
A Macher in Yiddish is “an important guy”, the one who not only “does” things, but also bristles with energy to act. It is a dynamic person – not only has great ideas, but also actively pursues them. In Yiddish, “a macher” refers to an important person who has an influence on their surroundings – a real influencer.
A Macher is also a volunteer of the Jewish Culture Festival, who helps us to create the Festival in summer and – during the rest of the year – supports us in Cheder. All the Machers are also invited to develop their own projects, in order to learn, gain experience and make new friends.
As it was appropriate for the jubilee, 30th edition of the JCF, the last year’s volunteer program was exceptional.
Although we have had volunteers from abroad for many years, never before had they represented as many as 15 world countries! This year, the Machers came from Germany, Italy, Israel, Poland, Hungary, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, India, Belarus, Kongo, Peru, Spain, France or Portugal.
Never before also, was the volunteer program so long – in 2021, this international team spent in Kazimierz, as many as 30 days and this was thanks to the financial support received with the European Solidarity Corp.
For the whole month, Krakow was their second home, whilst other volunteers and co-coordinators – their closest persons. It was the time for experiencing multiculturalism and for seeing how beautifully we can differ from each other, still making up a coherent and well-functioning community.
In this section of our website you can read how the Machers remember that time spent at the Jewish Culture Festival in Krakow.