassical building was designed by Carl Ferdinand Langhans (1781-1869), and opened in 1829. Langhans was one of the foremost 19^th century architects in Silesia, and one of Germany’s foremost theater designers. In Wroclaw he also designed the city's Actors’ Guild Theater and Opera House. The painter Raphael Biow (1771-1836) and his son Hermann (1804-1850) were responsible for the interior decoration (most of which is now lost)

The synagogue has a main prayer hall surrounded on three sides by galleries for women. There are two levels of galleries to the north and south and a single gallery on the east (ark) wall. The wood frame of the Aron ha-kodesh and the damaged tablets of the Ten Commandments are all that remain of the original religious features.

The synagogue remained in use until 1974 when the authorities expropriated it from the community and gave it to the University of Wrocław for use as a library. In 1989, the University then transferred the building to the Musical Academy, from which a private firm purchased it in 1995. It was returned to the Jewish community and has undergone intermittent restoration for the past decade.

In addition to raising funds and coordinating restoration efforts, the Foundation sponsors weekly concerts in the synagogue during the summer. Bente Kahan told Ruth Gruber that enough funds have been raised to complete the restoration by 2010. According to Gruber” she's managed to do this by making her foundation a "neutral, non-profit organization" that, because of its neutrality, can navigate the sometimes treacherous waters between the municipality and the Jewish community.

After restoration, the synagogue will include a Jewish Museum devoted to the history of the Jews of Wroclaw According to its website, the "Wroclaw Center for Jewish Culture and Education,” situated in the Synagogue and administrated by FBK, “organizes cultural and educational events year around, serving as a house for learning and culture, a place for tolerance and understanding.”

For photo galleries of the synagogue and recent restoration works see: http://www.fbk.org.pl/synagogue.php?lang=en

For Ruth Ellen Gruber’s Jewish Heritage Travel blog see:

http://jewish-heritage-travel.blogspot.com/2008_06_01_archive.html