Day Eight

This morning we met with Czulent, the Jewish youth group in Krakow and the surrounding region. We talked about the foundation of the group 5 years ago as a place for young people to gather together to discuss the difficulties of discovering their Jewish roots. Over the years it has grown into a group of about 40 members, no longer focusing on their own Jewish journeys, but rather, doing good in the community. The members are very involved in several important projects in the Jewish and surrounding community in Krakow. The organization is rather progressive, encouraging each member to find their own Jewish identity. We saw a short film about the organization that revealed to us many of the personal stories of the members. It was a pleasure to see young Jewish people who were asking themselves the same questions about their Jewish identity that we have been asking ourselves for years. We really connected with these three young Jews on a very personal level. We especially enjoyed meeting adorable baby Shimon, the son of one of the czulent members, who represented to us the future of Polish Jewry.
We then went out to lunch with Alachua, the 18 year old Floridian intern of Rabbi Tanya Segal, who is the founder and Rabbi of Beit Krakow. She told us about the very new Beit Krakow, a progressive congregation of about 25 people in Krakow. They hold weekly Friday night services and create an environment for people to slowly to embrace their Jewish heritage.
We had an afternoon of free time, during which I (Leah) went exploring alone in the city of Krakow as Jason took a shluf. The city is quite small so I was able to walk everywhere and felt really comfortable finding everything. We reunited at Monika's apartment for a classical Slask (Silesia) - beef wraps, potato pancakes with vegetables, and kluske (which Jason is very excited about because he helped her make them and because they were an funny texture.) After dinner we listened to music and talked for hours. I (Jason) LOVE MONIKA!!!!!!! However, she said some things about Israel that I found contraversial and I felt inclined to defend the Jewish homeland until 6 am. Following this we had a very sad and emotional goodbye and headed to the train station.