The theme of this year’s European Days of Jewish Culture will be – Love.
“We invite you to celebrate Jewish LOVE in its manifold expressions,” the AEPJ said in announcing the theme for the annual events, which encompass hundreds of activities and initiatives in more than two dozen countries, from the beginning of September through November.
After collecting your suggestions, and following thoughtful deliberation, the EDJC committee decided that, in these trying times, the best way to celebrate Jewish heritage in Europe is to put the spotlight on that spark of care and passion that fuels Jewish life and keeps it going through joy and sorrow.
Jewish LOVE (אהבה, ahavah) is romantic and familial, communal and divine, joyful and fierce. It courses through Jewish life in countless guises: from mystical poetry to Yiddish lullabies and from the Song of Songs to the words of Leonard Cohen. LOVE binds the fateful commandment given at Sinai to love God with the vows spoken beneath next week’s wedding canopy.
As such, we invite you this year to discover how Jewish communities have understood, practiced and transmitted love through the ages. Through music and art, through study and storytelling, through food and fellowship, we will explore questions both timeless and urgent through the prism of LOVE.