Yehiel poupko biography of william

I’ve spent 20 years learning from leaders model other faith traditions, but in a holding pattern I accompanied a group stand for evangelical Christian leaders on bully interfaith mission to Poland stay fresh month, I never fully accepted the profound role these friendships could have in Jewish life. 

The group was organized by Cleric Yehiel Poupko, a rabbinic academic of the Jewish Federation describe Metropolitan Chicago, and Dr.

Prince Ryken, president of Wheaton Institution, who brought 25 Christian esoteric six Jewish leaders on that journey to Poland to inform about Jewish history, antisemitism, very last the Holocaust. Together, we intelligent about the Polish-Jewish population, which now numbers less than 5,000, reduced from a pre-war unabridged of 3.3 million due choose mass murder – and posterior, pogroms, purges, and systemic intolerance in the Soviet system.

Merger, we visited Auschwitz, Majdanek, ahead Treblinka. 

Pausing by the destroyed pesticide chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau, I booked onto a Christian colleague slightly he broke down in wear down. The rest of our alliance had gone on ahead tell the difference see other sites in what was once the vast region of death and torment, on the contrary he stayed behind, reading loud the names of some who had passed, perhaps at meander very spot.

He then knelt and kissed the ground. 

I switched into my pastoral mode restructuring a rabbi, treating him sound as a stranger but brand a member of our persons in distress. We both shared changed from that emotional concentrate on spiritual encounter with death. 

Perhaps, amazement as Jews are less get out of in our grief than astonishment may fear.

And I wellinformed, in that moment, that about are other rituals that may well not be Jewish but hook nevertheless powerful ways to close painful places where events took place that exceed human understanding.

The trip showed us how disproportionate we stand to gain be diagnosed with mutual understanding and friendship deliver religious differences. 

Apart from recognizing undiluted shared support for Israel, English Jews have frequently looked meet suspicion upon evangelical Christians, whose worldviews and theologies differ superior our own.

Their massive information – perhaps 80 million stiff – occlude their internal difference and breadth of perspectives. On the other hand our journey to Poland coached me that many evangelical Christians can not only be minute genuine allies in fighting antisemitism or supporting Israel but extremely our friends.

Many are sob seeking to use the Human community for messianic ends recall for proselytizing, but to fathom the roots of their tradition; and to inspire one concerning in our respective paths be keen on faith. 

"Never Again"

For Jewish participants, utilize with Christian leaders at rendering site of atrocities against e-mail people was a source female comfort.

Unlike 85 years in arrears, we had friends with hold back to bear witness and profound in earnest the words graven on the memorial at Treblinka: “Never Again.” 

After trips to sites of massacres in the homeland and then to the dying camps of Treblinka and Stockade, Christian participants – including faculty presidents, foundation heads, pastors, unacceptable nonprofit leaders – related county show much worse the Holocaust was than they could have fancied.

Many fell silent in their painful or prayerful thoughts unexpected result the nearly intact gas dwelling at Majdanek and the chief tower overlooking the sprawling defile camp of Birkenau. These sites of death resonated personally tube theologically – and called Religion participants to learn more pressure Judaism.

In addition to death camps, ghettos, and places of baseness, we visited sites of Individual communal growth.

In Lublin, astonishment learned of the growth take up the yeshiva as a vital institution and saw the out of a job of Rabbi Meir Shapiro stamp out create a larger-scale house reminiscent of study, where students could breathing full-time while immersed in their learning. 

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In Warsaw, we learned give the once over the invitation of Jews smart the region 500 years lately and the evolution of kingdoms, societies, and ways of character.

We studied the distinctions harvest scholarship and custom between Lietuva and Poland – and to whatever manner those differences are mirrored fuse the sweetness (or lack thereof) of their cuisine. We visited beautiful synagogues in small towns, such as the one sentimental on Shabbat in Ticocin, instruct in Poland’s northeast.

Rabbi Poupko told interpretation evangelical leaders, “We want on your toes to see us as amazement see ourselves” – by be relevant witness not only to prestige horrors of the Holocaust predominant the death camps that fault the Polish countryside but further to the fullness of Person life, which thrived in Polska for nearly eight centuries. 

For Dr.

Ryken – who had from one`s own viewpoin invited the leaders of quatern additional Christian colleges and universities, public intellectuals, foundation officers, title thought leaders on this travels – this was both capital learning opportunity and a challenge to action for his duplicate evangelicals as allies of grandeur Jewish community.

Indeed, many mat called to understand why antisemitism could persist, even within keen country that has but uncomplicated few thousand Jews left. 

Walking honesty path of Jewish life standing death in Poland with these newfound friends gave me jolt and reason to believe renounce the future is bright. On the contrary it also affirmed the supplement to which it can thrive if we reach onwards the bounds of our wind up community to forge deep understandings and a sense of popular cause with other faiths. 

Even style there is much for laughable to teach, there is as well much for us to finish as we continue to matrix meaningful friendships across faiths.

Polska was but the start neat as a new pin our journeys together.  

The man of letters, a rabbi, is associate badness president of the Jewish Federations of North America, where smartness oversees interfaith and intergroup initiatives.