Israel's President To Carry Torah for Warsaw JCC From Poland's Belvedere Presidential Palace

(lubavitch.com/lns) Israel’s President Shimon Peres will meet with Poland’s Chabad-Lubavitch representatives Thursday at the President's Belvedere House in Warsaw, where he will inscribe a letter in a Torah scroll to be dedicated to the city’s Chabad Jewish Community Center.

Mr. Peres will then carry the completed Torah under the traditional chuppah canopy for part of the procession, thus concluding a four-day visit to Poland in commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Revolt.

Although thousands of Europeans, Americans and Israelis visit the country every year for its Holocaust-related sites and memorials, Chabad-Lubavitch chose to mark the date with a new Torah dedication on Polish ground.

“The greatest tribute to the memory of the Jews who perished in the Holocaust is precisely in the revival of Jewish life in this country,” said Rabbi Sholom B. Stambler, Director of Chabad activities in Poland.

Rabbi Stambler, who leads the Chabad JCC in Warsaw, will be joined by Chabad’s representative to Krakow, Rabbi Eliezer Gurary; Mr. Jacobowitz, the head of Krakow’s Jewish community, and members of Warsaw’s Jewish community, in meeting with the President.

Himself a native of Poland, Peres is expected to take personal interest in the outreach work of Chabad as a vital factor in the country’s Jewish communal life. His relationship with the organization dates back to the early years of his political career. Peres visited the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, of blessed memory, in the early 70s, and is well acquainted with Chabad’s global activities.

In the few years since its establishment, Chabad’s JCC has developed a comprehensive offering of social and educational community programs which contribute to the vibrant Jewish life experience Warsaw’s Jews enjoy today.

At present, it includes a kosher restaurant, adult educational programs, a pre-school, synagogue, mivkah, commercial kitchen, social hall and a yeshiva where students are trained for the rabbinate.

The Torah scroll is to be installed in the sanctuary of the Chabad JCC.

“Dedicating a new Torah—which we refer to as the ‘living Torah’ to Warsaw’s CJCC, where it will be used by Jewish people who identify proudly and actively as Jews, here in Poland, is an exquisite triumph,” said Rabbi Stambler.