SF Bay Area foundation to send mezuzahs to IDF bases

WARSAW, Poland – A San Francisco Bay Area-based foundation will provide mezuzahs for Israeli army bases throughout the country.

The 500 mezuzahs designed by Helena Czernek and Aleksander Prugar from the Polish Judaica Mi Polin Studio will be distributed during Hanukkah this week through the cooperation of Taube Philanthropies, the Friends of the IDF and Mi Polin Studio.

“When we learned through Friends of the IDF that many soldiers lacked mezuzahs at their bases, we were inspired to help fill the need by sharing modern Polish Judaica with them,” Tad Taube, chairman of Taube Philanthropies, said in a statement released Friday.

“We hope these will be a bright symbol to IDF soldiers that Jews elsewhere are thinking about them and are grateful for their service, and serve as a reminder of today’s vibrant Jewish culture in Poland, an Israeli ally.”

The mezuzahs are made of wood and have the metal Hebrew letter “shin,” which is arranged in the shape of a menorah. A kosher mezuzah parchment written in Israel is attached to each mezuzah.

“Mi Polin was honored to participate in a special Hanukkah mitzvah that will bring a piece of today’s Jewish life in Poland to IDF soldiers,” Prugar said.

Mi Polin describes itself as the first design brand “which designs and produces Judaica in Poland after World War II, the Holocaust and decades of Communism.”

Taube Philanthropies supports programs in the San Francisco Bay Area, Poland and Israel. Areas of concentration include education and scholarship, Jewish cultural renewal and heritage preservation, institution and community building, and public policy initiatives.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.