Men’s Discussion Group Meets Sunday, June 22

The group meets from 9:30-11:30 am at Panera’s at 3401 Boulevard of the Allies on the ground level of the Quality Inn University Center motel, near Magee Women’s Hospital. The meeting, which is open to all men of Temple Sinai, consists of informal conversation, led by David Hirsch, about the weekly Torah portion, as well as topics related to contemporary social or political concerns. To put yourself on the e-mail list for receiving a summary of the Torah portion and related questions, as well as newspaper and magazine articles a few days before each discussion, contact David Hirsch at dhirsch@dkwlaw.com.

Rabbi Gibson Describes Experience of Finding His Roots

In the final 2007-08 installment of the Sunday Brunch & Lecture Series Sponsored by Brotherhood on April 27, Rabbi Gibson spoke of a trip he took with his father to Krynki, Poland, last December, to learn about the town in which some of his ancestors, including his great-great grandfather, lived until 1875.

The town of Krynki (pop. 2,700) is located about 25 miles northeast of Bialystock, near the Belarusian border. Krynki’s population peaked at 10,000 in 1914, and 60 percent of the residents were Jewish, employed predominantly in the leatherworking trades or as scholars. Today, there are no Jews living in the town, and the main industry is bottling mineral water from a local spring.

Rabbi Gibson and his father visited the Jewish cemetery in Krynki, pulling back overgrown grass to find as many of the 3,000 faded and overturned gravestones as they could. They spent three hours walking “every inch” of the grounds, but they could not find headstones of deceased family members.

The rabbi also visited Krynki’s municipal building, poring over birth records dating from 1873, and handwritten in Hebrew and Cyrillic. Although Rabbi Gibson could not find records of his family members’ births, he found ones pertaining to the Shapira Family.

“These records are a historian’s dream,” said Rabbi Gibson. “They’re just waiting to be translated.”

While in Krynki, Rabbi Gibson met a local historian, who told him that 70 percent of the businesses in the town’s main square were once owned by Jewish merchants. When Rabbi Gibson asked her if Jews came back to claim their property following the defeat of the Nazis in World War II, she replied coldly, “It used to be theirs; now it’s ours.”

Still standing in Krynki are a Lubavich synagogue and a mosque, the latter being a remnant from the days when King Jan III Sobieski, Poland’s monarch from 1674-96, compensated his mercenary Tartar Muslim soldiers with land because he could not afford to pay them. Rabbi Gibson photographed the buildings and will present those photos to Lubavich and Islamic Centers of Pittsburgh, respectively.

Other Travels in Poland

The rabbi and his father also visited Bialystock and Warsaw. Rabbi Gibson noted that monuments related to the Holocaust in all three cities they visited acknowledge that Jews perished at the hands of the Nazis because they were Jewish, not Polish. He also observed that many Polish non-Jews regard Judaism as a “historical relic” rather than as a vibrant modern religion.

While in Warsaw, the rabbi met Jews at the city’s Reform synagogue, now served by

Rabbi Burt Schuman, formerly of Temple Beth Israel in Altoona, PA. “Polish Jews are looking for a modern Jewish connection,” said Rabbi Gibson, “and they’re not yet sure where to find it.”

The rabbi and his father saw a bridge to the future when a group of Israeli high school students visited the mound at Mila 18, the address where the Warsaw Ghetto uprising began 65 years ago.

“Anyone who believes that all Jews marched to their deaths like sheep to slaughter should remember Mila 18,” said Rabbi Gibson.

Brotherhood Officers Welcome

If you’re interested in becoming an officer for the 2008-09 year, contact Harry Back, harryback@verizon.net