The Charlotte Jewish News- August 2026- Page 30
Gates of Light: Krakow’ s 35th Jewish Festival Shines Again
By Hagay Hacohen
When film director Jerzy Antczak shot the 1975 film“ Nights and Days,” he secured permission to set fire to a handful of buildings in Kazimierz, once the heart of Krakow’ s Jewish life. Its post-Holocaust existence was abysmal. The silent tombstones around the final resting place of Rabbi Nathan Nata Spira, the 17th-century sage who wrote“ Megaleh Amukot,” did not interest those attempting to navigate life in a socialist land and, later, to survive under martial law.
Once the royal capital of Poland – and also the dwelling place of a mythical dragon – Krakow has rapidly changed since those times. As the Iron Curtain collapsed, regular people began to ask questions long overdue about a history they hadn’ t been told. Poles who discovered their
Jewish roots set up a hotline to help others who were told, usually by a dying grandmother, of a deeply hidden family secret:“ We are Jews.”
Launched by Janusz Makuch and Krzysztof Gierat in 1988 to bring awareness to Poland’ s profound Jewish history, the Jewish Culture Festival in Krakow is, in many ways, a roaring, global success. Each year, the festival features more than 200 events, drawing some 30,000 people from around the world to join in lectures, discussions, workshops, tours, concerts, and musical events. Now, the former makeshift hotline is outdated, and patrons get a free 20-minute face-to-face consultation with genealogist Jakub Czupryński about how to unearth their family’ s Jewish legacy.
Nobody would think of burning Kazimierz for a movie production now. Today it is a fashionable urban spot for hipsters who can afford the ever-increasing cost of living in today’ s Poland.
Festival patrons can get a bite to eat at Hamsa Hummus and Happiness, participate in Jewish community life at the JCC, and explore the very best Jewish concerts and lectures. The range of activities is diverse and includes baking Shlissel Challah with Kasia Leonardi, a piano concert of Chopin’ s music performed by Israeli-born musician Yehuda Prokopowicz, and an encounter with Kobi Farhi of the heavy metal band Orphaned Land.
No longer are Jewish tombstones silent. A guided tour of the Jewish cemetery, led by Adam Musial, helps participants better understand the vibrant Jewish civilization that flourished for centuries before the Holocaust. This remarkable openness reflected the program’ s broader summer theme: opening the gates of Jewish civilization to all who are curious to enter.
One such event lead is Yiddish folk musician and cantor, Jeff Warschauer. An enthusiastic musician who performed bluegrass music to U. S. Army soldiers stationed in Greenland in the 1980s, Warschauer fondly remembers the Charlotte Yiddish Institute that closed eleven years ago. He took up Yiddish as an adult, finally training as a cantor when he was 50 years old.
This summer, Warschauer shared the joy of Yiddish songs and sacred Hebrew Niggunim at the festival tent and the High Synagogue.“ Yiddish culture gives Jews of all ages a way to be Jewish that is not connected to Zionism,” he shared.“ However,” he added,“ being a Yiddishist is not a path of avoidance.”
At this year’ s festival, Polish
reporter Jacek Tacik discussed his recent book“ The End of the World South of Tel Aviv.” In it, he shares what he learned from Israelis who survived the Hamas atrocities, Gaza residents who endured the conflict, and Polish diplomats who attempted to secure the release of kidnapped Polish citizens.
Krakow, like other major cities around the world, saw its share of young people marching in support of the Palestinian cause. Jagiellonian University offered another striking reminder of history’ s layers. Centuries ago, Jewish residents were subjected to an“ ink tax,” which permitted students to demand money from Jews walking near the university. Today, the campus has become a gathering place for demonstrations expressing solidarity with Gaza.
“ We have seen a decline in the number of new applicants seeking to study Hebrew,” scholar Dr. Marek Tuszewicki observed. He also underscored the festival’ s significance as a platform for presenting new research on Jewish history, connecting scholars with visitors from across Poland and around the world.“ When I visited the festival 15 years ago, it was an exceptional opportunity to meet artists and scholars with a passion for Jewish culture and Yiddish,” he said.“ This is something the festival continues to offer today – a wonderful window into Jewish culture, especially how varied it is.”
In his book,“ A Frog Under Your Tongue,” Tuszewicki explores the intersections of Jewish and non-Jewish life through the lens of medicine, health, and hygiene. He points to bloodletting, an ancient practice based on the belief that the body is governed by a system of humors, as an unexpected point of contact between Jews and Poles.“ By the 19th century, the practice had largely become obsolete among the upper classes,” he said.“ Yet I found five documented cases of Polish agricultural workers who visited a Jewish barber not only for a haircut, but also to receive the treatment.”
The influence has flowed in both directions. Many Poles are eager to sample kosher wine, drawn by its novelty and connection to Jewish culture. Meanwhile, karp po żydowsku – carp prepared“ in the Jewish style” and served by many Polish families on Christmas Eve – closely resembles the familiar gefilte fish.
This exchange of knowledge“ from Madrid to Baghdad” through Krakow was not limited to bodily matters. The tombstone of Rabbi Nathan Nata Spira, which still receives kvitlekh today, is a reminder of his stature as one of Poland’ s greatest Jewish scholars and a key figure in bringing the teachings of Isaac Luria of Safed to Eastern Europe.
Yet alongside Poland’ s vibrant and increasingly open engagement with Jewish history are figures who seek to challenge or rewrite aspects of that past. Among them are author Wojciech Sumliński, who has published multiple books disputing Polish involvement in the Jedwabne pogrom, and populist politician Grzegorz Braun, a farright politician who notoriously spews his Holocaust-denying narratives.
In an age shaped by digital populism, where bot farms and professional influencers compete to mold public opinion, such voices often capture a disproportionate share of attention.“ The Jewish Culture Festival in Krakow also helps address the legacy of antisemitism in Poland,” Tuszewicki said.“ That legacy does not disappear with one generation. It can always be picked up by the next, often through what they encounter online.”
“ When I first began performing in Poland and shared those experiences with people back home, one elderly Holocaust survivor shouted at me in Yiddish:‘ You go and dance on the graves of our brothers and sisters,’” Warschauer said.
“ I told him,‘ I cannot argue with that.’ But I can say this: the people who organize this festival are among the finest I have ever met.”