Myra Alperson

Dear friends: In late June, I’ll be embarking on an extraordinary two-part experience in Krakow, Poland, that combines bicycling and walking, all for two causes for which I'm asking support. 

I'm suggesting (tax-deductible) donations in increments of $36 - The number symbolizing "double life" and abundance in Jewish tradition.

Part One of the experience, Ride for the Living, is a  journey on bicycle from the darkness of Auschwitz-Birkenau to the light of JCC Krakow. The full route is 60 miles, but I'm opting to cycle a shorter route of 14 miles. The tour leader will be on a tandem bicycle: His co-rider is a 97-year-old Holocaust survivor! I learned this recently on a Zoom call for participants.

Part 2 is called Walk for the Living. We will will walk 3 miles from the site of the former Plaszow concentration camp to the light of JCC Krakow. That will be an afternoon activity after the morning bike ride.
I’ll be cycling and walking alongside hundreds of participants from around the world in a powerful tribute to Jewish resilience and renewal. (I've chosen to ride and walk since I'm still recovering from shoulder surgery last year. So excited to be back to cycling now!)

It may surprise you that just an hour from Auschwitz, Jewish life has been reborn and thriving for almost two decades. Today, 80 years after the Holocaust, JCC Krakow is home to 1,200 members, including 56 Holocaust survivors, dozens of young families, children attending the first Jewish preschool in Krakow since the war, and an entire movement of young people just now discovering their family's long-suppressed Jewish heritage.
 

This community’s strength reaches far beyond its gates: JCC Krakow has supported more Ukrainian refugees than any other organization of its kind in the entire world. Having been victims only 80 years ago, this community has a special understanding of the responsibility to save others, and they’ve now supported over 450,000 Ukrainians since Russia’s invasion.

I would be grateful for your support as I embark on this physical and spiritual journey to uplift the JCC’s mission of building a vibrant, welcoming and compassionate community.
Ride For The Living is JCC Krakow’s largest annual fundraiser, and is completely funded by the friends and family of participants like you.