European Day of Jewish Culture -- Sept. 5

 Synagogue, Radauti, Romania. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

The annual European Day of Jewish Culture is coming up -- this year, it's Sept. 5. This is the 11th edition of the "Day" -- I was present at the meeting in Paris in 1999 when it was decided to sponsor an international, cross-border Culture Day, broadening the effort that had already been under way in the Alsace region of France since 1996.

Organization is at the local level, but each year a different general theme is chosen to more or less link events, which this year are said to be taking place in nearly 30 countries -- though programs for only 16 countries are listed on the web site.

Italy remains perhaps the most enthusiastic participant, with events in some 62 locales, including many places where no Jews live.

The theme chosen this year is "Art and Judaism." Events focus on:

  - Different kinds of art: paintings, sculptures, decorative arts, literature, music, films, theatre
  - Different artists: painters, sculptors, writers, actors, composers and performers, directors
  - Different periods: ancient, medieval, modern, contemporary
  - Others: patrons of art, collections
  - Art applied in religious ceremony or in everyday life

You can see the program by clicking THIS LINK