The project is initiated by the Jewish Community of Warsaw which had asked our Foundation to prepare an exhibition in the building that once housed the Yeshiva in Lublin. It was a great honour for us.

The Yeshiva had been established by rabbi Meir Shapira, the initiator of Daf Yomi. The main of idea of Daf Yomi is that every Jew who follows mitzvot of the Torah should study one page of the Talmud every day, according to a schedule allowing everyone to study the same page on the same day during a 7.5-year-long cycle.

This programme – rabbi Shapira wrote – creates a common language for our nation. When two Jews from different cities, or even countries, meet, the knowledge based on the fact that they are studying the same fragment of the Gemarah can form a deep friendship between them. The conclusion of the study is celebrated around the world by hundreds of thousands of Jews.

The necessary archival research was conducted by the Foundation and its students, on a volunteer basis. Its results exceeded our expectations. We were able to obtain photographs which had never been published before, as well as documents, newspaper clippings. We had to divide the project into two phases. The first phase was funded by the National Centre for Culture. We were also supported by the Jewish Community of Warsaw, the Ilan Hotel, the Culture Office of the Lublin city hall as well as the company ELMAX. The president of the city of Lublin, Krzysztof Żuk, and Chief Rabbi of Poland Michael Schudrich assumed honorary patronage of the event.

The opening was attended by numerous guests from Israel, including a grandson of Meir Shapira’s brother, as well as Moshe Pinchuk and Rachel Yud who cooperated with our Foundation. The exhibition’s partners included Ganzach Kiddush Hashem – an Israeli archive, Netanya Academic College, the Lublin culture centre “Ośrodek Brama Grodzka Teatr NN” and the Lublin Museum. A catalogue of the exhibition has been published. Deputy Mayor of Lublin Artur Szymczyk presented the Israeli partners of the exhibition with commemorative medals in appreciation of their efforts to promote Jewish culture and tradition and develop the understanding of history among the citizens of Lublin. Visitors could learn about the legacy of Meir Shapira, the history of the Yeshiva and its curriculum as well as the daily life of its students.

During the second phase, we plan to present the illustrious ancestors of rabbi Meir Shapira, starting with rabbi Pinchas of Koretz, a student and friend of Ba’al Shem Tov. The library room will be equipped with materials about Jewish traditions.

Curator, exhibition story line – Grażyna Pawlak

Architectural and graphic design – Michał Fronk

Graphic design of photographs – Maciej Sadowski

Display production – Jacek Fijałkowski

Translation from English – Nathaniel Espino, Justyna Pawlak

Translation from Yiddish – Bella Szwarcman-Czarnota, Adam Kopciowski

Translation from Hebrew – rabbi Moshe Pinchuk, Magdalena Sommer

Archival research – Alicja Banna

Exhibition boards

(.pdf)

1 board

2 board