Here are the events planned for the European Days of Jewish Culture in this city. For more information and to reserve your tickets, visit the JECPJ FRANCE website.
MAHJ
Sunday, September 6, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Jews and France: A Love Story
This event is designed as a moment of historical and cultural celebration. The public is invited to explore a complex history spanning from antiquity to the present day, marked by expulsions, emancipation, betrayal, rebirth, and uncertainty.
10 a.m.–6 p.m.: Permanent collection, exhibition – Chaim Kaliski. Jim d’Etterbeek, exhibition installations
Marc Chagall. Day of Celebration, 1914. The School of Paris in the Collections. The Journey of Looted Artworks. Diane Esmond and Fédor Löwenstein
10 a.m.–6 p.m.: Bookstore. Love in Calligraphy
Parisian calligrapher Michel D’Anastasio has created a series of works and reproductions of Hebrew calligraphy on the theme of love especially for the JECJ. A selection of his latest creations will be on sale at the mahJ bookstore.
11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m.: Guided tour “As Happy as a Jew in France?” in the Cour d’honneur, led by Raphaëlle Laufer Krygier, museum docent. Through a social, cultural, economic, and political lens, this tour analyzes the evolution of the Jewish presence in France from the Middle Ages to the 20th century: from “serfs of the king” to citizens of the Republic.
12:00 PM–5:00 PM: Book Sale in the Cour d’honneur. Several hundred used books at low prices covering all aspects of Jewish cultures.
2:00 PM–5:30 PM: Book Fair in the Cour d’honneur. Dozens of historians, philosophers, sociologists, essayists, and writers will be signing their books: Chana Alster, Nathalie Azoulai, Pierre Birnbaum, Evelyne Bloch-Dano, Pascal Bresson, Antoine and Isabelle Chereau, Martine Cohen, Natalie David-Weill, Alexandre Doulut, Charles Dreyfus, Janine Gerson, Sylvie-Anne Goldberg, Martine Gozlan, Noémie Halioua, Dominique Jarrassé, Théodora Jarrassé-Raquillet, Vincent Jaury, Johanna Lehr, Nadia Malinovich, Arnaud Nemet, Denis Olivennes, Philippe Oriol, Jonas Pardo, Deborah Pasmantier, Pierre Savy, Raphaël Sigal, and Lisa Vapné.
2:00–4:30 p.m.: In-gallery discussions:
– In-gallery discussion with Claire Decomps, chief curator of historical collections and Judaica at the mahJ. This discussion offers an opportunity to discover artifacts and documents that bear witness to the love of Jews for France, on display along the exhibition route or brought out specially from the museum’s storage.
– Discussion “Jews of France. What Now?” With Yonatan Arfi, president of the CRIF; Noémie Issan-Benchimol, philosopher; and Jonathan Hayoun, documentary filmmaker and essayist, moderated by Stéphane Bou, editor-in-chief of K magazine.
– A Taste for Travel with JguideEurope
– Discovering the JECJ program
Maison de la Culture Yiddish
September 17, 2026, at 7:30 p.m.
Glikl fun Hamel. Mother, Wife, and Businesswoman: A 17th-Century Jewish Memoirist
The Yiddish Cultural Center will host Michel Gaspard for a discussion of the Memoirs of his ancestor, Glikl fun Hamel, also known as Glückel Hameln. A merchant, widow, and mother of fourteen children, Glikl began writing her life story in the late 17th century. Her seven books offer an exceptional account of daily life, attitudes, and customs within the Ashkenazi Jewish communities of her time. Michel Gaspard contributed to their first complete French translation, based on the German translation published by Bertha Pappenheim in 1910.
Michel Gaspard will speak with Michèle Tauber, professor of Hebrew and Yiddish literature at the University of Strasbourg. Their conversation will offer a glimpse into the life of an extraordinary woman and explore, more than three centuries later, the many expressions of love.
Galerie Saphir
September 17–October 30, 2026
Exhibition “The Poetics of Love”
Between the sacred and the profane, between life and death, erotic poetry reveals the love of God. An illuminating Eros—a metaphor for life and the world—that allows human beings to transcend their condition of exile and suffering. Painting brings to life the ineffable nature of childhood and love.
For Théo Tobiasse, love is the color of the Psalms, and the radiant flesh of women throbs with temptation. Chagall’s entwined figures set dreams free and visually convey the spirit’s flight toward a weightless spiritual world; Samy Briss opens the doors to the realm of memory; Hubert Haddad unfolds fragments of eternity along the timeline. A delightful torment, a yearning for the ineffable—love is the principle of universal openness, the “divine source of the stars” for Léon L’hébreu, resistance to the abyss.
Théâtre de l’Epée de Bois
The Dibbuk
October 16–25, 2026
Thursday through Saturday at 7:00 p.m., Saturday and Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
Special performance on Wednesday, October 21, at 8:30 p.m.
A play by Shalom An-ski, with a new adaptation by Jean-Henri Blumen, directed by Georges Perla, original music, piano, and vocals by Suzanne Ben Zakoun, lighting design by Jean Grison, and costumes by Itris Projections, based on the works of Alain Kleinmann
Starring Lemmy Constantine, David Duran Camacho, Shahar Fineberg, Henri Gruvman, Ulysse Lechine, Orit Mizrahi, Georges Perla, and Hanna Rosenblum—Assistant Director Eva Bitton
The play tells the story of a thwarted love set against the backdrop of a mystical drama.
As its subtitle suggests, *Le Dibbouk* exists between two worlds. It takes us between the world of the living and that of the dead, between the old world that is faltering and the new one that is struggling to emerge amid the sound and fury. This dramatic tension that runs through the work resonates with our contemporary concerns.
Farband
Monday, November 9, 2026, at 7:00 p.m.
Frédéric Zeitoun in concert: “A hymn to life and love”
You may know him as the radio host, the author of *The Exhilarating Dictionary of Love Songs*, the lyricist for French music stars, or the actor in *The Little Jew on Wheels*—come discover Frédéric Zeitoun performing his own repertoire: a celebration of life and love.
MEDEM
Sunday, November 29, 2026, at 6:00 p.m.
Concert: “Our Most Beautiful Love Songs”
One is a soprano. The other, an alto. Michèle Tauber and Jacinta have often shared the stage to the delight of their audiences. Their voices—singing in Yiddish, Judeo-Spanish, Hebrew, Russian, Spanish, and French, in both duets and solos—will take you on an enchanting journey through love songs. They will be accompanied on the accordion by Gheorghe Ciumasu.