Kuma (a trip to Poland)

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Kuma (a trip to Poland)

Kuma, the Dr. Marcia Robbins-Wilf Hadassah/Young Judaea Holocaust Studies Program, is an optional one-week journey to Poland which offers Year Course participants an opportunity to look at the events surrounding the Holocaust through a Zionist prism, to explore the rich heritage of Eastern European Jewry, to bear witness to the tragedy and to look towards the future.

The Journey is an enriching and meaningful experience that has three main goals:

To explore the rich heritage of 1000 years of Jewish history in Poland and to find its relevance in our lives today.
To explore the events of the Holocaust through a Zionist prism and bear witness to the destruction of Polish Jewry.
To understand our responsibility as young Jews today towards the world in which we live.

The Kuma program is held during February/March and costs approximately $2,000. All students on Year Course / Shalem may sign up for Kuma (except those who are Olami participants).

Educational Preparation:
In order to enhance the Kuma program, three educational seminars are planned for the months preceding departure as well as preparatory assignments. Students who participate in Kuma miss a week of the regular Year Course / Shalem program and need to arrange with their individual teachers for make-up exams and papers as well as work out volunteer schedules with their work placements.

Topics Covered:
Each year, Year Course evaluates the Kuma program. Please note that the schedule is subject to change:

Warsaw Remnants of the Past – Okopowa Street Jewish Cemetery, Jewish Historical Museum, Umschlagplatz Memorial
Shtetl-What was Lost! – Town Synagogue, Old Jewish Market Square, Lupochowa Forest (site of mass graves), Treblinka Extermination Camp Memorial
Auto-Emancipation – Ghetto Wall Remnant, Ghetto Heroes Walk, Rappaport Memorial, Majdanek Extermination Camp Museum and Memorial
“There Once was a World” – Gravesite of Hasidic Master Rebbe Elimelech of Lezajsk, Tarnow, Zbilitowska Gura (site of mass graves)
Final Solution – Auschwitz Extermination Camp Museum and Memorial, Tour of Birkenau, Tour of Auschwitz 1, Polish National Museum
“Shabbat HaYom…” – Shaharit Rema Synagogue, Walking Tour of Krakow Synagogues, Walking Tour of Valvel Castle and Park, Seudah Shlishit- Krakow Style, Havdalah, Yiddish and Folklore night
Memory and Meaning – Krakow Sites: Old Krakow Cemetery (16th Century), Krakow Ghetto Wall, Schindler’s Factory, Site of Plaszow Concentration Camp Tour and Ceremony
Coming Home – Return to Israel, Straight to the Old City of Jerusalem and the Kotel, Messibat Siyum Breakfast in Jerusalem