Center Stage Winter 2025
The latest from the B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem.
- B’nai B’rith Honors 12 Murdered Druze Children Through Football Scholarships
- B’nai B’rith Attends Relocation of Paraguayan Embassy to Jerusalem
- Meeting with Incoming Polish Ambassador to Israel
- Sixth Meeting of the Hebrew Diplomatic Club
- Victims of Anti-Semitic Murders Since the Establishment of the State of Israel Granted Recognition
- B’nai B’rith Holds Emergency Consultation on Amsterdam Pogrom
- B’nai B’rith Addresses German Political Mission in Israel
- B’nai B’rith Supports Brazilian Film on Ethiopian Jewry
- B’nai B’rith Attends Jewish Agency Board Meeting
- B’nai B’rith World Center Holds Israel-Hellenic Forum Online Conference
- B’nai B’rith Hosts French Catholic Priest, Preeminent Global Leader on Documenting Genocide, in Israel on October 7
- B’nai B’rith Presents Gratitude Award for Preservation of Jewish Heritage
- Jewish Kamino Project Moves Forward
B’nai B’rith Honors 12 Murdered Druze Children Through Football Scholarships
B’nai B’rith launched an initiative to honor the memory of 12 Druze children murdered by Hezbollah on July 27 when the terrorists fired a rocket from Lebanon, striking a football field in the Golan village of Majdal Shams while the children were practicing, leaving a community in grief.
In partnership with the Majdal Shams municipality and the Israel Football Association, B’nai B’rith will provide football coaching scholarships to three young coaches—relatives of the slain children—from the Golan Druze villages of Mas’ada and Majdal Shams. These scholarships will enable them to receive advanced coaching training and certification, fostering resilience and recovery within the community. The training course is accredited by the Israel Football Association to coach youth football.
Majdal Shams Local Council Head Dolan Abu Salah reflected on the program’s significance: “The grave disaster that occurred in Majdal Shams on July 27, in which 12 children were killed and many more injured by a missile strike from the terrorist organization Hezbollah, shocked the community and created an urgent need for rehabilitation activities that will restore hope. As a result, a unique project was established that aims to make football a significant social community focus again. The project includes training local coaches who will connect children and youth to a sport that symbolizes joy, hope and community strength. These football coaches, who will return to the fields after completing their training, will become leading factors in the community rehabilitation process. They will give children and youth a sense of stability and security, restore the positive spirit to the community and form the basis for a future full of hope. This is a significant step in restoring the spirit and resilience of our children. We thank the Israel Football Association, B’nai B’rith International and all project partners for supporting our community during this difficult time. This important project highlights the power of inter-community cooperation for rehabilitation and empowerment and brings a ray of hope for a better future.”
B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem Director Alan Schneider is overseeing the program, and he emphasized its impact: “Upon completing their training, the coaches will return to their villages to train local children, fostering resilience and healing in the wake of unimaginable loss and a year marked by conflict. It is our distinct honor to partner with the Association and the Municipality in realizing this flagship program.”
Niv Goldstein, CEO of the Israel Football Association, added: “The terrible tragedy that took the lives of 12 youngsters, who were simply enjoying the sport they loved most, demands mobilization for rehabilitation and growth. The association has engaged in this issue in several unique ways, and this program is among the most moving. We will cultivate local coaches to ensure not only the continuation of football in Majdal Shams and the surrounding area but also to inspire children to follow in the footsteps of those who are no longer with us.”
The program will culminate in a graduation ceremony and sports exhibition following the two-month course, which began on Dec. 11. Funding for the scholarships is provided by the B’nai B’rith International Israel Emergency Fund. Additional donations can be made here.
Read press coverage:
https://www.one.co.il/Article/24-25/1,0,9028,97581/479825.html?ref=hp
https://www.sport5.co.il/articles.aspx?FolderID=4022&docID=491516
https://sports.walla.co.il/item/3711965
https://www.jns.org/bnai-brith-coaching-scholarships-honor-murdered-druze-children/
B’nai B’rith Attends Relocation of Paraguayan Embassy to Jerusalem
Jack Fleishman, former member of B’nai B’rith’s Board of Governors and president of B’nai B’rith Paraguay, was on hand in Jerusalem as part of Paraguayan President Santiago Peña’s official delegation to Israel to inaugurate Paraguay’s embassy in Jerusalem—one of only a handful of national legations located in Israel’s capital.
Fleishman and B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem Director Alan Schneider attended a special session of the Knesset at which Peña addressed the house alongside Israel President Isaac Herzog. Peña addressed the Knesset Plenum: “Paraguay has been one of the countries that has most vigorously stood beside Israel after the criminal, wicked and cowardly attacks of October 7.” This atrocious act, he said, was not only an assault on Israel, but on humanity itself. “The decision to open our embassy in this great city is not merely the fulfillment of an electoral campaign promise, but a reflection of the deepest values of solidarity and true brotherhood,” Peña said. “Without an embassy in Jerusalem, diplomatic relations with Israel do not have a real heart; do not have a real soul. With this move, our historic friendship will once again have a palpitating heart. It is also a decision that I sincerely hope will inspire other nations to do the same.”
President Peña said that Paraguay had always looked upon Israel as a brother nation. He said that that precisely when the world seems to have abandoned Israel once again, when everyone seems to be turning their backs on this country, “Paraguay is here to say—we are with you, our friends. We will not abandon Israel.” “To every act of anti-Semitism, every Paraguayan will respond unequivocally, ‘nosotros judios.’ We Paraguayans are Jews.”
Speaker of the Knesset Amir Ohana (Likud) said, “By moving your embassy to our eternal capital, Paraguay is joining the respected circle, albeit a still-small circle, of nations that acknowledge the truth and serve as a model of courage…Paraguay under your leadership has stood by Israel in its hour of pain, the hour in which a nation discovers who its true friends are. Since the outbreak of the war, Paraguay has fought bravely to dispel the fog of lies prevailing in the U.N. and international institutions; it has voted in favor of Israel; it fights for our right and obligation to defend ourselves; it stands by us in our battle to eliminate terrorism and for the immediate need to free all the hostages and return them to their families. Supporting Israel often means being in the minority. This requires courage, staying power and the ability to withstand pressures. To choose truth over convenience. Where others hesitated—Paraguay stood firm.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “It is not always easy to take a moral stance. Many people turn their backs and prefer to remain silent. As a courageous, virtuous and proactive leader, you chose not to stand on the side, and history will remember those who stood by Israel in its difficult hour.”
Fleishman and Schneider also attended a reception for Peña held at the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs following the embassy inauguration. Israel Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said: “There is one line that contacts Paraguay’s support for the 1947 Partition Plan to establish a Jewish State and the inauguration of its embassy in Jerusalem today. Recognizing the fact that Jerusalem is united and undivided under Israeli sovereignty is to stand by historical truth. The Jews faced huge efforts to separate them from Jerusalem. By indicting Israeli leaders, the ICC seeks to deny to right of self-defense to the most threatened country in the world”.
Meeting with Incoming Polish Ambassador to Israel
B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem Director Alan Schneider met with incoming Polish Ambassador to Israel Maciej Hunia. Hunia was appointed after a hiatus of three years during which the two countries experienced strained relations due to a controversial law that limited restitution of Holocaust-era private property in Poland. Along with embassy Third Secretary Maria Jurek, who is a member of the World Center’s “Hebrew Diplomatic Club,” they discussed B’nai B’rith history in Poland going back to the end of the 19th century, current activity by B’nai B’rith in Poland including the “Gratitude” Award for non-Jewish Poles who have dedicated themselves to preserving Jewish heritage in Poland, security threats against Poland, anti-Semitism, restitution and the ongoing conflicts in the region. Hunia, who currently holds the title of Head of Mission and was formerly head of Polish intelligence, said that
Polish history would be hollow without the country’s Jewish component and that he is committed to advancing Israel-Polish relations during his tenure.
Sixth Meeting of the Hebrew Diplomatic Club
The B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem Hebrew Diplomatic Club held its sixth session on December 3 with Gil Reich, acting director of Israel’s National Security Council. Hebrew-speaking diplomatic representatives from nine countries—Poland, Panama, Moldova, Japan, Czech Republic, Russia, Korea, Croatia and Romania—and the EU attended the wide-ranging briefing that touched on all of Israel’s immediate security theaters, including the hostages’ plight, Iran, Syria, Lebanon and Gaza. The Hebrew Diplomatic Club was founded last year by the World Center with support from Israel Foreign Ministry’s Department of Protocol and includes some 25 Hebrew-speaking members of the foreign diplomatic corps in Israel.
Victims of Anti-Semitic Murders Since the Establishment of the State of Israel Granted Recognition
For the first time since the establishment of the State of Israel, a special joint committee comprising the government of Israel and the National Institutions met last month to implement Government Resolution No. 492 of May 7, 2023 concerning state commemoration of Diaspora Jews who lost their lives in anti-Semitic attacks abroad. The committee is chaired Yaakov Hagoel, chairman of the World Zionist Organization, and the Director-General of the Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating anti-Semitism Avi Cohen Scali. The committee, under the direction of the Secretary-General of the Jewish Agency for Israel Josh Schwarcz, includes representatives from the Prime Minister’s office, the Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating anti-Semitism, the National Security Council, the Jewish Agency for Israel and the World Zionist Organization.
At its first meeting, the committee granted recognition to dozens of victims of anti-Semitic murders since the establishment of the State of Israel based on an initial professional scanning of the circumstances of the attacks. Among them was Dr. Josef Wybran z”l, president of the Henry Jones B’nai B’rith Lodge in Brussels and president of the umbrella organization of Belgian Jewry (CCOJB) at the time of his murder in 1989 by an Abu Nidal terror squad. The committee has established criteria for recognizing Jewish terror victims in the Diaspora. Nominations for recognition can be sent to avivaz@jafi.org. B’nai B’rith World Center Director Alan Schneider represents the World Zionist Organization on the committee.
B'nai B'rith Holds Emergency Consultation on Amsterdam Pogrom
The B’nai B’rith International Board of Governors and B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem held a consultation on the Nov. 7 pogrom in Amsterdam in which Israeli soccer fans were attacked. CEO Dan Mariaschin moderated the Zoom meeting. B’nai B’rith Hillel Lodge Amsterdam President Orlando Heijmerink and lodge Treasurer (and Dutch Jewish community leader) Roy Wonder Cohen briefed the participants on personal and collective efforts to respond adequately to the huge challenges posed by the pogrom.
B’nai B’rith Addresses German Political Mission in Israel
B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem Director Alan Schneider on Nov. 13 in Tel Aviv addressed a mission of
the Hessen State Christian Democratic Party’s (CDU) young wing. The 13-member delegation is led by CDU Hessen State Chairman Leopold Born and includes members of the state parliament and CDU party state representatives.
Schneider’s presentation, which concluded the official mission program, touched on the ongoing security crisis in Israel, judicial reform, Israel-German relations, anti-Semitism in Europe and Muslim immigration. In opening remarks, Born noted the CDU’s tradition of support for the State of Israel and his own commitment to enhance Germany’s backing for the Jewish state. He also praised the group for keeping its plans to visit Israel despite the ongoing rocket fire.
While in Israel—all but one participant for the first time—the group visited southern communities attacked by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023, conferred with members of Knesset and were briefed at Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The participants also visited Yad Vashem and the Old City of Jerusalem. The B’nai B’rith Frankfurt Schönstädt lodge, located in the state of Hessen, supported the mission. Lodge President Ralph Hofmann, who has maintained a long-standing relationship with the young wing of the CDU party in Hessen, noted that in the charged atmosphere against Israel and increased anti-Semitism across Europe, it is incumbent upon B’nai B’rith to cultivate close relations with supportive political and civic movements.
B’nai B’rith Supports Brazilian Film on Ethiopian Jewry
At the request of B’nai B’rith Brazil, the B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem has extended assistance to a film project that seeks to tell the extraordinary saga of the rescue of Ethiopian Jewry by the State of Israel and the community’s integration into the country. The project, entitled “Beta Israel,” is led by executive producer Sionel Richardo Leão—a journalist, documentary filmmaker, activist on racial equality issues and researcher on Jewish culture. The ambitious film project is the extension of an exhibit he produced on Ethiopian Jewry with support from B’nai B’rith Brazil that was exhibited at the Brazilian parliament.
Richardo Leão is currently in Israel as the leader of a seven-member team recording interviews with both prominent and obscure Ethiopian immigrants, including Members of Knesset, artists and rabbis and visits to prominent historical sites. As envisioned, the feature length film project, which has been endorsed by the Brazilian National Cinema Agency and the Embassy of Israel in Brasilia, will tell the extraordinary story of Ethiopian Jewry from antiquity until the current day. Some 170,000 first and second generation Ethiopians live in Israel today.
According to Richardo Leão, “Producing a documentary describing of this history and the process of transferring this population—that preserved the faith and guarded religious traditions living in a hostile environment—to Israel, aims to surprise spectators by showing how the identity and history of a fragile people was rescued. It will also show the racial solidarity that exists in Israel, the audacity of the state to bring the bulk of immigrants in clandestine operations, and the strength of the biblical tradition that permeates the country. It will show how Jewish culture and strength of faith overcome people’s intolerance and what the State of Israel does for the benefit of others peoples, promoting coexistence with diversity in society.”
B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem Director Alan Schneider said, “It is a privilege to support the efforts to create the Beta Israel film that will undoubtedly impact attitudes in Brazil—and beyond—toward Israel and the Jews.”
B’nai B’rith Attends Jewish Agency Board Meeting
B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem Director Alan Schneider, who coordinates B’nai B’rith’s interactions with the National Institutions, represented B’nai B’rith at the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) Board of Governors meeting held in Tel Aviv. The Board meeting focused on the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel and its aftermath, including rebuilding activities by JAFI. In opening statements, JAFI chairman Gen. (res.) Doron Almog said that the a broad representation of the Jewish world is affiliated with JAFI and that “everyone at the table must contribute and take part in rebuilding Israel after Oct.7. Victory will be measured not on the battlefield but by values that are reflected in society and community.” Predicting a large influx of immigrants making aliyah in the coming years, JAFI, “would promote the expansion of frontline kibbutzim that were attacked on Oct. 7 and would support Jewish communities worldwide that fear for their lives.” He said that the war in Israel has been a turning point for may Jewish people who previously did not identify as Jews or with Israel, and that efforts should be made to attract the young generation of Jews to the State of Israel. Among other sessions, the Board’s Antisemitism Task Force convened, with presentations made by representatives from France, Holland, Canada, Poland and South Africa. The JAFI Committee for Jewish Unity also held a meeting alongside extensive field visits.
B’nai B’rith World Center Holds Israel-Hellenic Forum Online Conference
The B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem held a conference on unfolding events in Israel and the surrounding region for members of the Israel-Hellenic Forum—a group it established in 2019 to further relations between the peoples of Israel, Greece and Cyprus based on common values of peace, mutual respect and economic development. The conference—with some 45 participants—was held in lieu of the Forum’s Jerusalem II plenary that was postponed due to the ongoing emergency footing in Israel. This would have been the Forum’s fourth plenary after Jerusalem (2019), Athens (2022) and Nicosia (2023). The Forum includes over 100 senior foreign policy experts, analysts, journalists, politicians, diplomats and public intellectuals who support the strengthening of relations between the three Eastern Mediterranean democracies.
The conference featured introductory remarks by Israel-Hellenic Forum co-convenors B’nai B’rith CEO Daniel Mariaschin and Dr. George Tzogopoulos, senior fellow at the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP), and an opening presentation from the field by Maj. Liad Diamond, Head of the IDF Public Diplomacy Office.This was followed by four sessions: Israel’s multi-front war—an interim analysis; The war’s impact on geo-politics of the Eastern Mediterranean; The Day After: Gaza and Lebanon; and The US elections and the Eastern Med.
Presenters included former Head of IDF Intelligence research Yossi Kuperwasser; Jerusalem Post Senior Middle East Correspondent Dr. Seth Frantzman; former Deputy Chief of Naval Operations Rear Admiral (Res.) Shaul Chorev, Head of the Institute of International Relations; Prof. Kostas Ifantis; Prof. Andreas Theophanous, President of the Cyprus Center for European and International Affairs; Military Intelligence veteran Dr. Mordechai Kedar; Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS) Vice President Col. (Res.) Dr. Eran Lerman; Senior JISS researcher Prof. Hillel Frisch; Ambassador Mark Regev; Col. Hezi Nechama; Prof. Eytan Gilboa’ Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger; and prominent Greek journalists Yannis Koustsomitis and Adam Provavtas. In additional to in-depth discussions, the conference raised practical avenues for action, particularly in regard to promoting the U.S. administration’s plan to build a land and shipping corridor linking India to Europe through Israel.
B’nai B’rith Hosts French Catholic Priest, Preeminent Global Leader on Documenting Genocide, in Israel on October 7
B’nai B’rith hosted Father Patrick Desbois, a preeminent global leader in promoting human rights and documenting mass atrocities, in Israel, marking the first anniversary of the Oct. 7th attacks.
The visit—coming just days after the largest-ever direct Iranian missile strikes on Israel—included firsthand examination of the terror sites, personal encounters with those most directly impacted by the Hamas and Hezbollah onslaught in northern and southern Israel, and meetings with key officials, analysts and civil society figures. This was Desbois’ first visit to Israel since the violent rampage last year.
Desbois is the author of “The Holocaust by Bullets: A Priest’s Journey to Uncover the Truth Behind the Murder of 1.5 Million Jews” and “The Terrorist Factory: ISIS, the Yazidi Genocide, and Exporting Terror.” A former head of the Commission for Relations with Judaism of the French Bishops’ Conference and consultant to the Vatican, Desbois is a recipient of France’s highest honor, the Légion d’honneur, as well as the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (Cross of Merit 1st Class), Germany’s highest honor. He has received awards from B’nai B’rith among many others.
Desbois’s arrival on Oct. 7 was immediately marked by multiple sirens, requiring his sheltering from new incoming fire by Iran’s regional proxies, at Ben-Gurion International Airport. Nonetheless, accompanied by B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem Director Alan Schneider and B’nai B’rith International U.N. and Intercommunal Affairs Director David Michaels, he attended the national Oct. 7th memorial ceremony led by families of the 101 Israeli and international hostages still held in the Gaza Strip. The ceremony featured bereaved family members and foremost Israeli cultural figures, including Shlomo Artzi and Aviv Geffen. In Tel Aviv, the booms of Israeli interceptions of hostile projectiles were repeatedly felt and heard.
In the days that followed, Desbois observed the devastation in the small community of Kibbutz Be’eri, the harrowing scene of burnt-out cars in T’kuma and the site of the Nova music festival massacre. He met with Qaid Farhan al-Qadi, a Bedouin Israeli hostage freed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) from Hamas captivity, and with Mirjam Bait Talmi, a 90-year-old Holocaust survivor who survived the Palestinian invasion near Kibbutz Zikim, where she has lived since 1955. Desbois inspected weapons confiscated from the terrorists, spoke with personnel at the Shura Base where the IDF rabbinate tended to an unprecedented number of slain victims’ bodies—many mutilated—and met privately with close relatives of hostages Omri Miran and Gadi Moses.
Desbois also held discussions with the director of the human rights department of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the IDF Spokesperson’s Office, the chairwoman of the Civil Commission on Oct. 7th Crimes Against Women and Children, leaders of research institutions specializing in terrorism and strategic affairs, and the founder of Palestinian Media Watch, who detailed official Palestinian incitement to and incentivizing of jihadist violence against Israeli civilians.
Additionally, Desbois learned about efforts by Israel’s National Library to document the Oct. 7th atrocities, and at Sheba Medical Center he met Israeli soldiers who have undergone amputations after sustaining grave injuries during Israel’s ongoing defensive campaigns over the past year.
Desbois said: “Without having visited the scenes of the horrific crimes perpetrated by members of Hamas against the civilians of the southern kibbutz; without having contemplated the devastated and ransacked houses; without witnessing the tears shed by thousands of young people at the October 7 ceremonies; without having taken the time to visit the hospital where many young people are trying to rebuild their lives despite the amputation of a leg or an arm; without having heard the shrill sound of sirens as soon as we landed, announcing a missile from Yemen, I realized, from all sides, how Hamas and its allies have united to destroy the people of Israel.”
He continued, “Hamas, entrenched in its tunnels under schools and hospitals, has never protected Palestinian civilians, who are also perishing without even having access to underground shelters. Despite everything, I remain hopeful of a peaceful future in which all peoples can live in harmony and security.”
B'nai B'rith Presents Gratitude Award for Preservation of Jewish Heritage
Two Polish citizens who have shown commitment to preserving Jewish heritage in Poland and cultivating Jewish-Polish relations were recognized by B’nai B’rith on Wednesday, Sept. 25 at a ceremony at the Galicia Jewish Museum in Krakow, Poland. The award, in its second consecutive year, is called Wdzięczność-Gratitude-הכרת הטוב in Polish, English and Hebrew, and recognizes outstanding contributions of individuals and institutions who have helped preserve Jewish heritage in Poland.
The presentation was part of an international conference “Jews in Krakow: History and Culture” that took place on Sept. 23-25 under the auspices of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences. Recipients of the award were Professor Łukasz Tomasz Sroka in the Individual category and The Brama (Gate) Cukermana Foundation in the Institutional category.
Sroka is a Polish historian, professor of humanities, chairman of the History Discipline Council at the Pedagogical University of Krakow, and a former director (2016–2019) of the Institute of History and Archival Studies of the University of Applied Sciences. He is the author of over a hundred scientific works devoted to a number of topics including the history and culture of Jews in the 19th and 20th centuries, Polish-Jewish relations, the history of modern Israel, Polish-Israeli relations, Galician history (particularly Lviv and Krakow), the history of Austria in the 19th and 20th centuries, the history of elites and Freemasonry, social communication and source studies. Sroka is the creator and co-creator of several exhibitions in Poland and abroad that focus on the history of Jews as well as the histories of Krakow and Lviv.
At the ceremony, Sroka expressed his gratitude for receiving the award: “It reminds me of when I was a Ph.D. student and I was doing my research and writing some articles about B’nai Brith. Back then I could not have imagined that one day I would receive such an award from BB International. I also feel uncomfortable, because I feel that it is not the Jewish organizations and people who should express their gratitude—but it should be us, our society, who owe a lot to the Jews.”
The Brama Cukermana Foundation (The Cukerman’s Gate Foundation) was established by Karolina and Piotr Jakoweńko in 2009 in Będzin. The foundation was established in response to the urgent need to rescue the Jewish House of Prayer located in the Cukerman’s Gate, where historic polychromes have been preserved. The major goals of the foundation’s activity include caring for and protecting Jewish cultural monuments, commemorating the centuries-long presence of Jews in Będzin and the region, educating the local community to promote mutual tolerance and understanding amongst cultures and conducting research on the history and life of Jews in Będzin and the surrounding area. Since 2013, the foundation has organized and conducted educational classes for middle and secondary school students as part of the “Cheder: The space of social education” project. This initiative aims to arouse young people’s interest in the city’s rich multicultural history and foster tolerance and acceptance of cultural diversity. The classes are held in the monumental interior of the former Jewish House of Prayer in the Cukerman’s Gate and in the city of Będzin, where numerous memorabilia of the Jewish community may be discovered. In 2013, the Cukerman’s Gate Foundation published a report on the condition of Jewish cemeteries within the Silesian district of Poland. Its most recent project established the “Ghetto Fighters House” in Będzin, housed in a building that was part of the ghetto from 1942 to 1943 and served as a meeting place for Jewish youth involved in the region of Zaglebie resistance movement. Receiving the award, Karolina said “We would like to dedicate this award to Alex Dancyg, in his memory. Alex was kidnapped on October 7, and he was brutally murdered by Hamas. He was always for us and supported us. He was the one who put Będzin on the map of Israeli travels and included it in the Hebrew guidebooks”.
Piotr added: “We do our work, we educate, we meet people, we guide—like recently, four buses full of Israeli students. It is a very meaningful experience. We are not Jews, and we do not belong to the Jewish community, but we understand, we think that Jewish heritage and history is also an important part of Polish history.”
Members of the award committee are: Prof. Andrzej Friedman, president, and Dr. Sergiusz Kowalski, former president and mentor of the B’nai B’rith Warsaw Lodge; Daniel Mariaschin, CEO, B’nai B’rith International; Lili Haber, chair, Association of Cracowians in Israel; Prof. Adam Daniel Rotfeld, former Foreign Minister of Poland; Rabbi Eric Fusfield, deputy director, International Center for Human Rights and Public Policy and director of Legislative Affairs, B’nai B’rith International; and Alan Schneider, director, B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem, who serves as the award secretariat.
The award is founded on the ancient Jewish principle of giving due praise to God and man and is informed by Psalms 56:12 “Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee.” Presented for the second consecutive year, it represents the first annual award established by the global Jewish community to honor Poles for their contribution to dialogue and preservation of Jewish heritage in Poland and Jewish-Polish relations. Last year’s winners were Urszula Antosz-Rekucka (Shtetl Mszana Dolna) in the Individual category and Forum for Dialogue (founder Andrzej Fowarczny) in the Institutional category.
Jewish Kamino Project Moves Forward
The Jewish Kamino project (“El Kamino de Sefarad al muevo mundo”—The Sefarad Route to the New World) —endorsed by B’nai B’rith—took a step closer to realization when seven local municipal stakeholders (four Spanish and three Portuguese) met in Alcántara, Spain, at the invitation of the Cáceres provincial government that will manage the first leg of the project. Under the project, land routes taken by an estimated 80,000 to 200,000 Jews fleeing the Spanish Inquisition in 1492 and subsequent Portuguese Inquisition in 1496 will be marked for the first time.
The meeting focused on the first leg of the Kamino that will run 165 kilometers from the city of Cáceres in Spain to the town of Castelo de Vide in Portugal, passing through towns and villages with significant Jewish heritage. In a video message screened to those assembled, B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem Director Alan Schneider— who helped initiate the project in 2020— told those assembled that, “The project will help redefine tourism and interest in your region while motivating Jews in Europe, in Israel, in the United States and around the world to come and experience the outstanding heritage of Spanish-Portuguese Jewry that thrived in this area until their expulsion. This crime against humanity left so many Jews dispossessed from a land they had lived in for hundreds of years or from a religion they and their ancestors had practiced for thousands of years. The Kamino will immortalize those Jews who chose to adhere to their religion and beliefs instead of denying or hiding them. Today you take the first steps to implement this project which, as envisioned, will be augmented by a number of other routes running between Spain and Portugal that together will represent a true Kamino–an experience of physical and mental fitness, of exposure to traditions and people, hospitality and history.”
The Interreg program of the EU that aims to encourage cross-border cooperation between neighboring countries of the Union allocated 1.1 million euros to the project earlier this year with the purpose of recovering and promoting the outstanding Jewish heritage in the Iberian Peninsula and making it more accessible to the general public.
The project (launched in cooperation with Walter Wasercier, founder of the Hablame de Sefarad educational project) is expected, when completed, to cover many hundreds of kilometers in four distinct routes leading to Lisbon and Porto in Portugal where the Jews were forcibly converted to Catholicism or forced to leave the country for the New World. The initiative to establish “El Kamino De Sefarad al nuevo mundo” was inspired by the Kamino de Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage routes and will attract many Israeli and Jewish organizations that would be invited to become party to the effort. The marked routes will be an attraction for Jewish visitors, among others, and will constitute a new and important contribution to the transmission and preservation of Jewish history in the Iberian Peninsula.