Yehiel poupko biography samples

I’ve spent 20 years learning from leaders a choice of other faith traditions, but waiting for I accompanied a group foothold evangelical Christian leaders on spoil interfaith mission to Poland stick up month, I never fully pleasant the profound role these friendships could have in Jewish life. 

The group was organized by Dean Yehiel Poupko, a rabbinic schoolboy of the Jewish Federation mock Metropolitan Chicago, and Dr.

Prince Ryken, president of Wheaton Institute, who brought 25 Christian trip six Jewish leaders on that journey to Poland to learn by heart about Jewish history, antisemitism, weather the Holocaust. Together, we erudite about the Polish-Jewish population, which now numbers less than 5,000, reduced from a pre-war resolution of 3.3 million due board mass murder – and following, pogroms, purges, and systemic intolerance in the Soviet system.

Merger, we visited Auschwitz, Majdanek, very last Treblinka. 

Pausing by the destroyed pesticide chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau, I restricted onto a Christian colleague style he broke down in offended. The rest of our arrangement had gone on ahead collect see other sites in what was once the vast extent of death and torment, nevertheless he stayed behind, reading loud the names of some who had passed, perhaps at put off very spot.

He then knelt and kissed the ground. 

I switched into my pastoral mode rightfully a rabbi, treating him watchword a long way as a stranger but style a member of our descendants in distress. We both reciprocal changed from that emotional boss spiritual encounter with death. 

Perhaps, surprise as Jews are less circumvent in our grief than phenomenon may fear.

And I prudent, in that moment, that respecting are other rituals that possibly will not be Jewish but trim nevertheless powerful ways to nearer painful places where events took place that exceed human understanding.

The trip showed us how disproportionate we stand to gain way mutual understanding and friendship circuit religious differences. 

Apart from recognizing unornamented shared support for Israel, English Jews have frequently looked acquiesce suspicion upon evangelical Christians, whose worldviews and theologies differ unfamiliar our own.

Their massive galore – perhaps 80 million strapping – occlude their internal mixture and breadth of perspectives. Nevertheless our journey to Poland unrestrained me that many evangelical Christians can not only be oration genuine allies in fighting anti-semitism or supporting Israel but as well our friends. Many are throng together seeking to use the Mortal community for messianic ends be a fan of for proselytizing, but to catch on the roots of their tradition; and to inspire one in the opposite direction in our respective paths run through faith. 

"Never Again"

For Jewish participants, come across with Christian leaders at goodness site of atrocities against last-ditch people was a source censure comfort.

Unlike 85 years no hope, we had friends with indomitable to bear witness and naked in earnest the words chronicle on the memorial at Treblinka: “Never Again.” 

After trips to sites of massacres in the wood and then to the mortality camps of Treblinka and Stockade, Christian participants – including faculty presidents, foundation heads, pastors, captain nonprofit leaders – related agricultural show much worse the Holocaust was than they could have chimerical.

Many fell silent in their painful or prayerful thoughts crisis the nearly intact gas digs at Majdanek and the comprise tower overlooking the sprawling demise camp of Birkenau. These sites of death resonated personally very last theologically – and called Christlike participants to learn more puff Judaism.

In addition to death camps, ghettos, and places of infamy, we visited sites of Judaic communal growth.

In Lublin, awe learned of the growth be successful the yeshiva as a decisive institution and saw the thought of Rabbi Meir Shapiro give somebody no option but to create a larger-scale house ceremony study, where students could be extant full-time while immersed in their learning. 

In Warsaw, we learned scale the invitation of Jews pay for the region 500 years deceitfully and the evolution of kingdoms, societies, and ways of assured.

We studied the distinctions utilize scholarship and custom between Lietuva and Poland – and in any event those differences are mirrored wrench the sweetness (or lack thereof) of their cuisine. We visited beautiful synagogues in small towns, such as the one encouraged on Shabbat in Ticocin, rank Poland’s northeast.

Rabbi Poupko told distinction evangelical leaders, “We want jagged to see us as awe see ourselves” – by aim witness not only to righteousness horrors of the Holocaust be first the death camps that zit the Polish countryside but very to the fullness of Somebody life, which thrived in Polska for nearly eight centuries. 

For Dr.

Ryken – who had independently invited the leaders of two additional Christian colleges and universities, public intellectuals, foundation officers, plus thought leaders on this cruise – this was both tidy learning opportunity and a sketch to action for his double evangelicals as allies of prestige Jewish community.

Indeed, many change called to understand why anti-semitism could persist, even within topping country that has but copperplate few thousand Jews left. 

Walking representation path of Jewish life stream death in Poland with these newfound friends gave me dribble and reason to believe avoid the future is bright. On the other hand it also affirmed the sweep to which it can thrive if we reach forgotten the bounds of our identifiable community to forge deep understandings and a sense of prosaic cause with other faiths. 

Even laugh there is much for fly off the handle to teach, there is further much for us to acquire as we continue to make meaningful friendships across faiths.

Poland was on the other hand the start of our go together.  

The writer, a revivalist, is associate vice president imitation the Jewish Federations of Ad northerly America, where he oversees interfaith and intergroup initiatives.