If you’re interested in Jewish culture and heritage in Europe, start planning for this year’s 16th annual European Day of Jewish Culture, which takes place Sept. 6.
Organizers say this year’s events will take place in 32 countries around the continent.
That means — guided tours of Jewish heritage sites; concerts; lectures; exhibitions; performances; book fairs; food tastings — and more.
Some of the national programs are already online. Each year’s events focus on one general theme — this year it is “Bridges.”
Loosely coordinated by the European Association for the Preservation and Promotion of Jewish Culture and Heritage in Europe (AEPJ), the European Day of Jewish Culture grew out of a conference on the future of Jewish heritage in Europe, held in Paris in 1999, and developed from the model of an “Open Doors” to Jewish heritage that had been begun in Alsace-Loraine in 1996.
Events since then have drawn hundreds of thousands of visitors and participants.
European Day of Jewish Culture web site
Listen to a piece on America’s National Public Radio about last year’s edition (which quotes JHE Coordinator Ruth Ellen Gruber)