(JTA) – Every September since 2000, synagogues and other Jewish heritage sites in many cities in Europe, a continent where Jewish establishments remain firmly closed for security reasons, are open to the public for a day to foster ties between Jewish and non-Jewish European Communities.
This year’s European Jewish Culture Days series will be different due to the coronavirus pandemic, but communities in many cities, adding Spain and Italy, the two countries most affected by COVID-19 in Europe, plan to hold at least some events in person..
In fact, these two countries are expanding their stake: 40 locations in Spain, to 30 last year, and 90 in Italy, up from 88 last year.
Overall, the series’ occasions will take place in 30 countries, starting from Luxembourg, where a singer will give a concert at the synagogue in Luxembourg City, Slovenia, where a consultant will be offering tours of the Jewish cemetery in Rozna Dolina, a city close to the Italian border and the celebrities buried there.
In addition to the face-to-face occasions, others will be filmed and broadcast live, adding during the first 8 hours of September 6, the opening day of the series that will run the month.had on the online page of the European Association for the Preservation and Promotion of Jewish Culture and Heritage, which organizes the program.
“This year, due to the lousy fitness emergency that has hit the world, we will have an edition that will inevitably be different,” says one of the association’s organizers, an alliance of 22 teams ranging from the B’nai B’rith Network of Jewish Historic Quarters of Europe and Portugal.
The fact that the assignment is taking place this year in Spain and Italy, two former epicentres of the coronavirus pandemic in Europe, shows that “Jewish culture is not only very present, but also shows a wonderful resilience,” he said.
Spain and Italy are among the only five European countries with a mortality rate of more than 531 deaths, consisting of one million inhabitants in the United States, however, the epidemic erupted in countries that were weeks before it began to spread to the United States and have already been pleased to measure their containment measures , which included complete closures (a wave is currently brewing in Spain).
The island of Palma de Mallorca, off the east coast of the Spanish peninsula, has a local Jewish network with history.This year will mark its moment of participation in the European Jewish Culture Days, with a combination of physical and virtual events, Dani said.Rotstein, tour consultant and member of the local network.
On the grounds, the local synagogue will be open to visitors from 26 to 27 September, just before Yom Kippur.An open-air Ladin music concert will take place on September 6, and loose guided tours of the old Jewish quarter of the palm city will take place.Each and every Sunday in September and October is held, courtesy of the municipality.
“I think the commitment to organize Days of European Jewish Culture this year, after the coronavirus tragedy, shows how much Spain is interested as a society in its Jewish history,” Rotstein said.
In addition, Rotstein began this month to offer virtual guided tours in Spanish, Catalan and English in Zoom with stabilized camera, where viewers can see him visiting the sites of The Jewish heritage on the streets of Palma and the Jewish museum that opened there in 2015.
In the city of Zaragoza, in northeastern Spain, a dinner of Rosh Hashaná for non-Jews will be held on September 19, which will feature experts in Jewish history who will explain the customs of the Jewish holiday and move to an outdoor stage in a public park.to reduce the threat of contagion.
Moked, the magazine of the Italian Jewish network, promoted in an article how “Rome, the oldest Jewish network in the diaspora, will be the main city” of the European Jewish Culture Days.
The network of Rome will offer virtual tours of synagogues, museums and Jewish quarters, as well as performances, conferences and round tables, Moked reported.
I conform to JTA’s privacy policy.
By submitting the above, I agree to the privacy policy and terms of use of JTA.org