Ripples of Healing - Grassroots Film Fundraiser

Help Us Finish Funding Our Short Film to Amplify the Impact of Our Journey to Poland

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This July, 18 Ashkenazi Jews embarked on a transformational healing pilgrimage to Poland. Our aim was to restore and heal our connection with the Jewish lands, ancestors, culture, history and traditions of Eastern Europe and to transcend the Jewish story of victimhood in service of self and collective healing, peace and justice. Amidst the weaponization of Jewish trauma and an ongoing genocide in Gaza, this journey emphasized truly facing the massive grief and pain – and the immense beauty – our people experienced in those lands. Through witness, ceremony, song, study, prayer, and direct land and ancestor connection, we metabolized grief through a ritual practice of being with and memorializing the traumas of our Jewish past in a way that doesn’t harden us into perpetrators — and instead softens us into embracing a Judaism rooted in collective liberation — of Never Again For Anyone.

🌳 We discovered what’s been lost, forgotten, destroyed, or purposely left behind – filling in gaps in our personal and collective identities and sense of belonging.

🌳 We explored how our history relates to the injustice and violence in Israel | Palestine and to dismantling systems of oppression everywhere.

🌳 We deepened our connection to Diasporic Ashkenazi culture, re-awakening forgotten ceremonies and traditions, and walking the earth of our ancestors

The program was life-changing for those involved, and we wish all Ashkenazi Jews could make a journey like this one.

But not everyone can feasibly schlep all the way to Eastern Europe!

🌳 Which is why we've made a short film -- and are asking for your support. 🌳

We documented dozens of hours of our journey on video. With this raw material, we created a gorgeous 30-minute film that enables us to tell our story and amplify the impact of this transformational healing journey.

And while the video may inspire some to travel to Eastern Europe to discover their roots – either with us or on their own – our primary goal is that the film alone creates a profound shift for viewers, rippling out to Ashkenazi Jews who have never even dreamed it possible to make this type of pilgrimage of ancestral reconnection and healing.

--> Our Goal

Help us show Ashkenazi Jews that Poland is not only a place of death and destruction, but a place full of 1000 years of Jewish LIFE and the potential for deep healing! That its lush, green lands invite us, conjuring connection to place and reminding us what our ancestors might have felt as they walked the earth, grew their food, made healing herbal medicines, and prayed to their ancestors in tree-filled cemeteries.

Help us show people that when we turn towards the painful parts of our history with great intention, there are ways trauma and grief can be transmuted into compassion and care instead of fear and anger.

This sacred work is an investment in individual and collective healing.

The short film -- which was shot and directed by Jewish Polish-American filmmaker Julia Maryanska -- will also serve as the seed for a documentary – we’ve been told by multiple filmmakers we have a powerful story to tell.

Please join us and make a contribution today!

Can You Further Support This Work?

This fundraiser is part of a larger $40,000 campaign to fully fund the short film as well as partial scholarships for the program. So far, we're more than 50% of the way there.

If you’re intrigued and have financial means for a larger contribution, please reach out for our Case for Support at juliewolk@gmail.com. If you’re inspired by it, you can schedule a time to speak with Julie about joining the Linden Circle.

In addition to contributions here, we can also receive donations via check, wire, DAF, etc. All contributions are tax deductible through our fiscal sponsor.

We’ve seen an overwhelming demand for this work, with most people citing cost as their only obstacle to attending.

We appear to be riding a massive wave, and while we say it a bit tongue-in-cheek, creating something akin to a “Birthright Poland” is not out of the question. Let us know if you’d like to play a role in this powerful moment and movement.

Learn More About the Ashkenazi Ancestral Journey here.

Reconnecting to our roots, whether at home or by traveling to Eastern Europe, carries the possibility of deep and profound healing for Jews and all people.

Join us as we explore how our embrace of our Ashkenazi culture and history can not only fill essential gaps in our own identities, but provide us strength and grounding to stand for justice and liberation for all.

We are so grateful for your support of this work!

Ashkenazi Ancestrial Journeys is a fiscal sponsee of Fiscal Sponsorship Allies. By donating, you agree to the Fiscal Sponsorship Allies Donor Terms & Conditions found at https://fiscalsponsorshipallies.org/donor-terms-conditions/