Poland's Jewish Revival

On a recent Tuesday night in Warsaw, more than 30 people gathered around Rabbi Gil Nativ for the second weekly session of “Judaism Step by Step,” a yearlong course offered by Beit Warszawa, one of the city’s two Reform congregations. The group included homemakers, students, lawyers, and retirees, ranging in age from their 20s to their 70s. Some men wore kippahs; some women donned Star of David pendants on their necklaces. A few spoke English, but many did not, so the Israeli-born Nativ, who gave his talk in English, was accompanied by a Polish translator.

As everyone settled into a haphazard circle, Nativ carefully reminded the group that this was a class for anyone interested in learning more about Jewish life and culture. It was not a conversion class, he asserted—before segueing into a history of Jewish conversion.