Caesarea, May 3rd and 4th, 2023 | Wow, what an incredible event! On May 3rd and 4th, two unique Shalom House events were held at the Caesarea Villa by Helping Hand Coalition Global Forum. They were hosted by the “Together Again” Foundation from Kalisz in Poland, represented by three couples promoting Jewish culture and Godly moral values and wanting to promote Polish-Israeli relationships. The event brought together two groups of 20 Holocaust survivors, one from Hadera and the other from Migdal HaEmek, each under the leadership of Sofia and Leonid, respectively.
The afternoon started off with a delicious homemade Polish lunch and dessert, which was a real treat. We then had the opportunity to learn about the history of Kalisz and the legacy of the Jews from the region. It was heartwarming to see the practical deeds that the foundation does, such as cleaning Jewish cemeteries to preserve memories, which touched the hearts of the survivors.
But the highlight of the afternoon was when the foundation presented the survivors with handmade pictures from children in their community. The pictures were filled with happy and emotional feelings; each survivor received one as a gift. It was genuinely touching to see the survivors express their gratitude, with some wishing that those kids would never know and experience war and others hoping that their grandchildren would get to know those kids. The atmosphere was filled with love, respect, and gratitude.
The Polish team played and sang Hebrew songs to cap off the event, inviting survivors to join in. It was a wonderful time for everyone involved. The survivors were overwhelmed by the amount of love, care, and attention shown to them on a practical level. As Jurek, a member of the Polish team said, “You need to show love through your deeds, not only talk about it.” We here couldn’t agree more with this statement and are extremely optimistic about the impact this event will have on Polish-Israeli relationships.
To end the afternoon on a high note, we celebrated the birthday of Sarah Gasiorowski, Chief Administrative Officer of HHC, with the guests. Everyone sang louder than ever in 4 different languages to continue the blessings in English, Hebrew, Russian, and Polish!
See photos from this event here: Link
