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European Jewish culture — not only a thing of the past

In Europe, or at least in Jewish Europe, what is Labor Day weekend in the US is the European Jewish Day of Culture.

It’s been that way for the last 30 years. On the first Sunday in September, lectures, plays, concerts, film screenings — any and all types of events — are held in synagogues, community centers and town halls across Europe.

There are two sides to the coin of such an encompassing event: On the one hand, it’s a marvel of organization, commitment and unity. Pulling off a comparable “American Jewish Day of Culture” is hard to fathom. On the other hand, it speaks to the shrunken size of Europe’s Jewish community, hacked away by the Inquisitions, the Holocaust and Communism.

This contraction, however, in itself has positives: It has caused European Jews to reach out to each other and create events such as a day of culture. It has generated Summer University, an annual gathering of Jewish students and young adults, with opportunities to learn and socialize. Many a European Jewish couple have met this way. In fact, in Europe, most Jewish couples are “mixed,” one half from one country, the other from another.

Many in the US and Israel (and Europe, too) despair of European Judaism, especially with rising anti-Semitism across the continent. Yet, European Jews continue to celebrate their unique heritage and find the common threads across their vast borders. You see, there’s something European Jews fundamentally understand that American, and even Israeli, Jews do not: It can all disappear. And very quickly. As such, European Jews are accustomed to celebrating their Judaism as a decidedly minority group.

They are also proud of their traditions, whether it’s the diversity of languages — the theme of this year’s day of culture — reflected in localized recitations following the Hebrew Grace After Meals, the Torah cantillation used only in certain German-speaking communities or the cuts of kosher meat butchered only in Alsatian towns — to name a few.

They will continue to highlight and celebrate those traditions.

For those us who mistakenly think that European Jewish culture is dead, it is time to think again.

Copyright © 2016 by the Intermountain Jewish News




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