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Poland & Israel: Two Stories, One Heritage

September 20, 2025

Travel Insights

Jewish heritage travel is most powerful when it brings together the two central chapters of Jewish history: Poland and Israel. These lands tell very different stories, yet they belong to one shared heritage. Together they hold the fullness of Jewish memory, loss, resilience, and renewal.

Poland was for centuries the heart of Jewish life. From Kraków’s yeshivot to Warsaw’s theaters, from Hasidic courts to great centers of scholarship, Jewish creativity shaped the cultural and spiritual landscape of an entire nation. That world was shattered during the Holocaust, but its traces remain in synagogues, cemeteries, and town squares, and in the memories carried forward by descendants. Visiting these places is not only an act of remembrance but also an act of continuity, making sure that Jewish life in Poland is remembered as it truly was: vibrant, complex, and deeply rooted.

Israel, by contrast, tells the story of survival and renewal. Here Jewish life is not a memory but a living reality. Walking the streets of Jerusalem or Tel Aviv, hiking through the Galilee, or meeting Israelis of all backgrounds shows how the Jewish people rebuilt themselves after devastation. Especially in the wake of October 7th, a visit to Israel is also an act of solidarity. Travelers witness resilience firsthand, see communities rebuilding, and participate in the story of a nation that continues to create, grow, and thrive.

When combined, these journeys complement each other in profound ways. Poland connects travelers to the depth of memory, to family roots, and to the weight of history. Israel offers the strength of continuity, a reminder that Jewish life did not end in tragedy but flourishes in the present. Together they create a narrative that spans loss and rebirth, exile and homecoming, sorrow and celebration.

For families, this dual journey becomes a way of weaving identity across generations. Parents and children can stand together at sites of remembrance in Poland and then celebrate Shabbat together in Israel, linking memory to life. For communities, it offers collective meaning: the chance to mourn, learn, and celebrate together as one. For educators, it provides the full arc of Jewish history to carry back to their classrooms, helping students understand not only what was lost but also what endures.

These journeys are demanding, but they are also transformative. Travelers often return with a stronger sense of belonging, a deeper appreciation for their heritage, and a renewed commitment to carry Jewish life forward. Poland and Israel, taken together, remind us that Jewish identity is not defined only by tragedy or only by triumph, but by the interplay of both.

To walk in Poland and Israel is to step into the heart of the Jewish story. It is to honor the past, embrace the present, and carry hope for the future.

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Shlomo Katz

Art of Light, Tradition, and Renewal

Shlomo Katz (1937–1992) was an extraordinary Jewish-Israeli artist whose legacy bridges Jewish tradition with striking innovation. Born in Łódź, Poland, and immigrating to Israel in 1945, Katz’s life and art reflect the story of the Jewish people—rooted in memory, faith, and renewal.

Educated on Kibbutz Mishmar HaEmek, Katz revealed his talent early and later studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he developed a unique artistic style influenced by medieval icons and oriental miniatures. His work combined ancient motifs with modern sensibility, establishing him as one of the most respected Jewish artists of his time.

Katz became known for his groundbreaking technique of painting with oil on gilded metallic surfaces, producing works that shimmer with light and spiritual depth. This mastery reached its height in his monumental series for the United States Air Force Academy Chapel in Colorado Springs, where nine radiant paintings stand as a testament to his vision. He later refined this approach into advanced screen printing with metallic inks, creating celebrated works such as The Ten Plagues and the Passover Portfolio.

His art was exhibited worldwide and entered major collections, including the Wolfson Museum of Judaism in Jerusalem, the National Gallery of Australia, the Museum of Jewish Art in Paris, and the Jewish Museum of Australia in Melbourne.

Shlomo Katz’s creations embody art as a bridge between past and future, tradition and modernity. They remind us of the enduring beauty of Jewish culture and the human spirit. His legacy lives on in works that continue to inspire, connect, and illuminate.

Oded Feingersh

Painter of Color, Land, and Spirit

Oded Feingersh, born in 1938, is one of Israel’s most distinguished contemporary painters, carrying forward the legacy of his grandfather, Meir Rosin, the first sign painter and landscape artist in the Land of Israel. Growing up in Jerusalem’s Geula neighborhood, he developed a strong connection to the Hebrew language, the land, and above all, to art.

A graduate of the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in 1963, Feingersh studied under leading Israeli artists such as Mordecai Ardon, Isidor Ascheim, and Jacob Pins. His style blends realism with the influence of pop art, while his love of Israel’s landscapes, nurtured during his studies at the Avshalom Institute, shines through in his work.

In the 1960s, Feingersh traveled to France, where he joined the Belgian anarchist art group Mass Mobbing and later became the first Israeli artist awarded the LEFRANC Prize for Young Artists. Returning to Israel, he quickly gained recognition, with solo exhibitions at the Tel Aviv Museum and the Herzliya Museum, and in 1976 received the prestigious Dizengoff Art Prize.

Over his long career, Feingersh has exhibited extensively in Israel and abroad, illustrated books, and authored 13 volumes of poetry. In 2005, he marked 40 years of artistic creation with a major retrospective at the Givatayim Theater. Today, he is regarded as one of Israel’s most senior and influential living painters, whose work continues to bridge tradition and modernity, imagination and landscape.

Pinchas Shaar

Artist of Imagination and Memory

Pinchas Shaar, born in Poland as Pinchas Schwartz, was an extraordinary figure whose life and art reflect resilience, creativity, and a deep connection to Jewish culture. Growing up in a home that valued art and freedom of thought, he began painting and writing as a teenager, inspired by his artistic roots in the family of Yankel Adler.
The outbreak of World War II profoundly shaped his life.

After serving in the Polish army and being captured by the Germans, Shaar returned to the Łódź Ghetto, where he worked as an artist in the Office of Statistics until its liquidation in 1944. Surviving Sachsenhausen concentration camp, he was liberated in 1945 and soon began rebuilding his life through art, first in Germany and later in Paris.
His career spanned continents and decades, from designing sets for Israel’s Chamber Theater to presenting at major institutions such as the Jewish Museum in New York, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, and the Linbach Museum in Munich.

In Jaffa, he established a permanent studio that became a hub of creativity and expression.

Shaar’s works are instantly recognizable: brightly colored, filled with whimsical figures, fantastical animals, and perspectives that feel like magical carpets. They balance innocence with depth, humor with pain, playfulness with reflection. Beyond paintings, he also created tapestries, mosaics, and reliefs, always weaving together fantasy and reality.
“I come to the audience with my world,” Shaar once said, “It did not exist until I took it out of the intestines.” His art embodies that vision—a deeply personal world offered to others, where imagination, heritage, and memory meet. To encounter Pinchas Shaar’s work is to step into a universe of color and emotion, an experience that stays with the viewer long after.

David Sharir – Artist of Stage, Wall, and Soul

A visionary of color, imagination, and heritage

David Sharir, born in 1938, is one of Israel’s most prominent multidisciplinary artists, whose work spans painting, stage and costume design, mosaics, and visual interpretations of literature and biblical texts. From his early recognition as a prize-winning young painter, Sharir went on to design for Israel’s leading theaters, including Habima, Cameri, and Batsheva Dance Company, creating productions still remembered for their creativity and color.

His artistic vision extends beyond the stage to monumental public works, such as the mosaic “Tower of Babel” at Tel Aviv University and “Tel Aviv–Jaffa Second Generation” at the Shalom Tower. These large-scale creations reflect his signature blend of humor, imagination, and storytelling rooted in Jewish culture.

Sharir’s art often explores the dialogue between literature, biblical texts, and visual form, with series inspired by the Book of Psalms and the writings of S.Y. Agnon. Since 2003, he has also served as curator of the Shalom Tower Gallery in Tel Aviv, continuing to shape and enrich the Israeli art scene.

Today, David Sharir is celebrated not only as an artist but as a storyteller whose works transcend canvas and stage, inviting viewers on a journey through heritage, creativity, and the soul.

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