While Rashi’s presence in the region has long been celebrated, projects in this vein continue to develop and diversify, not to mention the many other cultural events offered to locals and visitors alike. We meet Delphine Yagüe, project manager for the Medieval Route of Rashi in Champagne, who tells us about these cultural programmes and the progress of the application for ‘Rashi of Troyes, European place of memory’ submitted by the GIP Rashi to the European Commission.
What events are being organised for Heritage Days and JECJ 2025?
By the GIP Rachi
On 4 and 5 October 2025
As part of the JECPJ and the national event ‘Biblis en folie’, in partnership with the Jacques Chirac Media Library in Troyes, the GIP Rachi will shed light on the challenges of ‘Ethics, memory and society: thinking about the future’ through a heritage-based approach to innovation in the Middle Ages. Young and old alike will discover Rashi, a visionary scholar born in Troyes who reinvented the transmission of knowledge in the 11th century. Games, manuscripts, the Hebrew alphabet and even a Playmobil workshop will be on offer: a fun dive into a past where people were already thinking about the future through study, sharing… and books.
By the Maison Rachi
21 September 2025
Free visits to the permanent exhibition at the Maison Rachi and the buildings. Advance booking required. Free of charge. Free visit to the temporary exhibition ‘Notre folle aventure’ (Our crazy adventure), which traces the 13-year history of the Maison Rachi. ‘Ecriture Rachi’ writing workshop.
https://rachi-troyes.org/une-journee-bien-remplie-journees-europeennes-du-patrimoine-2025
19 November 2025
Lecture by CRIF President Yonathan Arfi, ‘The place of Jews in France’.
By the Rachi European University and Cultural Institute.
10 September 2025
3.30pm – Presentation ‘The sea in the biblical narrative’ by Michel Degardin
5pm – Musical conference ‘When Piaf sang klezmer’ hosted by Didier Francfort and Alina Krasnova.
20 September 2025
10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. – Guided tour of the library by Michel Degardin
3 p.m. – Lecture: The labyrinth ‘Signature of the builders’ Dominique Naert
4:30 p.m. – Public reading by Michel Degardin ‘Invisible Cities’ by Italo Calvino
6 p.m. – Musical interlude, Aube Musique Ancienne: Yann Peran
Sunday, 21 September 2025
10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Guided tour of the exhibition ‘Figures of Myths’ by Daniel Chanson
Are there any other cultural events planned for the year?
In spring 2026, a major travelling exhibition entitled ‘The Jews of Champagne at the heart of medieval life’, organised as part of the Medieval Route of Rashi in Champagne, supported by Aube en Champagne Attractivité and the Aube Archives and Heritage Department, will open at the National Archives in Paris on 31 March. This exhibition will be presented free of charge as part of the Aube Department’s cultural year dedicated to the history of the County of Champagne.
For three months, a programme designed by the various partners, in collaboration with the mahJ, will offer free guided tours, an inter-museum trail and educational workshops focusing on Jewish life in the Middle Ages and, in particular, the communities of Champagne. The exhibition will be in three languages: French, English and German. It will tour towns and villages in the Aube region and the former county of Champagne that request it, as well as the German cities of Worms and Mainz.
Have you noticed a growing interest in the Jewish cultural heritage of the Aube region in recent years?
The communication carried out by the GIP Rachi and its partners on their actions and the certification process, as well as the GIP’s participation in numerous European events (Oxford, Luxembourg, Erfurt, SChUM Cities) are increasing the visibility of the ‘Rachi de Troyes, lieu de mémoire européen’ (Rachi of Troyes, European place of memory) website. The GIP Rachi is also regularly invited to present this European heritage (Moreshet in 2024, Metz in 2025 as part of the ‘Rencontres de la Mémoire du Grand Est’ and the Société Académique de l’Aube in 2026).
In addition, many groups visit the Maison Rachi, the Rachi European University and Cultural Institute, the former Jewish quarter of Troyes and the ‘Parcours Rachi’ (frescoes). In September 2025, for example, the GIP and its partners will welcome a group of Israeli academics who are experts in medieval history, halakha and linguistics, who are keen to discover the sites that today showcase Rashi in our region.
How is your certification project progressing?
Selected by the French Ministry of Culture, the application for ‘Rashi of Troyes, European Memory Site’ submitted by the GIP Rashi was forwarded to the European Commission on 28 February 2025 to represent French European heritage. The site is thus one of 21 European sites shortlisted for the next award of the label. All applications will be examined by the end of 2025 by a European jury appointed by the European Union, which will propose whether or not to award the European Heritage label to the various projects.
In the meantime, the GIP Rachi team and its partners are continuing their numerous projects aimed at all audiences through innovative cultural, tourist, educational and scientific initiatives, and are working to open up the site to a European audience through partnerships currently being set up. Find out more here