We meet Thierry Koch, President of the European Days of Jewish Culture France, who gives us a behind-the-scenes look at how this year’s theme was chosen and talks about the growing participation of cities across France.
Jguideeurope: How was this year’s theme, ‘People of the Book,’ chosen?
Thierry Koch: As every year, the central theme of the European Days of Jewish Culture is chosen at the European level. The European Association of Jewish Heritage (AEPJ) sets this central theme, which is then adopted by the thirty or so countries participating in the event. JECPJ France, a long-standing member of the AEPJ since its creation twenty years ago, sits on the committee that oversees the project. It therefore participates in this European choice. The theme is formulated in English and accompanied by a narrative (also in English) that elaborates on it. The theme then needs to be translated into French. This translation can be an opportunity for adaptation.
This is what happened this year. EDJC France decided to ‘translate’ the European theme ‘People of the Book’ as ‘Peuple(s) des livres’ (People of the Books). A literal translation would have been ‘gens du Livre’ (people of the Book), an expression from the ancient Muslim tradition to refer to Christians and Jews. While the desired dialogue between the three monotheistic religions around the Book (i.e. the Bible or the Koran) was indeed at the forefront of the committee’s thinking, the subject proposed to the organisers aims to highlight more broadly Judaism’s attachment not only to the Bible, but to books in general. This obviously includes all the books of the ‘chain of tradition’, in other words rabbinical literature, but beyond that, all books that contribute to sharing and transmitting knowledge, history, memory, ideas, poetry, etc. Hence the notion of ‘people of the books’, which is a continuation of the term ‘people of the Book’! However, as Judaism does not claim to have a monopoly on attachment to books, and always with a view to encouraging dialogue, we opted for the possibility of another plural: peoples! This led us to the final formulation for France: ‘Peuple(s) des livres’ (People of the Books).
What aspect of this theme would you like to highlight during the EDJC?
How to develop the theme and which aspects to highlight is something we leave up to each organiser. Through the narrative accompanying the publication of the theme, we open doors, but we do not impose anything.
Nevertheless, we would be particularly pleased to see several events showing how the ‘cult’ devoted by the Jewish people to the study of religious books, the Torah, the Talmud and all their commentaries, has extended with modernity to a passion for books in general. And, by the same token, how a rich and diverse literature has been produced in the Jewish world, often characteristic of Jewish identity but capable of speaking to everyone.
What events are planned for the EDJC?
An official European opening ceremony for the JECJ 2025 will take place in Stockholm on 31 August, while the programmes will kick off across Europe, including France, on Sunday 7 September. In France, we are leaving it up to each city or region to organise its own opening event, but we have not planned a national launch this year.
Which new cities are participating?
At this stage, not all of the organisers have sent us their programmes. This is particularly true for cities that have decided to join us on their own initiative and which, by definition, we have not contacted. Nevertheless, we are already delighted to welcome a newcomer, the city of Vauvert in the Gard department. Located about 20 kilometres south of Nîmes and formerly known as Posquières, this town was home to a large Jewish community from the 12th to the 14th century, which was particularly renowned for its school of Kabbalah, which spread throughout Occitania, Provence and far beyond, while maintaining close contact with Jewish scholars in Catalonia. The Posquières-Vauvert Historical Society is committed to promoting this intangible heritage, and we are delighted to help its members organise their first participation in the EDJC. This will take the form of a lecture by Alexis Nouss, professor of general and comparative literature at the University of Aix-Marseille and Cardiff University. The topic of the lecture will be ‘Is there such a thing as Jewish literature?’