Mission & Goals

A Partnership Program established by the Taube Foundation for Jewish Life & Culture

Founded in 2004, the Jewish Heritage Initiative in Poland (JHIP) nurtures the revival of Jewish life in Poland, furthers awareness of this resurgence among Jews and non-Jews, and fosters positive interest in Poland and Polish Jews among American Jews. This mission reinforces the Taube Philanthropies’ broader purpose of sustaining Jewish culture in the aftermath of the Holocaust.

The JHIP is a partnership program, comprised of Founding Sponsors and an ever-growing number of new partners from the United States and Europe, whose commitments represent significant material investment and philosophical endorsement. The vital participation of our partners reinforces our capacity to encourage connection by Jews around the world with their East European heritage rooted in Poland. In the United States alone, at least two-thirds of American Jews have Polish ancestry.

The flourishing world of Jewish life in Poland received a near mortal blow during the Holocaust. Then, during the Communist decades, Jewish schools were shuttered, public programs on Jewish culture were forbidden, and only a handful of elderly historians were allowed to study the archives of Polish Jewish history.

All that has changed dramatically, and the Jewish Heritage Initiative is supporting institutions and individuals –– in Poland as well as in the United States –– who are helping preserve Jewish heritage or are enriching the cultural and intellectual landscape today.

THE JHIP MISSION IS TO:

• Support the ongoing revival of Jewish culture in Poland
• Further awareness of this resurgence among Jews and non-Jews
• Foster positive interest in Polish Jews and Poland among American Jews, most of whom have Polish roots

To carry out these aims, we have established a base of operations in Warsaw at the Taube Center for the Renewal of Jewish Culture at the Jewish Historical Institute. In fact, we are the only American Jewish foundation with an office and ongoing presence in Poland. The reputable journalist Konstanty Gebert, the founder of Midrasz magazine, is our Director. He and Program Associate Magdalena Matuszewska, a Hebrew Studies doctoral student, coordinate activities with JHIP Director Shana Penn, author and visiting scholar at the Graduate Theological Union’s Center for Jewish Studies in Berkeley, California.