Miriam Gonczarska, a Polish spiritual leader and journalist, died on May 12, 2026, at the age of 53.
Born in Warsaw in 1972, she was a Jewish spiritual leader who received her Semikhah in 2015 as the first European and first Polish maharat. Gonczarska converted to Judaism after graduating from LXI Secondary School in Warsaw in 1994.
From the early 1990s, she was involved in efforts to revive the Jewish community in Poland, including co-creating Jidele, a magazine for Jewish children, working with Midrasz, and serving as coordinator of educational programs at the Union of Jewish Religious Communities.
Miriam Gonczarska, 53, Polish spiritual leader and journalist.