Beiteinu Chaj – 2004 Foundation

The work of our Foundation is to bring new life to the syna­gogue.

This means that the founding members of the Beiteinu Chaj-2004 Foundation with their personal donations made possib­le the completion of the following tasks under the urgent challenge to prevent the further decay of the synagogue:

1. To close the open holes in the roof, they were made by the squad of firemen who extinguished the fire that two drunk men had started in order to warm themselves, but almost set the entire roof on fire!!  Because of the broken windows, rain and snow also damaged the interior of the building. The ensuing dampness weakened the foundations of the building. Our emergency work stopped further damage just in time.
2. The broken, unprotected windows allowed unauthorized persons to enter the synagogue and damage its interior. In order to prevent further break-ins and destruction, we boarded up all windows. We recently removed the boards from all windows and replaced them with nylon sheets to allow daylight to enter the synagogue. We plan to replace the nylon sheets with glass panes before the beginning of winter 2009 so that we can extend the season of cultural events. We are in urgent needs of funds to realize  this important task.
3. Missing eavestroughs and downspouts had to be replaced and the still existing damaged ins­tallations repaired, in order to pre­vent further water damage to the foundation.
4. The building and the sur­rounding land had to be re-sur­veyed in advance to the expected restoration work and the (now completed) fencing of the surrounding synagogue property.

In the years 2008/09, fencing of the surrounding synagogue property was completed.

All electrical cables have been replaced.

Thanks to the efforts of Dzier?oniów high school students,the synagogue has experienced a thorough cleaning of its interior. This has permitted us to hold several exhibitions since summer 2008, also some workshops and open house.

Since spring 2009, we have held:

• a benefit concert on July 2, featuring Ms. Tova ben Zvi, presenting songs in Yiddish, Hebrew and Polish.
• a poetry reading by Adam Lizakowski, who for the past 25 years has lived in Chicago, USA. He visits Poland every year for readings of his work.
• a reception was  hosted on July 21 for the ambassador of Israel to the Polish Republic, Mr. Zvi Ravner, as the official guest of our Jewish community in the synagogue.