Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]


Let me re-explain :)
Judaism is present in two forms, or rather - divided - into two forms: The religion and the ethnicity.
Some, like I, consider Judaism to be like an ethnic part of the person - So since I was born as a Jew I will always be a Jew whether I believe in god or not. I do respect the Jewish tradition, celebrate Jewish holidays and know the Jewish culture - However I am an atheist, which would make me a kind of "foul" Jew in the eyes of the religious Jews. Some of them say whoever doesn't believe in god and follows his orders in his daily life isn't really a Jew, but I know that no matter what - I will still be considered a Jew by most people because I was born to a purely Jewish family. (BTW, I know Atheists are a kind of problem in Poland themselves, thanks to the church again, but I really don't worry about that since I never really take pride in my Atheism and, being a Jew, I don't think they'd even care anyway like they would if I were Christian)

As for the true part of ethnicity - I am Israeli - first and foremost, before I am Jewish. When people ask me to define my ethnicity I say I'm an Israeli, or an Israeli Jew of Polish descent. I know this might sound as if I was contradicting myself but my Judaism really isn't that big a deal to me.

The Polish descent is showing in some parts of my life; my grandparents speak Polish and I speak to them in Polish sometimes, and my mother is the perfect "Polish mother" stereotype (My grandma too of course) :P

We sometimes eat Polish-Jewish food, as I've said earlier in this thread we are all Polish citizens and in general we know a thing or two about the culture. :)

I am not ashamed of this, quite the contrary, which is why I would like to explore the country by living in it and experiencing life there. I feel I'd be much more comfortable relocationing there rather than anywhere else in Europe, as long as the old antisemitism problems are kept away. :)

Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]

I really don't understand it. :\

Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]

First of all thank you all again for your opinions :) So if I understand correctly, the current form of antisemitism in Poland is mostly "sported" by a minority of now-older fellows, who also tend to do it more verbally and phylosophically let's say, rather than actually and actively spreading it? Furthermore, you say that today's generation is becoming rather oblivious to the whole idea - which is very good news to me.

I would truly like to be accepted should I ever decide to relocate - how do they treat foreigners with a polish background? I assume that most people could see me as "one of them" regardless of my religion? Especially considering the fact I'm by no means the stereotypical Jew ;).

Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]

I think that if it wasn't for the heavy influence of the church, things would've seemed much better for Poland in many aspects - not only the Jewish one, no offence of course... just my 2c being a nonreligious fella. It disappoints me to hear that Poland lacks in religious freedom, especially being a part of the "wrong" religion.

Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]

Haha that's a cool one right there, I'd gladly shake the hand of whoever crossed it out over there, be it for whatever reason xD

Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]

This type of things is what makes me hesitate and think about maybe favoring the much-less religious Czech republic over Poland. I do like Poland more as a country, but I think seeing such things so often might negatively affect my general feeling there, as if they wanted to remind me of the hatred and such. I don't know which way things are gonna go in the future but as far as I understand it, for the time being it has not yet fully perished from the common eye.

Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]

I still cannot come there, I'm stuck in Israel for the near future ;)
To be honest I've been to Poland twice and I absolutely loved it ... which is why I don't like hearing the bad stories some tell about it because I haven't experienced anything like this myself. My grandma left Post-war Poland under Gomułka's lead, and that was due to anti semitism. I know things have changed since, but it seems to me like both sides still hold grudges against each other deep inside.