A festive end to the project

The 22 November was a day full of excitement and savoury delights. A group of 25 youngsters under the watchful eye of Ms  Eugenia Blicharz, owner of a kosher restaurant in Warsaw, prepared a selection of traditional  Jewish dishes.  Each dish was tied in with the story of its origins and place in Jewish culture.  Everybody rolled up their sleeves and carried out Ms Blicharz’s instruction meticulously. This cooking session turned out to be so fascinating that even the members of the Dawid Rubinowicz Society couldn’t stop themselves from joining in.

The next important event of the day was the debut of a short drama ‘Dawid Rubinowicz’, put on by the youngsters with the help of Artura Anyż. Our invited audience did not disappoint us and the play was performed in front of what could only be described as a full house. It lasted for just 14 minutes; well that’s how long the “Bolero” lasts, and this was the music on which the performance was based. In such a short space of time the young people using body language and mime portrayed the story about Dawid and his family, leaving the audience with a tear in their eyes.        

After catering for the soul it was time for something for the body. First of all Jan Pałysiewicz chairman of the Dawid Rubinowicz Society thanked everyone, especially: Stefan Rachtan, Urszula Sokół, Halina Mazur  and Artur Anyż, who helped with the realization of this  project, funded by a grant from the 2009  Local Community Culture and Heritage Initiative. All guests, and participants of the projects, were then invited to sample the dishes which had been prepared and cooked by the youngster under the direct supervision of Eugenia Blicharz.  A long table covered with a white tablecloth, beautifully decorated with an assortment of cold appetizers, offered: traditional herring in oil, sweet herring with apple, Galicia salad, potato salad and bread.  For the main meal there were servings of chicken broth (no artificial additives) with matzo balls or noodles and potato pancakes. After this delicious and filling meal, it was time for the dessert, and here we had a choice of  marble cake or  New  Year’s honey  cake  called “lekach “.

The last item on the programme was a visit to the Jewish cemetery and the lighting of candles by the side of the Matzevots.

And so the project, which had been devised and manage by the Dawid Rubinowicz Society from a grant of the Rural Development Foundation’s, “2009 Local community Culture and Heritage Initiative”, came to an end. The project was started in October 2009 with workshops for young people, run by Stefan Rachtan chairman of the Society of Friends of Bodzentyn, about David Rubinowicz and the events leading up to  the discovery of his diary. This was followed by teachers Urszula Sokół and Halina Mazur taking a party of pupils from the Bodzentyn Gymnasium School on a two day trip to the town of Pinczów. Day one embraced a drama workshop based on the Dawid Rubinowicz Diary, and this was run by Robert Szuchta – a recognised educator in Poland and the world on the holocaust.  The day also included a tour of the town. The next day saw a visit to the local synagogue and a workshop conducted by Monika Urban on interpreting and writing Hebrew letters. On the return home Artur Anyż, took this delightful group of Bodzentyn youngsters under his care and engaged them in his drama and literary workshops, the outcome of which was the short drama production which deeply moved the audience at the school performance on November 22. The Dawid Rubinowicz Society is particularly grateful for the help and open mindedness of the Head of the Gynasium School in Bodzentyn, Elżbieta  Biskup  as well as  two  outstanding teachers, Urszula Sokół and Halina Mazur.

Justyna Drogosz