JCC Warsaw in Media
American JCCs can learn from their European Counterparts - Madison Jackson - The Forward - 2023
“My JCC in Warsaw is different than a typical American JCC. We don’t have a gym or a swimming pool or a sports center. The three pillars that guide us are community building, culture and education. Founded by JDC and now run by the local Jewish community, our focus is informal Jewish education. We have activities for kids, family workshops, and lectures and meet-ups for adults. If you want to be a part of the Jewish community, you are welcome. What I want to do is give people the tools they need to explore and build their Jewish identity and their own Jewish narrative, as I did.”
Young Polish Jews rediscover their Jewish identity - Monika Sieradzka - Deutsche Welle - 2024
“Young Jews and their children regularly meet up in the Jewish Community Center in Warsaw. The message to the young generation is: Being Jewish and Polish is not a contradiction.
The Jewish Community Center offers a safe space for people who want to learn about and live their Jewish identity — especially those who have just discovered their Jewish roots.”
Jewish Food Returns to Warsaw - Leah Koenig - The Tablet Magazine - 2019
“I was swept away by their incredible weekly kosher all-you-can-eat Sunday Boker Tov Brunch. Polish Jews of all ages gathered at JCC Warsaw to form community. I loved the way this JCC and others were playing a large role in the revival of Jewish life in Europe. I was inspired by the communities the JCC and its members helped build. From that point on, for the rest of that summer, and wherever else I traveled, including to Barcelona, London and Helsinki, I made it a point to visit a JCC.”
7 Polish Cities Where Jewish Culture Lives On - Marek Kępa - Culture.Pl - 2023
“The beating heart of Jewish life in Warsaw, however, is undoubtedly the Jewish Community Center. The organisation is located in the very heart of the capital of Poland, on Chmielna Street. The JCC is a place in which one can encounter as well as co-create Jewish culture in a friendly atmosphere. If you want to participate in a Hanukkah culinary workshop, or maybe enhance your artistic skills under the guidance of a tutor together with a group of folks interested in Jewish-themed art, the Center is the right spot for you.”
Jewish Poland: It’s Complicated - Sienna Girgenti - B’nai B’rith International - 2019
“‘After all these years, embracing my Jewish heritage was like coming back home. Finding a missing element of the whole picture,’ Jachnicka reflected after more than a decade of research and learning. She is now deeply involved in Warsaw’s Jewish Community Center (JCC), where she has met others on the same journey.”
My Father Is Catholic, But I’m a Proud Polish Jew - Marta Saracyn - Hey Alma - 2021
“Sunday brunch at Boker Tov, the cafe at JCC Warsaw, is quite a scene. Every table in the sunlit space is packed elbow-to-elbow with the city’s young and fashionable. […] For the JCC’s CEO, Agata Rakowiecka, Sunday morning’s chaotic energy is the whole point. “I want people to come when we open and stay all afternoon,” she said.”