All the world is a narrow bridge and the main thing is not to be afraid.
Thus goes an old Hebrew folk song that gives us the name for this unique Narrow Bridge Study Tour. For 12 days July 17-29, 2025, we will relive 1,000 years of the Jewish story in Central and Eastern Europe and learn what the tragic history of Poland and the Jewish experience there can teach us about living in our own uncertain and chaotic times.
Toward that end we will:
- come to appreciate Jewish spirituality as it related to prayer, study, work, family, and community
- study Jewish reactions to the Enlightenment, Socialism, and the arrival of Zionism.
- discuss Jewish messianism from Shabtai Zvi to Theodor Herzl.
- look at the culture of the shtetl (small Jewish town) and the Hassidic movement.
- examine the shape and nature of anti-Semitism before and after the Holocaust.
WHO SHOULD COME?
If you are interested in the Bible, God’s people Israel, have an interest in European history, WWII and the Holocaust, this tour is for you. Our focus on history, the centuries of Jewish life in Europe, and Jewish and Christian spirituality is combined like in no other tour. Along the way we “meet” rabbis, scholars, messiahs, bishops, righteous gentiles, dictators, war criminals and survivors – the saints and sinners who help tell the story of 1,000 years of Jewish life in Poland. This tour is for those who want to better understand the complicated relationship between Jews and Christians, better appreciate Jewish spirituality, and discover the ways modern Judaism and the State of Israel were influenced by Polish culture and politics. And finally, for those who appreciate visiting beautiful cities and countrysides, enjoy wonderful music and delicious food, this is the tour for you.