Jiskry for Hanukkah. Shabbat Together

events Programme

FestivALT and JCC Warsaw organised the Jiskry event as an opportunity for members of the Jewish community of Warsaw to meet people from across Poland who are engaged in documenting and preserving the history of their former Jewish neighbours. The group included activists, enthusiasts and individuals working independently, whose long term and attentive efforts focus on sustaining local Jewish memory. The Hebrew word yizkor refers to remembrance of the dead; like the Polish word iskry meaning “sparks”, it frames memory as an ongoing process that requires care and continuity. The motif of light, also present in the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, provided an important context for the gathering, linking reflection, community and everyday memory practice.

The aim of the event was to introduce the Jewish community of Warsaw to the work of memory activists from cities and towns across Poland, including the regions of Podlasie, Małopolska, Upper and Lower Silesia, Podkarpackie, Mazovia, the Łódź region and Świętokrzyskie. The meeting also had a clear support dimension, creating a platform for exchange for activists who often face local ostracism due to their care for Jewish heritage and the Jewish minority. Participants were able to share experiences and emotions, exchange tools for responding to antisemitism and other forms of exclusion, identify a shared safe space and outline prospects for future cooperation and mutual support.

The first day included a shared lighting of Hanukkah candles and a discussion conducted partly in a workshop format, during which activists presented the outcomes of their work in local communities. The meeting concluded with a shared Shabbat dinner, designed to encourage deeper conversation and informal exchange around the table. On the second day, a performative walk was organised through Warsaw, following traces of contemporary Jewish life and lesser known aspects of the city’s post war Jewish history. Conversations continued over a shared meal after the walk, bringing the two day event to a close.

📸 Beata Łuczak, Karolina Jakoweńko