Jewish Heritage Europe

ESJF-led consortium wins new €1.2 million European Commission grant for educational, outreach, and awareness-raising activities pegged to Jewish cemeteries

(JHE) — The European Commission has extended further funding to the European Jewish Cemeteries Initiative (ESJF), awarding a new grant of €1.2 million to a ESJF-led consortium for continued educational, outreach, and awareness-raising activities pegged to Jewish cemeteries. With the … continue reading →

Jewish Cemetery Clean-ups — Round-up #4. Dozens more initiatives. Episodes of vandalism prompt legitimate outrage and widespread condemnation, but the many, many more instances of volunteers cleaning, restoring, and maintaining Jewish cemeteries are often overlooked

We can’t stress enough the importance of this post. Episodes of vandalism at Jewish cemeteries prompt legitimate outrage and widespread condemnation, but the many, many more instances of volunteers and others cleaning, restoring, and maintaining Jewish cemeteries are rarely noted. … continue reading →

Turkey update: An online conference Oct. 18-19 officially launches the huge interactive database of Jewish cemeteries in Turkey

We’re happy to share the link about the live online conference next week that will officially launch the massive website and digital database of Jewish cemeteries in Turkey, A World Beyond: Jewish Cemeteries in Turkey 1583-1990.   The database and … continue reading →

Pipe Organs in Synagogues — Pride and Polemics. (See pix and access an article and music)

Ark in the Fabric synagogue, Timisoara, showing the organ behind and above it. Photo © Anna Szentgyörgyi

Having an organ in a synagogue is a fairly recent innovation, related to the emancipation of the Jews and spread of reform Judaism in the 19th century.  The introduction of a pipe organ into a synagogue sometimes sparked heated polemics. … continue reading →

Slovakia: Pope Francis met with Slovak Jews in a highly symbolic place: the site where Bratislava’s grand Neolog synagogue stood until the communist regime destroyed it the late 1960s. Now the site is a both a Holocaust memorial and site of Hanukkah celebrations

When Pope Francis visited Slovakia this week, he met with representatives of the Slovak Jewish community in one of the most significant and symbolic places of Jewish history in the country: Bratislava’s Rybné Square, the site where the grand, twin-towered … continue reading →