22 January 2024 at the Librairie Prado Paradis
This event will provide an opportunity to discover Murielle Szac’s novel “Tosca”, a book about the Resistance and the fight against anti-Semitism in 1944. Murielle Szac is an author, publisher and collection director, and is deeply committed to the mission of transmission.
10 March 2024 at the JEM Copernic Synagogue
This musical evening, presented by Pierre Réach, will feature Harlap’s Seven Preludes for piano. There will also be three Beethoven sonatas, including “Tempest” and “l’Appassionata”. It’s an evening that showcases musical variety in all its creations and expressions.
Grand Récital de piano annuel de Copernic – Judaïsme En Mouvement (judaismeenmouvement.org)
11 February 2024 at the Medem Centre
The Song of songs has inspired so many readings and interpretations throughout the ages. This talk by François Ardeven, Chairman of the Medem Centre’s Culture Committee, will attempt to answer the secrets and questions surrounding the text, which is based on Henri Meschonic’s translation of the Five Scrolls, published by Gallimard. But also on the Hebrew text and the midrash.
1 February 2024 at Hebraïca
In partnership with the Institut Universitaire d’Etudes Juives de Toulouse, cultural events are organised on a regular basis. These include a lecture by Isy Morgensztern on Rhenish Hasidism, the Languedoc and Spanish Cabala, mysticism and many other themes.
À la une | hebraica (hebraica-toulouse.com)
4 February 2024 at the Musée Albert Kahn
The theme of the 28th edition of this event is “sport and science”. There will be family workshops where children can discover film techniques by creating a flipbook using extracts from films about sport. There will also be a screening of the film “1,2,3 shoot! Sport in the Archives of the Planet”.
La Science se livre 2024 – Musée Albert Kahn (hauts-de-seine.fr)
28 January 2024 at the Espace des Cultures Juives in Grenoble
Author Judith Elmaleh will be on hand to talk about her novel “Une Reine”. The book is based on the story of her grandmother in Casablanca. The meeting will be accompanied by a brunch and pavlovas from the cookery workshop.
ECJ CCJ – Espace des Cultures Juives de Grenoble | Grenoble | Facebook
At the CHRD
This exhibition devoted to the great hero of the Resistance allows us to (re)discover the man through the eyes of those who knew him or studied him. These include friends and family, fellow Resistance members and even opponents. Numerous documents are used, ranging from his childhood, his professional career before the war and his involvement in the Resistance. Videos are also shown, with testimonies from a 1958 documentary, along with valuable interviews.
Jean Moulin, les voies de la liberté | CHRD | Musée d’histoire | Lyon dans la guerre, 1939-1945
From 22 January to 1 February 2024 in Grenoble and Lyon
The lack of understanding between French and Israeli Jews is legendary and has even inspired cult sketches in both countries. Marco Carmel’s excellent comedy “Paris Boutique” dramatises these differences through the story of a French tourist who arrives in Jerusalem, awkwardly guided by an Israeli woman between the Old City and the renewal of Mahane Yehouda, and above all between her personal problems and how to solve them. The Dia(s)porama Festival is also offering other films in Lyon and Grenoble: ‘Reckonings’, ‘The Art of silence’ and ‘El Amor en Su Lugar’.
Diasporama – Séances Archive – Diasporama
From 25 to 30 January in Montpellier and Toulouse
How can we avoid being overwhelmed by our past and deal with our silences? How can we continue to believe in humanity and its potential despite our own terrible experiences? What reparative measures need to be taken? These are some of the questions addressed by the films presented in Toulouse and Montpellier as part of the 4th edition of the Dia(s)porama Festival: “IMordecai”, “The Art of Silence” and “My Neighbor Adolf”.
Diasporama – Séances Archive – Diasporama
From 18 January to 4 February 2024 in Angers and Nantes
Can we laugh at everything and with everyone? These questions posed by comedian Pierre Desproges are not easy to answer. It is one of the oldest challenges of Jewish humour, which has known how to laugh at everything. The only condition for this to be effective is that the intention should be to uplift the audience and not to stoop to clichés. The film “Who’s Afraid of Jewish Humour?” presents some of the major figures in this art form, such as Lenny Bruce, Ephraim Kishon and Mel Brooks. And other movies such as “My Neighbour Adolf” and “El Amor en Su Lugar” go very far in confronting these questions. You’ll be able to find out more in Nantes and Angers as part of the Dia(s)porama Festival.
Diasporama – Séances Archive – Diasporama
From 22 January to 4 February 2024 in Nice, Marseille, Cannes and Saint-Rémy-de-Provence
In Mel Brooks’ film “Silent Movie”, which as its name suggests is silent, Marcel Marceau utters the only word. This magnificent example of Jewish humour that turns all certainties upside down is also to be found in the fine selection of films presented in Provence at the 4th edition of the Dia(s)porama Festival. These include a documentary devoted to the famous Mime Marceau, “The Art of Silence”, but also “My Neighbour Adolf” about a survivor of the camps who fled to Argentina only to find himself with a more than unexpected neighbour, and “IMordecai” with the truculent Jewish character played by Judd Hirsch since his role in the series “Taxi”. This leads us to ask the question “Who’s afraid of Jewish humour?”, which the film of the same name presented as part of this festival attempts to answer.
Diasporama – Séances Archive – Diasporama
From 18 January to 4 February 2024 in Nancy and Strasbourg
Resistance can be expressed in an artistic manner, like the courageous desire to create theatrical works in the Warsaw Ghetto under siege by the Nazis. And to continue to speak and sing on stage, as shown in the film “El Amor en Su Lugar” by Rodrigo Cortes. Resistance can also be embodied in one of the world’s greatest mimes. Marcel Marceau’s artistic career and courage during the war are presented in “The Art of Silence” by Maurizius Staerkle Drux. Here are some of the fabulous films shown in Strasbourg and Nancy as part of the Dia(s)porama Festival.
Diasporama – Séances Archive – Diasporama
22 January and 5 February 2024 at Cinéma Le Village
The rollercoaster ride of Jewish themes in cinema is complex and complicated, especially when confronted with contemporary social and geopolitical situations. This is what the 4th edition of the Dia(s)porama Festival explores in its choice of films. The films presented in Neuilly-sur-Seine: “The Last of the Jews” by Noé Debré and “Paris Boutique” by Marco Carmel take us on a journey with the violinists to the rooftops of the imagination, oscillating between a bygone past and an attempt to survive the crumbling present.
From 22 January to 5 February 2024 at the Escurial and the Espace Rachi
Following the success of its previous editions, the Dia(s)porama Festival is back for a fourth season, taking place in all six corners of France. Several Parisian venues are taking part, offering a very wide variety of choices. At L’Escurial will be screened, “The Last of the Jews”, “Paris Boutique”, “IMordecai”, “The Forger”, “Little Town”, “My Neighbor Adolf” and “El Amor en su lugar”. At the Espace Rachi, spectators will be able to see “Shoshana”, “The Dybbuk”, “Reckonings”, “La Dalkavo Ora”, “The Art of Silence”, “Who’s Afraid of Jewish Humor”, “The Torn Letters” and “Marcus Klingberg, a Pure Spy”.
Diasporama – Séances Archive – Diasporama
Until 21 April 2024 at the mahJ
Thanks to Pierre de Girord’s donation of 400 photographs and documents to the mahJ, visitors will be able to appreciate the fascinating Jewish history of Greece’s mythical city. The works are all the more interesting in that they combine the golden age of Thessaloniki’s Jewish community with the beginnings of photography, as artists and ordinary enthusiasts seized on this new art form to share the adventures and glimpses of this vibrant city.
Salonique, « Jérusalem des Balkans », 1870-1920. | Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme (mahj.org)
Until 13 December 2023 at the National University Library in Strasbourg
David the warrior king and Solomon the man who built the Temple in Jerusalem. How have these two great kings of Israel, key figures in the Bible, been perceived over time? This is what this exhibition is all about, showing the extent to which they are present not only in artistic works but also in the collective imagination, having inspired artists, authors, politicians and popular culture, as can be seen in Florence, the Strasbourg cathedral, Ethiopia and many other places…
Sacres Rois ! David & Salomon a travers les ages : Exposition a Strasbourg (dna.fr)
Until 8 January 2024 at the Chagall Museum
This three-part exhibition celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Musée Chagall, created on the artist’s birthday, 7 July 1973, when it hosted the Biblical Message cycle. To mark the occasion, contemporary artists and writers share their readings of Chagall’s paintings, with a host of events organised on 7 July 2023 and continuing, as the museum has decided to extend this major event.
13 December 2023 at the Centre Fleg
Since the klezmer season is eternal, depending on one or two instruments and a desire to find a smile in the face of adversity, the Centre Fleg is organising this concert by the group Basilic Swing. An evening to celebrate Hanukkah by blowing out candles to the rhythms of jazz, klezmer and gypsy music.
From 1 December 2023 to 25 February 2024 at the Musée de la Résistance et de la Déportation de la Haute Garonne
Spirou, a well-known character in Belgian comics, is plunged into the terrible period of the Occupation. The daily life of the Brussels teenager during the Second World War is examined in the work of Emile Bravo. His motivations and doubts in the face of the Nazi war machine, and the gradual loss of the young man’s naivety in the face of anti-Jewish discrimination and other violence.
Until 3 March 2024 at the Shoah Memorial
Charlie Hebdo cartoonist Riss was sent by the newspaper to cover this historic trial. It was a long wait for a senior Vichy official to be brought to justice, and many survivors were able to testify. The 400 drawings by Riss are on display at the Memorial, allowing visitors to immerse themselves in this moment and to understand, with the stroke of a pencil and a glance, the importance of this story for future generations, twenty-five years after the trial.
Mémorial de la Shoah | Boutique en ligne (memorialdelashoah.org)
3 December 2023 at the Shoah Memorial
On the occasion of the publication of the book “Jewish History of France” by Sylvie-Anne Goldberg, the theme of the memorial approach to the Shoah in France will be discussed. As Simone Veil pointed out in her autobiography, there was little or no room for survivors’ voices in the aftermath of the war. With the passage of time, and the confrontation with this theme, the cultural and political spheres began a profound work of remembrance.
Mémorial de la Shoah | Boutique en ligne (memorialdelashoah.org)
20 January 2024 at the Medem Library
How was the body perceived and presented by the Yiddish press over time, the time of the body and the press according to the generations of authors and cartoonists? The evening devoted to this theme at the Medem Library, with curator Natalia Krynicka, will attempt to answer this question through the presentation of numerous archives. There will also be readings of texts by Moyshe Leyb Halpern, Rabbi Nakhman of Bratslav, Celia Dropkin, Anna Margolin and Arn Lutski.
La Nuit de la lecture 2024 : le corps – programme.yiddish.paris
Until 12 May 2024 at the mahJ
This exhibition, the first retrospective devoted to Joann Sfar in France, features almost 250 plates and drawings, many of them previously unpublished. The author of hundreds of works never leaves his notebook, alternating words and sketches, drawings and observations. From The Rabbi’s Cat to Little Vampire, from his early work with Marjane Satrapi and Riad Sattouf to his accompaniment of the works of classic authors revisited through his drawings, this exhibition will give you a better understanding of Sfar’s family and thematic inspirations. It will stir up a wide range of emotions, motivating you to dance to the klezmer rhythm of his graphic novels and question contemporary anti-Semitism.
Joann Sfar. La vie dessinée | Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme (mahj.org)
9 December 2023 at the Medem Centre
Words and music accompany the presentation of this travel book about Ashkenazi cuisine, not a parade of recipes but an atmosphere, traditions and experiences. Elise Goldberg, the book’s author, and singer Muriel Missirlou will whet your appetite for gefilte fish and all the other flavours. Starting with the Hanukkah doughnuts that await you at the end of this event.
Until 28 January 2024 at the Drancy Shoah Memorial
Ginette Kolinka bears witness and accompanies groups of schoolchildren to Auschwitz, where she was deported at the age of 19. She was deported with her father, brother and nephew, who were all murdered there. Following a visit to Birkenau in October 2020, in the company of journalist Victor Matet and cartoonist Jean-David Morvan, an album will be published, “Adieu Birkenau”, recounting her life before, during and after the Shoah. The exhibition highlights each of these stages, presenting documents from the period. The courage and determination of Ginette Kolinka and other survivors has made it possible to pass on the memory of the Shoah to different generations and to combat Holocaust denial.
Until 8 July 2024
This bold exhibition tackles the complex question of how to share the memory of the Second World War to children. The Museum invites parents and children to explore four stories imagined by four authors and illustrators of children’s books. The themes stories chosen to embody the different themes are On Resistance:”Le sac à dos” by Géraldine Alibeu; On rationing: “Surplace” by Clarisse Lochmann; On prisoners of war: “Bien chère Angèle” by Romain Rousset; On Jewish children in hiding: “La guerre est arrive” by Jérôme Ruillier.
À (h)auteur d’enfant. Histoire(s) de guerre (isere.fr)
Until 23 December 2023 at the Montluc Prison National Memorial
This exhibition, produced by the Association des rescapés de Montluc (Association of Montluc survivors), provides a better understanding of the individual itineraries of the internees who were murdered or disappeared in the prison between 1943 and 1944. The exhibition uses the historic sites in Montluc where these people were imprisoned.
At the CHRD in Lyon
80 years after the death of the Resistance leader, this exhibition at the CHRD provides an opportunity to learn more about the man through the eyes of those who knew or studied him. Testimonies from relatives, witnesses and supporters, as well as detractors. Photos and written documents take visitors through the stages of his life, from his childhood to his arrest. A film from 1958 is also shown, and lectures are given on the links between Jean Moulin and Charles de Gaulle, as well as with Daniel Cordier.
Jean Moulin, les voies de la liberté | CHRD | Musée d’histoire | Lyon dans la guerre, 1939-1945
27 January 2024 at the Saint-Luc Chapel
This play, based on the work of Joseph Kessel, is adapted and directed by Ivan Morane. Kessel was France Soir’s correspondent in Jerusalem in 1961 during the trial of the Nazi leader Eichmann. This is an important work, providing a better understanding of the issues at stake at the time and today in the face of Holocaust denial. The presentation is part of the International Day for the Remembrance of Genocide and the Prevention of Crimes against Humanity. It is presented by Gérard Rabinovitch.
Conférences – Institut Universitaire Européen Rachi (institut-rachi-troyes.fr)
Until 23 December 2023 at the European Centre of Deported Resistance Members at Natzwiller-Struthof
This exhibition, produced in partnership with the University of Strasbourg, highlights the well-known and lesser-known links between the medical faculty of the Reichsuniversität Straßburg and the Natzweiler concentration camp. In particular, the “experiments” carried out on prisoners and the murders.