As a guest pdf-cast, I am making the topic of today’s post here on Huliganov TV the Prof. Moses Schorr Foundation, a unique non-profit organization in Poland, which runs an educational centre for secular and religious Jewish studies and the country’s largest Hebrew language school.
Using a wide range of professional tools, as well as social media, they educate both Jews and Poles about the enormous presence of Jews in the Polish society before the Holocaust, their contribution to culture, political thought and community life, all in a contemporary context, but respectful of tradition. What makes them distinctive is their flexible programming, which allows them to participate in the public debate in Poland, while remaining inclusive for students of all backgrounds and viewpoints.
Their overarching objective is to support the development of an open society in Poland and help counter the rise of xenophobia and isolationism in Europe by using documentary material and scholarly work to re-create the past and bring back to life links between communities that were brutally destroyed by the Holocaust.
Here is the annual report of the Foundation. Hopefully it will spark the interest of some of my readers.
Related articles
- Jill Shaw Ruddock: To Snip or Not to Snip Is Not the Question (huffingtonpost.co.uk)
- Polish officials call on Obama to apologize for ‘death camp’ remark (jta.org)
- Museum of Polish Jews Wins Major New Donations (abcnews.go.com)
- David Herman interviews Jan Gross, chronicler of Polish atrocities (thejc.com)
- The answer is Zionism – Ynetnews (ynetnews.com)
- Aided by Ultra-Orthodox, City’s Jewish Population Is Growing Again (nytimes.com)
Anybody interested in learning classical / biblical Hebrew might also find the following YouTube link of interest.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raKcIpAfyQU&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PL46202A92E6661855
or a search for “H0000 Introduction to the Oral and Serial Course in Classical Hebrew” within YouTube will find it.
This gentleman (Evan Millner) offers comprehensive Latin, Hebrew and French language courses using a method developed by a frenchman named Jean Manesca around about 1845. Apparently Manesca’s method was a significant breakthrough for its time and it seems that Mr Millner thinks highly enough of it to adopt and adapt it for learning Latin and Hebrew. I am using it ( together with Hans H Oberg’s “Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata” ) for learning Latin and am finding it suits my needs very well indeed. If the Hebrew course is as thorough and well presented as the Latin, many readers might find it an additional aid in learning.
The Schorr Foundation seems to be an excellent idea as a means of enabling interested parties to pursue any interest in the Judaic world view. I have read that Poland had a poor record of anti-semitism during the second world war so this initiative can hopefully explain why that particular form of Xenophobia is as irrational as any other.
From my own adeist perspective, I have always admired Jewish scholarship, their achievements and their approach to life.(not necessarily Zionist scholarship and views which have a rather forced,but perhaps necessary agenda).
I do not hold Jewish religious beliefs but nonetheless find their erudition (within a closed system of thought) admirable and an inspiring example to us all.
V.D.Huliganov yet again unearths a hidden gem ! Please keep them coming.
Excellent recommendation! I knew this gent from his Latin course, but never noticed his Hebrew work. Many thanks, and I’ll definitely have it on my watch list.