As part of European Days of Jewish Culture, numerous cultural events are being organised in the French capital and the surrounding region, starting with the unmissable event at the mahJ. Dominique Friedman, President of EDJC Paris & Ile-de-France, reveals the programme…
MAHJ
Shebam! Pow! Blop! Wizzzzz! Comic Book Day at the museum
7 September from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
For the 9th edition of its book fair, the mahJ is hosting a big festive day dedicated to comic books! For this day, the bookshop is presenting a selection of works related to the theme of comic books. It is also organising its annual sale of hundreds of books on all aspects of Jewish culture at low prices.
Among the events on offer throughout the day:
Little Vampire in Shadows and Light: Family workshop – 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
After discovering the mischievous world of Little Vampire, children aged 4 to 7 will create their own characters inspired by the work of Joann Sfar, then bring them to life in a shadow theatre.
Draw Me a Cat!: Family workshop – 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Aimed at children aged 8 to 12, who will draw inspiration from the graphic universe of Joann Sfar and the works of the mahJ, they will design and illustrate their own comic strip.
MAHJ and Comics: Guided tour – 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Raphaëlle Laufer-Krygier, mahJ lecturer, leads an original exploration of Jewish cultures in bubbles and panels to discover the museum through the prism of comics.
Book fair – 2pm-5.30pm
Dozens of authors, illustrators and scriptwriters will be signing their books.
Meetings are also planned:
Popular illustrated books 2pm-2.30pm and 4pm-4.30pm
With Claire Decomps, chief curator of the historical and Judaica collection at the mahJ, on the place of illustration in the history of Jewish manuscripts and printed works.
10 drawings by Luz 2.30pm-2.50pm and 3.30pm-3.50pm
With Pascale Samuel, curator of modern and contemporary art collections at the mahJ, as an extension of the exhibition ‘Ô vous, frères humains’ (O ye, brothers of men), Luz draws Albert Cohen
Reflections on the ‘Jewish question,’ from Silex and the City to Lucky Luke
Stowaways but omnipresent in Jul’s comic strips and cartoons for twenty years, Jews are transformed in a thousand ways…
Meetings from 12pm to 6pm in the lobby of the mahJ with the association JECPJ France, which will present the diverse programme of the European Days of Jewish Culture, organised from the first Sunday in September and continuing throughout the first weeks of autumn in France and Europe. The JGuideEurope team will also be present in the lobby to chat with you.
MAISON DE LA CULTURE YIDDISH
Sunday 14 September
Exhibition: 400 years of Yiddish books: The Jewish civilisation has always generated new languages that have shared the various functions of a language in society with Hebrew. In Europe, this was Yiddish from the 11th century onwards.
Saturday 11 October from 5pm to 6pm
The Medem Library opens its doors for the 2025 European Days of Jewish Culture. The Yiddish Cultural Centre – Medem Library offers a journey of discovery around this year’s theme, ‘People of the Books’, with Yitskhok Niborski and Clarisse Brossard.
Thursday 16 October at 7.30pm
Literary encounter: Jewish Myths, the Return of the Sacred by David Haziza (on Zoom): David Haziza offers a journey through texts, space and time, where prophets and sages of the Talmud, Kabbalists and masters of Hasidism, Kafka, Proust and the great Yiddish authors, from Isaac Bashevis Singer to Haïm Grade, rub shoulders.
MEDEM-ARBETER RING CENTRE
Thursday 4 September from 4pm to 7pm & Tuesday 9 September from 6pm to 8pm
The Medem-Arbeter Ring Centre is offering you the opportunity to contribute directly to the 2025 edition of the European Days of Jewish Culture by recording your feelings, thoughts, impressions and opinions about this book at its premises. The videos will be broadcast on the European Days of Jewish Culture platform and on social media. Only your first name will be used. Before filming, the Medem Centre team will give you all the necessary advice. Make an appointment now with the coordinator, Franck Koutchinsky. By phone: 06 85 92 64 22 or by email: franck.kout@hotmail.fr
Sunday 21 September at 4pm
Promesses Secrètes, an original show by Yaël Morciano: This show will transport you to a world where Western Europe met the fringes of the East, exchanging words, melodies and goods. Drawing on the oral traditions of the countries they travelled through, Judeo-Spanish songs and tales, sometimes inspired by the Me’am Lo’ez, highlight the role of women as pillars of transmission. These women are determined, courageous, loyal, guardians of traditions and capable of overcoming life’s trials. Sometimes astute, they unexpectedly maintain a living relationship with the Invisible.
AKI ESTAMOS
Monday 1 December at 7.30pm
Meeting at the Medem-Arbeter Ring Centre around the graphic novel Mazal Bueno ou l’histoire d’un chapeau (Mazal Bueno or the story of a hat) by Alain Korkos, which will be published in October as a supplement to the magazine Kaminando i Avlando. The novel traces the wanderings of a branch of the Arié family from Samokoff in Bulgaria over more than a century, using the journey of a hat as a guide.
“It is the story of a hat, a round bowler hat made in Prague and bought in Sofia, then worn in Smyrna and borrowed for a wedding in Sofia again; it then passed through Burgos, Paris, Sofia again, Niš, Barcelona, Lisbon, returned to Paris and ended up in Montrouge before landing – at least temporarily – in the depths of Brittany. This is the story of the Arié de Samakoff family, the story of a part of the Jewish community in Bulgaria.”
FARBAND
Monday 1 December at 7.30pm
FARBAND, in partnership with ANIMA, is hosting a lecture and screening by Laurent Hericher: Symbolism in decoration and ornamental calligraphy in Hebrew biblical manuscripts
Laurent Héricher, curator of Hebrew manuscripts and head of the Manuscripts Department at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, will reveal the importance and symbolism of decoration and embellishment in medieval Hebrew Bibles and tell us how Hebrew manuscripts have survived the centuries to reach us today.
The evening will begin with a light meal served at the table. Reservations on the FARBAND website www.farband.org – Email: – TEL. 01 45 25 50 63
SHOAH MEMORIAL IN PARIS
20 and 21 September
For this new edition of Heritage Days, the Shoah Memorial is showcasing part of its archive collection, offering visitors the chance to discover personal diaries written during the Second World War through an exhibition, a meeting, a conference and a film screening.
Screening of the film Les Enfants de Chabannes
21 September at 5 p.m.
Lisa Gossels and Dean Wetherell’s documentary tells the story of the courageous inhabitants of the village of Chabannes who saved the lives of 400 Jewish refugee children during the Second World War. Through intimate interviews with historians, teachers, OSE employees and the ‘children’ of Chabannes, we are taken back to the joys and fears of everyday life during the war.
DRANCY SHOAH MEMORIAL
Presentation of previously unseen graffiti from the Drancy camp and the former prison
21 September at 10.30am
A museum guide will present the history of graffiti created by internees before their deportation, retrace the journeys of some of the internees and shed light on their daily lives in the Drancy camp. This tour will also be an opportunity to explore the work of French visual artist Chemsedine Herriche, creator of a mural installed opposite the Cité de la Muette. His work pays tribute to the memory of the site and echoes the various messages left by the internees.
ECUJE
Shirel’s art book Jews & Music: preview and concert
7 September at 7pm
Since the turn of the 21st century, singer Shirel has been entertaining us with her voice in Hebrew, French and English, sharing her moods, music and inspiration. She will be at the Écuje for the presentation of her book Jews & Music, which was published this summer. The book presents, in French and English, 150 Jewish artists who have left their mark on musical history. Artists as diverse as Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Barbra Streisand… but also Disney songs. A project that sings of hope, born in the aftermath of the events of 7 October.
A Hundred Years Without Loneliness: Meeting with Joann Sfar
17 September at 7.30pm
Travel, solitude, discovery, Nice, Tokyo, Saint-Malo, Greece… many destinations and many sources of inspiration for author Joann Sfar, but also many fears since 7 October and the violent rise of anti-Semitism in France. He will be welcomed at the Écuje for a book signing event for his new book, ‘A Hundred Years Without Solitude’. He will discuss his upcoming projects and new inspirations. The event will be hosted by Haïm Musicant and will be followed by a book signing.
SAPHIR GALLERY
The Flesh of the Book: Writers and Painters in Dialogue
9 to 21 October
Serge Gainsbourg had one great regret: that he was not a painter. He who was such a great musician. Yet the arts intermingle and converge, as demonstrated by this exhibition at the Saphir Gallery. Text and canvas, in constant emulation, merge to create a unique creative experience. The book, like the painting, is not an abstract object or ideal form, but a carnal, material envelope, meaning, writing of the mind and body.
THE ELSA TRIOLET-ARAGON HOUSE
From 6 September to 30 November
“The gazes I see in Alain Kleinmann’s paintings are familiar to me; they seem to be surprised by our true memory: the writing that crosses them, the spaces that envelop them, the movements in which they shiver seem like pieces torn from reality. […] Alain Kleinmann’s painting belongs to the very foundations of art.” Aragon
Alain Kleinmann began painting at the age of 7. He was 18 when he had his first solo exhibition. Memory, writing, traces, materials, old photos, books… form the fabric of his painting.