September 15, 2012 | 7:13 am

Rosh HaShana Secular Confessions

Posted Ian Shulman

It’s Rosh HaShana Eve 5773 and I’m stuck in a dusky rainy city in the Northern Germany. Yesterday I got in touch with the local rabbi again, checked the prayer times and received a shiny wall calendar for the upcoming Jewish year. The rainy Jewish New Year’s Eve is on my mind.

Naming the holiday ‘the New Year’ instead of using it’s common Hebrew name puts it on a different level for me. An admired milestone of the Jewish tradition and the Jewish calendar turns to a clear and familiar image, year’s major event, the starting and the ending point. 2012 and 5773 suddenly start to look as two crucial points on two equally important scales.

Yet for me it was always like that. I got to a Jewish highschool when I was seven, where I suddenly realized that I have to let one more New Year to my calendar. Eating apples with honey in October and finding presents under the Christmas tree in January meant twice as much fun and didn’t contradict each other at all. Since then I was regularly updated. All I knew is that the Hebrew month of Tishrei starts somewhere between September and October and there is a Jewish community there to remind me when exactly is the festival. And Tishrei meant a holiday spirit in the air, just like our own rainy humid Jewish Christmas (though during my early schools years the real Christmas didn’t settle in the post-Soviet region yet and all ‘Christmas spirit’ responsibilities were carried out by the December 31st).

This was a period of an unimagined harmony between Judaism and Christianity, grounded on honest secularity. Christmas tree was a well-established tradition exclusively related to the New Year’s Eve and totally disconnected from Christmas by the Soviet regime. It gained a new, progressive, universal and secular image. Rosh HaShana alongside with other major holidays was a first hesitant attempt to get a feeling of how our grandparents used to live and to find some old and new friends.

Rosh HaShana is a high time to sum up the last year, but please allow me to refer back to the last decade. We became more independent, more self-aware, more heritage-aware, more progressive, more green. We started to live in two calendar years, in two traditions - the universal and the Jewish one. Last but not least - it’s been almost a decade now since my family bought a Christmas tree last.

September 15, 2012 | 6:16 am

A synagogue in Mumbai?

Posted Pavel Pustelnik

the keneseth eliyahoo synagogue

Mumbai. Yes, exotic more than you can imagine. And in the middle of the city there is a huge synagogue. It is blue and as exotic as the whole city.

- Where are you from? - Poland. - Aaaa, Holand, The Netherlands! -No, Poland. - Aaaa, Poland! After the standard conversation with a police officer we just learn that we cannot enter the synagogue. - Come back tomorrow, sir. So we are coming back the next day. The air is humid and smells of everything. The same police officer is around and welcomes us with a wide smile. - Now open, please go. It is hard to call his look into our bags as a security control, but apparently the area is safe.

The synagogue seems to be under constant construction or constant demolition. Workers are walking around, doing pretty much nothing. The walls are covered with some kind of clay in some parts. In some places there is only a bit of shaded paint. The building sits proudly and looks at the small buildings around. It is cut from the outside only to some extent. The noise from outside is very present and it is pointless to look for relief here. It is hard to imagine any celebration taking place here. The whole space is cut into small parts with bamboo scaffold. Not really used, but omnipresent in India.

Talking to anyone here does not help much - apart from the fact that taking pictures relates to a payment of 200Rs there is not much that we can learn from the staff. We head towards an information board. What a surprise! "The Famous Madonna Visits The Synagogue". "The Famous Madonna" is obviously a pop singer who paid visit to the building. Some twenty faded pictures show the whole event in details. Any information about the synagogue or the local community? Not really.

Finally we learn from our guide that the building was constructed in the 19th century and painted in stunning blue that is visible up to today. The building was to commemorate Elias David Sasson, a businessman trading with India. The synagogue is built of bricks and Cooria stone. This is all what can be found for now, but the inquiry is in progress...

*This article has been sent from an internet cafe in Mysore, where the tiles are crazily yellow, krishnas are looking at the computer users and the boss of the place watches Bollywood movies. Greetings from India

ps. You can find more synagogue photos here : http://jewrnalism.com/jewrnalism-gallery/journeys?page=2#category

1 Comments — Leave your comment

September 14, 2012 | 7:14 am

Hayden Cohen - Leeds, UK - Secrets of the Elders of Zion

Posted Dana Hadadi

Hayden Cohen has always wanted to be a member of the Elders of Zion. A secret organisation controlling the world sounds great. He's Jewish. He thinks like a pensioner. Unfortunately he hasn't received an invitation yet. So he decided to form the UK branch of the Elders of Zion himself. Come to this, the new members open day and see if you have what it takes. Containing performance poetry, music and comedy.

Bit about me

I'm Hayden Cohen. A 26 year old performance poet, singer-songwriter and funnyman from Leeds, UK. I've been performing forever and being Jewish has always been a large part of that.

Aged 8, I played the part of Tevier (with drawn on beard) at my local Jewish primary school; the only one in Leeds.

As a community, Leeds has approximately 10,000 Jews with 250,000 across the whole of the UK. This makes us less than 0.5% of the population. Even so, Jews seem to be a very visible part of public life. Jews own many of the large chain stores or are on their board of directors. They are in politics, law, entertainment and the media amongst others. Whilst the majority of Jews do not have these roles, the fact that there are so many can create negative perceptions of the community.

As an artist, I really want to play with these ideas and show that whilst a lot of the stereotypes are terrible, maybe some of them may have some accuracy.

I love being Jewish, but if we can't laugh at ourselves, someone will persecute us instead. That's history.

To some extent though it's easier being Jewish in the UK than in Israel as you have to work at it. I have to be careful that what I eat is kosher and can't really show my Jewish pride openly; but enough of Tel Aviv.

As Jewish culture is something to be worked at, rather than be constantly apparent as in Israel, it means that I can't take my heritage for granted even though I'm agnostic whilst also a practicing Jew. This perspective also intrigues me and will be exploring it further within the show.

'Secrets of the Elders of Zion' will be my third one man show. I've taken my first two shows 'Rantings of a Young Fool' in 2010 and 'Age of the Geek' in 2012 to the Edinburgh Fringe. Approximately 1000 people have seen the shows so far and the response has been great.

I pride myself on managing expectations as the majority of my performance is multi-disciplinary meaning that not everything is funny or serious. It's somewhere in the middle.

On the whole reviews reflect this with the vast majority giving me 3 stars with a few 4 and 5 stars. At such an early stage of my career this is fantastic.

I look forward to improving my craft and bringing 'Secrets of the Elders of Zion' to the Rushes festival.

1 Comments — Leave your comment

September 14, 2012 | 6:56 am

The New Cemetery in Cieszyn

Posted Pavel Pustelnik

The journey through Cieszyn Silesia continues and after Skoczów and Wilamowice we come to the centre of the region – Cieszyn, a town that used to be an important place for the Jewish community before the 2. World War.

It has been raining cat and dogs since days. The Polish summer is not always as nice as it could be for those who are trying to enjoy their holidays. When we approach Cieszyn we see heavy clouds above the centre. Not a good sign if you plan to take some good shots at a cemetery. Arriving from the North we go first to the cemetery called “The New Jewish Cemetery”. A large white gate looks locked but surprisingly after stronger pushing, it lets us in.

The cemetery was built once the old site has been fully occupied and the decision was taken to organise a new structure. The decision has been granted after several problems encountered by the Jewish community of Cieszyn. First of all there was considerable opposition from coming from the neighbourhood that was not happy with an extension of the cemetery. Even though the land for the venue was bought already in 1898, it was only in 1906 when any works could be started. The first funeral took place in 1907.

Today it is not easy to imagine the old good days of the place. By the entrance you can see a golden sign that commemorates the works that were done at the cemetery in 1997-1999. It has been only 13 years ago but in between visibly, not enough care has been given to Cieszyn's site. The graves are covered by a thick layer of leaves, some soil, some of them almost disappeared. The cemetery house practically does not exist any more. A large decorative structure based on several arches has been partially demolished during the restoration. It was not possible to save the building as a whole therefore the roof has been removed and today only pale-yellow walls are witnessing the past.

What is interesting about the New Cemetery is the fact that the War and the German Occupation did not harm the place. In march 1943 the decision was taken to change the role of the Jewish cemeteries in Cieszyn and they were supposed to be reshaped into parks. It is easy to imagine what this would have meant for the site. Fortunately, the implementation of the decision has never happened. Why than the cemetery is almost completely destroyed? The last funeral took place in 1961. The communist regime did not treat Jewish cemeteries as a part of the Polish heritage and there was a silent approval of “using the place”. This has been happening in a very obvious place – the graves became a source for the buildings around Cieszyn. Well, if you flip hamsas and menoras, you can recycle a Jewish grave into a Christian one. This has been a wide practice as well and led to a further decline of the site.

The rain does not stop. The depressive atmosphere of the place is doubled by the weather. Time to find the other Jewish cemetery in Cieszyn.

0 Comments — Leave your comment

September 14, 2012 | 6:54 am

The Old Cemetery in Cieszyn

Posted Pavel Pustelnik

Cieszyn is called “Little Vienna”, the reason being architecture that was to emulate the city that rich bourgeoisie has been enjoying in the period of the Hungary-Austria Empire. A large, lovely market square, narrow streets and a centre for contemporary design on the Castle Hill. What brought us here is the Old Jewish Cemetery, called a cemetery for the gravestones. Cieszyn has two Jewish sites that neighbour each other. The New Cemetery is smaller and less gravestones has been preserved there (http://www.jewrnalism.org/news/item/118-the-new-cemetery-in-cieszyn).

The Old is a true jewel that literally moves you to the past. It is hard to imagine a more dramatic location than a hill that faces the whole town, its towers and elegant houses. The cemetery is fenced and locked. No signs about how to enter, no information about who could have a key to the gate. We decide to trespass and use a hole in the fence. The area is densely populated, but nobody sees us. Muddy and slippery ground does not really invite to spend more time here. The details of the gravestones are amazing enough to stop caring about the state of the outfits. There are no paths, no idea how to embrace the whole site. Once you enter you can finally see crystal clear why the place is called a cemetery for graves.

There is no structure, some of the graves are lying covered by soil and some are still standing, lining towards the ground. One or two looks as if they were flying barely touching the ground. Another couple of gravestones are barely readable, but nicely smooth after being touched after countless raindrops. The place is awkwardly silent and untouched. As if it was a sanctuary of the past that will never come back. The cemetery conserves a much longer past than its new counterpart. It has been founded in 1647 and is the oldest in the area. Some people suspect that there was a cemetery already in the Middle Ages but there are no strong proofs for that. At the beginning the site was serving only an opulent Singer family who later on sold it to the community and it became the main necropolis in the area. In the 19. century a cemetery house was built together with a house for a guardian and a stable for the horses that were used to pull the caravan. The building is in a painfully bad shape and entering it would be too risky, so we leave the large orange structure behind.

We learn though that this was the place where the German Gestapo killed 81 people taken into hostage, among them 11 Czech scouts. A sad story of the decline that touched the New Cemetery is retold at the older site as well. It did not suffer much during the war, but what hurt it the most was the value of stones used to decorate the graves. The site was regularly used as a free deposit of marble and GRANIT???????????? used later in the area. In this way the cemetery has been slowly disappearing. An interesting project has been organised to help in preserving the site. In 2009 through a cooperation of the prison in Cieszyn and the Jewish community in Bielsko-Biala, the prisoners have been engaged in works at the site. In return the were offered educational meetings related to the Jewish culture. It is difficult to estimate what the impact of the project was. The town that looks at us calls for a further exploration. Given the fact that the two Jewish cemeteries in Cieszyn are so large, there must be some more Jewish traits downtown. Perhaps some Jewish design on the Castle Hill...

0 Comments — Leave your comment

September 14, 2012 | 6:48 am

Singer’s Warsaw

Posted Pavel Pustelnik

Singer's Warsaw - Warsaw is becoming a new Berlin, a place to be – I was told recently. During the summer Singer's Warsaw Festival definitely. For a couple of days the city becomes a hub of Jewish culture and ideas.

Próżna Street

The centre of Warsaw is a mosaic of places formed by the history and contrast. The soc-realist concrete structures with the Palace of Culture and Science as their leader neighbour rebuilt buildings destroyed during the war and absolutely invaluable modernist architecture, not appreciated by many but receiving more and more attention recently. In the middle of this dichotomous reality there is the old Umschlag Platz and adhering to it Próżna Street.

I am not going to talk about the history of the city, but those two venues were important for the Singer's Warsaw.

Art in a living room

Próżna means “empty” or “vain” in Polish and is a short street where you can get some nice treatment in Próżna Cafe and experience a bit of Austrian culture in the Austrian Cultural Centre, that during the Festival was used as one of the venues. The street starts close to the metro station and is a bit hidden behind large, after-war buildings. First you see concrete towers but as you walk it becomes a bit darker and the atmosphere changes – bricks, entrances to the houses and empty windows. That is the every day look. During the festival everything changes. The ground floor flats that normally are not occupied serve as galleries where art is exhibited. In one of them there was a photography exhibition displaying the history of Jews from Góra Kalwaria/Ger – their histories were preserved only by couple of pictures showing how active the community was. Entering the houses gives a strange impression. In an obvious way you can feel that you are a trespasser – the ad hoc exhibition barely cover the walls of a house where people used to live. Sometimes it's disturbing when you let you mind wonder about the residents' lives. Apart from photography, humid flats were venues to show off the modern Jewish art – glass, plstic, metal.

Plac Grzybowski

As you walk Próżna Street towards Plac Grzybowski (Grzybowski Sqaure) it becomes narrower and narrower. - Where the fuck did you but this shit?! - somebody is shouting. No, it is not a street performance. It is just a worker from the opposite site. The area is getting popular therefore also the developers smelled that selling flats in the area might be a chance to make money. The closer you are the more people you meet. Old manor houses has been redecorated for the Festival. The old Jewish names for shops and restaurants were put again on the facades. People walk the area astonished by its sudden “jewishness”. The Square has been completely redesigned. The city's authorities has invested a lot to transform it from a dull place into a buzzing place for both elder residents and hipsters or youngsters who come here with their skateboards. It is the heart of the Festival. Here the stage was constructed and due to closeness of the Jewish Theatre, which is one of the most important (if not the most important) Jewish places in Warsaw. That was the venue, where the most expected concerts took place: Kayah, Steczkowska, Joshua Nelson or the Klezmatics. The square was always filled with a multi-language crowd and unexpected meetings of people coming from literally everywhere.

On the other side of the river

For the second time, the Festival was not limited just to the centre. The organisers from Shalom Foundation made it infect the other part of the City – Praga. The area has been often in older guides as a district where you will be mugged and your wallet would disappear once you have crossed the bridge on Wisła (Vistula). Although during the night some parts are perhaps not the safest in Warsaw, Praga is flourishing and Shalom has appreciated it. The other part of the city was filled with events such as workshops where you could learn traditional Jewish dances. Led by a celebrity-dancer Michał Piróg attract a lot of attention. Apart from that Praga has been witnessing Jewish cooking by Jasiek Kuroń. This district of Warsaw is however best known from its clubs hidden somewhere between the houses. Clubs to which usually you are brought by somebody as you would not expect a party to take place behind a very very standard looking doors... Do SzaZaZe, Slavic Gonzo, Deborah Strauss and Jeff Warschauera ring you a bell? All of them were invited to the festival as well.

Warsaw's beach and Tel Aviv's atmosphere

One of the most jarring events of the Festival was “La Playa: Warszawa-Tel Aviv”. Often Israel is seen through the prism of Holocaust and wars, but is not really considered as a party place. Especially by those who visited only Jerusalem and Betlehem for example. Tel Aviv however is as good for a party as Barcelona, so why not to showcase it. The Warsaw's beach might not be the same as in Tel-Aviv, but the klezmer music played on marimba by Alex Jacobowitz was making everybody go crazily happy. Sisterhood between the cities?

All together during the Singer's Warsaw over 200 events ranging from concerts, exhibitions, lectures took place all over the city.

www.jewrnalism.org

0 Comments — Leave your comment

August 31, 2012 | 7:51 am

The repressed story of the Austrian railway

Posted Itamar Treves-Tchelet

The express night train from Vienna to Prague was supposed to leave at 23:15. But in the evening of March 11th 1938 at 20:00, thousands of people were pushing each other, squeezing themselves into the train while demanding to depart immediately. Suddenly, the S.A troops showed up with their whips, drunk from victory and eager for revenge. One by one, they went from wagon to wagon, pulling men, women and children back to the platform, leading them to prison (reconstructed version)

This is how George Eric Gedye, a British journalist, described the events in Vienna’s in the evening before the famous “Anschluss”, the annexation of Austria to Nazi Germany.

This was also the evening that changed the history of the Austrian railway company. The company, which back then was named BBÖ (today ÖBB), has turned this year 175. For this occasion, the management has decided that it is time to cope with the company’s history. It was considered inevitable, that a crucial and central institution in the Austrian day-to-day life like the national railway will neglect and ignore its role in the most severe crime in the history. That led the company to prepare an exhibition, describing the way Hitler has used the rail company for his purposes.

The initiator of the exhibition was Michael Wimmer, a strategic consultant to the management. A few years back, Wimmer returned from a visit in Paris; there he met the former Nazi-Haunter and former candidate for the presidency of Germany, Beate Klarsfeld. She suggested the idea to tell the company’s story through an exhibition, the same way as it was done before by the German rail company. “I passed the idea on, and it was accepted right away by the CEO Christian Kern”, he says.

The next step, he joined forces with the project manager Trude Kogoj and the PR specialist Milli Segal. The result: an informative exhibition named “Repressed Years” which was inaugurated in June 2012. Recently the exhibition was prolonged till the end of October.

“There were some people that said this step is wrong because it may lead to bad publicity. People claim that the current rail company did not exist in 1938-1945”, Wimmer says. “But the management went through with it by insisting: we owe to the victims, we owe it to ourselves”.

Well educated Nazis

Adolf Hitler understood already from the beginning, that without an efficient and innovative rail system, his plan is meant to fail. That is why he hurried to hold a speech in front of 12,000 admirers at the Nordwestbanhof, a former central train station in Vienna, indicting the important future role of the railway.

Practically, the Austrian train became overnight a part of the German Reich’s rail system, that earned 2,122 locomotives, 36,990 wagons and 5,000 km long tracks. Julius Dorfmüller who was appointed as transportation minister was also in charge of the railway.

The merger between the railway systems took a year and brought a change of general atmosphere in the company. 20% of the workers were fired immediately because they were either Jewish or “unfit”. Instead, some 9,000 Nazi party members were appointed to different positions. Moreover, youngsters who dreamt of becoming loco drivers or technicians could join the railway already at the age of 14 and go through the training free of charge. Women, who wanted to join the crew, had to write a composition about “the women’s role in the war”. All the railway members had to swear loyalty to the Führer.

Due to their centrality in the daily life, the stations became a stage for Nazi propaganda. The workers had to be the example for the “the perfect Nazi”, including the welcoming every passenger with “Hail Hitler”. They were also enforced to read the daily propaganda newspaper for their further education, and it was their job to encourage young passengers to join Nazi youth movements. Those who sold tickets, or were even seen with Jews weren’t eligible for promotion. Furthermore, the station’s halls were used for different exhibitions, like the famous “Eternal Jew” exhibition in the summer of 1938 in Vienna. In order to prevent behavioral problems, the Gestapo was put to supervise the happenings on the platforms.

War tool on tracks

After the occupation of Poland in the fall of 1939, the train began to function as a military unit. The workers were compelled to high devotion and self sacrifice, as the parole dictated: “The wheels must turn for the victory”. As the battles went on, the Nazis required more and more equipment to keep up to the war plan. 1.1 Million People were employees of the railway all over the Reich, working sometimes 56 weekly hours. 200,000 forced workers from Poland and Hungary were enslaved for 1.5 Reichsmark per day. These workers participated in the construction of 7,000 war locomotives, including the Steam Locomotive from series 52, which was lighter, faster and above all – could operate in the soviet winter.

Only the most loyal workers could take part in the military aspect of the railway. Those who were selected joined the “Wehrmacht” in the Russian front and risked their lives, sometimes in the cold of -42 degrees Celsius. Their missions varied between building bridges on the occupied territory and the adaptation between the Soviet track standard (152.4 meters) to the German one (143.5 meters). These workers were trained to use weapons, wore uniforms and served with pride and devotion. Hans Ebenwaldner, a travel manager, wrote to his relatives on January 9th 1942: “I am situated now in the wild and wintery nature in Russia, proud to wear the uniforms of the German soldier and happy to take part at the destruction of the Bolshevism”.

The exhibition reveals also that there were also a few people who tried to oppose the Nazis’ plan. Around 300 railway workers were sentenced to death and 1,400 were sent to labor camps due to underground sabotage activities. These employees belonged mostly to socialistic and communistic circles. These organizations were banned already during the dictatorship in Austria before the war. Their moves were monitored closely by the Gestapo and varied between sabotaging the tracks (putting them out of order for a few hours), putting sand in the engines, damaging the brakes, blocking the oil tubes of the train, confusing documents and schedules and distributing anti-Nazi propaganda. After all, the damage they succeeded to make is considered minor.

Train of life

128,000 Jews managed to escape Austria by train. The journey out was involved with high costs and the issuance of documents which were sometimes missing not available. Furthermore, a special supervision was put in order to tax or confiscate every valuable object as gold, securities – and mostly to make sure that those who leave are left poor. One of the most famous escapers was the father of the psycho-analysis, Sigmund Freud, who had to leave behind a third of his fortune in order to leave to London. Three of his sisters were left behind and murdered later on in the holocaust.

The trains took also a big part in the “Kindertransport”, where 10,000 Jewish children from Germany, Austrian and Czechoslovakia were brought to safety in England or USA. There they were taken to host families. For many children, the moment before the departure was the last time they saw their families alive.

Train of death

With the decision upon the “Final Solution” in Wannsee on Januray 20th 1942, the train took up the mission of transporting Jews, Roma and Sinti and others to their death in the extermination camps in eastern-Europe. The command and the control over the “Sonderzüge” were made in Berlin, as Adolf Eichmann was put in charge of the mission. It was his authority to coordinate between the local German police and the railway. The railway could decide how many wagons were used to take a given amount of people, sometimes 5,000 people on one transport. In order to make the extermination efficiently – special incentives were invented: if the train leaves with more than 400 passengers, then the one that ordered the train would pay the half of the price for “passengers” in the third class. Children under 4 were taken for free. Bringing the empty train back was already included in the price.

The aftermath

The end of the war left the Austrian railway in a desperate condition: the whole management escaped or was arrested. The Nazi workers were fired or sent on forced vacation. It was the simple workers who had to rebuild everything all over. Years after the war, the railway reimbursed owners of property that was confiscated for the usage of the railway. In 2000, the railway paid 14 Million EUR for some reconciliation funds.

The bloody account of the railway system stands on 3 Million people who were sent to their death during the holocaust. Those who survived were left with sights they will never forget. This is how Edith De-Zeub –Kleber described her journey from Vienna to Riga: “The little we packed will be kept for us in the last wagon, so they promised…the journey to the unknown lasted 5 days and the more it went, the colder it got. Till we reached the station in Riga. The youngsters had to go 2 hours by foot to the Ghetto. The elderly, and my mother among them, were supposed to be taken by a truck. She never came. You probably understand that only the expression “Train Station” still gives me nightmares”. (restored version)

0 Comments — Leave your comment

August 31, 2012 | 7:41 am

Eating Tel-Aviv in Warsaw

Posted Pavel Pustelnik

Warsaw and Tel Aviv do not have too many features in common. This does not mean however, that you cannot taste a bit of Israel in the Polish capital.

Singer’s Warsaw Festival is one of those occasions when it becomes more trendy to show up at certain places. Those venues are happy to see more guests and try to catch them in many ways. Tel Aviv Deli+Cafe is a place in a bustling Poznańska Street in Warsaw that has been offering catering at the Festival’s events. Tempting as they have been, it would have been better to see them in their natural environment, freshly brought from the kitchen.

- Let’s go to „Beirut”, I haven’t heard anything good about „Tel Aviv” - says my friend with whom I was supposed to have lunch. Hearing is not tasting so we pass the competitive Lebanese restaurant and after couple more steps we are in Israel. Absolutely welcoming staff sends us directly to the lunch buffet as it showcases the place’s offer.

The choice is stunning indeed. You start with a variety of kosher bread and one of colorful houmous automatically lands on your plate to disappear faster than you can imagine. Olives, beans and corn are served in abundance so you can barely fit any of the mint-strawberry pasta salad. Still some place? Than you can proceed to pickles and a nice surprise: under a silver cover there is a hot buffet – aubergines, tomatoes, rice and sage rolls. If this was still not enough, a plate of soup can be an answer. Not to mention a set of fresh salads and mouthwatering sauces.

Walking back to a table with a plate (or what is worse with couple of them…) is a kind of walk of shame. You feel that eating all that will cause you pain but you still want to challenge yourself. Kosher bread, which is not a common thing in Poland is good but not remarkable. However, when dipped in houmus it is simply irresistible. Strawberry pasta is a challenging issue. You hate it or love it, especially if grown in the tradition of eating pasta only in salty versions. For me, could have been spiced up with some herbs, but still interesting. Pickles and olives must have been brought from somewhere more far away than in other high street restaurants. The star of the buffet however was a spicy tomato soup, which must have been touched by sun and carefully chosen spices. Unfortunately the hot buffet could not overtake the impression made by the soup.

Tel Aviv Deli+ Cafe is however not only an all-you-can-eat buffet. They have a wealthy offer of cakes (pretty expensive though) and coffees. In the mornings breakfasts are served and devoured by Warsaw’s army of freelancers coming here with their computers. The place has a little shop-section as well, where one can equip their kosher cupboard.

The only disturbing issue about Tel Aviv Deli Cafe is the music. What is served to the foodies ears should be desperately reconsidered. A mix of Polish pop, alternative and who-knows-what together with Jewish rhythms does not help too much in enjoying delicious pieces of Israel.

If you know Jewish places of Krakow, Tel Aviv Deli+ Cafe might be a shock – no old furnitures and dark colours. No smell of old textiles. The Warsaw’s face of Jewish food is bright, eco (the place is vegetarian) and well-designed without any superfluous decorations. Simplicity is the answer here.

Tel Aviv Deli+ Cafe

ul. Poznańska 11

00-680 Warszawa

22 621 11 28

Mon-Thu 10:00-00:00
Fri-Sat 10:00-00:02
Sun 10:00-00:00

0 Comments — Leave your comment