Full catalogue
Europe

The Jews of Italy
Miriam Camerini
Jews have been living in Italy since the last centuries before Christ, even before the destruction of the second Temple. They've adopted local music, food, language, style and customs. There have been tough times, but overall it is a story of co-existence and mutual respect. We'll explore the history of Jews during the Roman Empire, the Middle Ages, the ghettos of Venice, Mantua and Rome through emancipation, World Wars and the present day.

Polish Jews
Łukasz Godlewski
Before World War II, Warsaw was the second largest Jewish city in the
world. After the Holocaust many survivors left Poland, but some stayed.
In the last decades, young Polish people have discovered their
Jewish roots which were often hidden by their parents and grandparents. I
am one of them, and I want to share my family's story with you. I will
also take you on a virtual tour of the Warsaw Ghetto remains and show
you how Jewish life in Warsaw has revived.

Jews of Spain
Victoria Atlas
Jewish History of Spain is one of the most glorious and most tragic passages in the history of Jewish People. For an hour and a half we'll be able to traipse together along those thrilling events and times: from the very beginning of Jewish presence and life in the Iberian peninsula, its flourishing, through its tragic interruption and into its recent revival (barely over a century ago).

Jewish Bulgaria
Joseph Benatov
Join us for a dynamic interactive trip through Bulgaria's rich Jewish heritage. You will have a chance to learn about the history and culture of the Bulgarian Sephardic Jews and the details surrounding the survival of 50,000 of them during the Holocaust. Joseph will also share personal family stories of growing up and being part of the country's vibrant. Jewish community.

Jewish Finland
M. Czimbalmos & D. Pataricza
The Jewish minority of Finland, numbering approximately 1200 people, is organised into two centers in Helsinki and Turku, which makes it one of the northernmost Jewish communities in the world. Finland is one of the few countries with an Eastern European (Litvak) Jewish community that was unaffected by the Holocaust. Its double nature as an Orthodox-rooted yet progressive Jewish congregation also makes it unique.

Stories of Jewish Budapest
Dora Koranyi
Budapest, the capital of Hungary, has one
of the most fascinating Jewish cultures and history in Europe. It is a
community that still flourishes in spite of the many difficulties it has had
throughout its long history. I would like to invite you to a virtual tour,
where I will share with you stories about this community, from the time of the
Austrian empire, through the Holocaust and the communist era until our present
time.

Greek Jewry
Joseph Vardakis
The
presence of Jews in Greece dates back to antiquity. It was the
epicenter of Sephardi culture and boasted a Greek-speaking Romaniote
community as well as
Jews that settled there from all across Europe. However the Holocaust
decimated the
community. Today Greek Jews are working to preserve their unique
heritage. We will explore this ancient, diverse and unique culture that
has spanned more than two millenia.

Jewish Barcelona
Dominique Tomasov
We can talk about the presence of a Jewish community in Barcelona from the mid 9th until the end of the 14th century. The early 20th century marks the beginning of a second chapter of Jewish life which we hope will not be interrupted. We will learn about the irregular evolution of this community, the second largest in Spain. How do we connect with our past? Which are our places of memory today?

Jewish St. Petersburg
Evgenia Kempinski
St. Petersburg, capital of Russian Empire for 200 years, is known for its unique beauty and rich cultural heritage. It's my privilege to show you the beauty of my city and much more; we will look at St. Petersburg through a Jewish lens. I will also share with you my own family's story to illustrate the history and present-day life of our Jewish community.
Jewish Romania
Peninah Zilberman
Jews have been present in Romania since the Roman Empire. In modern times they were responsible for the successful economic development of the cities; nevertheless, anti-Semitism, the Holocaust and Communism marked Jewish existence in the past century. We will explore the many facets the Romanian Jewry is famous for and will also learn how Jewish life is celebrated and observed today in Romania.

Contemporary Jewish Life in Berlin
Micki Weinberg
Since the Fall of the Berlin Wall, Berlin has returned to being a global center for artists, creatives, and others. This has led to an influx of Jews from around the world-- ex-Hasidim, Israelis, Russian speakers, Americans, etc.-- together creating new communities and forms of Jewish life and thought. This talk will explore post-War Jewish life in Berlin, with a special focus on the rich variety of Jewish life today.

Jewish life in France
Emmanuelle Stein
France has the largest Jewish population in Europe. The history of French Jews successively alternated between periods of tolerance and prosperity and the ordeal of insecurity and anti-Semitism, with both phenomena sometimes coexisting in parallel. Paris born Emmanuelle will provide an overview of the Jewish presence in France from the Middle Ages to present day, while describing pluralistic Judaism in Francce today.

Jewish city tour of Riga
Daniel Gurevich
Latvia's
capital is an architectural gem of gothic, renaissance, baroque and Art
Nouveau buildings, and its Old Town was declared a UNESCO Heritage site
in 1997. The Jewish history of Riga
reaches as far back as the 13th century, but it wouldn't be for at least
200
more years that Jews would make an economic impact. Come and
discover this hidden gem with us.

To be a Jew in Estonia
Evgenia Kempinski
This tour will take us through the 150
years of Jewish life in Estonia, the smallest of the Baltic countries. We will learn about
the
Jewish community's commercial success in the late 19th Century, we will talk about the Holocaust
and the
Communist repression that followed. Finally, we will look at today's
community and discuss the current Estonian attitude towards Jews and Israel,

Balkan Sephardi Metropolises
Joseph Benatov
As
Sephardi Jews settled in the Ottoman Empire, Salonica became one of the
most important centers of Jewish life. The city thus earned the
monikers "Mother of Israel". Further inland, multiethnic Sarajevo was
also home to a thriving Jewish community and was sometimes referred to
as "Little Jerusalem".
Our talk will highlight some of the most important figures and events
from the two Jewish metropolises.

Vilnius: The Jerusalem of Lithuania
Daniel Gurevich
Lithuania became home to a Jewish community seven hundred years ago that suddenly was known as "Litvak". Why? When? What did it
mean then and what does it mean
today? In this talk
I will use my own personal and family stories to illustrate the past and
present
of Vilnius and Lithuania, explaining the main reasons why Vilnius is famous in the Jewish world, and showing you the principal
hallmarks of a Jewish tour in Vilnius.

3K Tour of Jewish Lithuania
Daniel Gurevich
In my first talk we presented Jewish Vilnius. Now, get ready for the country's second-largest city, Kaunas, and the towns of Kedainiai and Kalvarija. Kaunas (Kovno) was 60% Jewish at the end of the XIX century. Using videos I will guide you through its main Jewish heritage sights. After that, we will jump to Kedainiai, (Keidan), Finally, the shtetl of Kalvarija.(Kalvarye), is definitely a must-see in this journey.

The Jews of Prague
David Kraus
Jews arrived to the Czechlands before the 9th century, and eventually Prague became home to once the largest Jewish community in the world. Its former Jewish Quarter is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Did Hitler really build a "Museum of Extinct Race" in Prague? Why is the story of interwar Czechoslovakia key to modern Jewish identity? We will also cover the renaissance of a community that almost ceased to exist.

Jewish Heritage of Hungary
Dora Koranyi
Join us for a virtual journey through today's Hungary and discover the rich Jewish heritage still to be found in so many villages and cities. By visiting synagogues, cemeteries and museums we will discover the very early remains, and witness the growth of the community under the Austrian Monarchy. We will also explore what survived after the Holocaust and the fall of Communism.

Jews of Belarus
D. Brunner and A. Livshyts
Belarus'
Jewish story is rich, vital, traumatic, fascinating and barely spoken
of. Jews here were part of the broader Lithuanian (Litvak) culture. Come
on the journey through time and explore the story of Jewish Belarus
across the centuries, its rich history with artists like Chagall and
Rabbis like Gaon of Vilnius. Learn from the Jewish activists offering
support, training and aid to Belarusian communities today.

Jewish Amsterdam
Nachshon Rodrigues Pereira
One of the few original Portuguese Jews left in Amsterdam describes what Jewish Amsterdam was like in the 17th century when the city was the center of the Jewish world, offering the best Jewish education, housing the biggest Rabbis and home to the largest synagogue in the world. Find out how this community was shaped and how it shaped its environment. How much was lost during World War II and what is left now.

Jewish Lisbon and Portugal
Glória Ribeiro
Join me on a virtual tour through the Jewish heritage of Lisbon,
Portugal; a presence that dates back to the Roman era. This visit will
allow you to understand the living Jewish community in
Lisbon and learn about their history, their traditions and their
everyday life. We will make a
detour in
our journey to learn about the almost vanished world of the Jews of Belmonte and about the rapidly growing community
of
Porto.

Jewish Moscow
Evgenia Kempinski
Moscow is home to the
largest Jewish community in Russia, numbering some 250,000 people.
Today Jewish life here flourishes and the
community
is known for its rich religious and cultural life. But it was not the
same in the past. Our talk will cover the period of about 140-150 years,
from the time
when Jews were first allowed to settle
in Moscow to the present days

The Jews of Scandinavia
Evgenia Kempinski
Middle East and Africa

Turkish Jews
Nisya Isman Allovi
The history of the Jews in Anatolia started 2400 years ago with the arrival of Romaniot, Mizrahim and Karaits followed later by Ashkenazim and Sephardic Jews. We will examine ancient synagogues, Jewish settlements and cemeteries as well as important events of the two World Wars. Sephardic cuisine, music, Judeo Spanish language, and ethnographic will be explained. Finally we will explore today's vibrant Jewish life.

Remember Baghdad
Edwin Shuker
In 2015 Edwin Shuker flew to Baghdad
with a
film crew for a documentary that was being produced about the story of Jews in Iraq. He revisited his
childhood
home, which he had not seen since he escaped to England with his family when he was young. Over the course of the
trip and production
Edwin vividly relived his life and the life of 2000
years
of Jewish history in Iraq. In this talk he will share that life with you.

The Jews of Yemen
Gavriella Bigio Dahan
The Jewish community of Yemen has existed since antiquity, but today
comprises less than 50 affiliated members. The past century saw the largest
waves of immigration to Israel, among which my grandmother took part. Through
conversations with her, I learned both of her personal ordeal as a child thrust
into the unknown, as well as the changing way of life for Yemenites in
Israel.

The Jews of Iran
Alan Niku
Iran's Jewish community is one of the oldest in the world. This talk examines the lesser-known parts of its history. Through music, languages, foods, writings, and stories, the Jews of Iran have forged a culture at once Persian and Jewish, with traditions and aesthetics uniquely their own. We will use the knowledge of the past to discuss how their heritage can be preserved.

The Jews of Mosul, Iraq
Omar Mohammed
As a historian, I tried to understand the history of my own city,
Mosul, following its liberation from ISIS. What happened to its Jews and why was their history erased and kept off the record?
Who were they and how did they live? How were they deported and what
happened
next? Where are they now?
Many questions that led me to start searching for every Mosuli Jewish person around the world
and to reconnect with them in order to preserve and document their
stories

Jewish Tunisia
Rafram Chaddad
Tunisia, the former seat of Cartaghe's empire, has been home to different Jewish communities for more than 2000 years. Its central location at a crossroads of civilizations led to multiple influences in food, culture, language and identity. Rafram will take us through the different elements of the complex Jewish layer of Tunisia, how Jewish life looks today and about his work as a visual artist, which blends biography and Jewish identity in contemporary Tunisia.

Growing up Jewish in Uganda
Shoshana Nambi
The Abayudaya community was founded by a tribal
chief who converted himself and many of his followers to Judaism in
1919. One
hundred years later, there are nine synagogues in different Ugandan
villages, three
Jewish schools, and the community continues to grow. I will share the
history of my community, as well as my own family story and
journey to rabbinical school.

The story of Moroccan Jewry
Yona Abeddour
Morocco is home to one of the oldest Jewish communities in the Diaspora. This two-millennia heritage is the result of an intersection between various civilizations and traditions including Berber, Andalusian, and Arab among others. We will explore the past and present of Moroccan Jewry while addressing some central questions related to why the Jews left or stayed, what is Jewish life like in Morocco today, and what is the future of Moroccan Jews in the country.

Iraqi Kurdistan
Levi Meir Clancy
From the Neo-Assyrian era to the present day, learn about the Jews from Kurdistan. There are hundreds of thousands of Kurdish Jews who look to their ancestral fatherland with affection, interest, and curiosity. The Kurdistan Region of Iraq is celebrated as one of the most durable, stable, tolerant, and secure governments in the entire Middle East. Learn more about Kurdistan, its Jewish heritage, and the present-day efforts to support Jewish expression.

From Ethiopia to Israel
Zehava Tesfay
Ethiopian Jews lived for centuries isolated from other Jewish communities. In the later part of the 20th century most of them immigrated to Israel. We will embark on a journey from Ethiopia to Israel and learn about the Jewish Ethiopian community's way of life, traditions identity, strengths, and activism. We will also talk about the reality of life in Israel for the immigrants and for the second generation of Israeli-Ethiopians.

A Tale of Three Kingdoms
Moisés Hassán-Amselém
Andalucía -the southern region of Spain, was once considered the most advanced and educated society in the western world. After their expulsion, some of its Jews went south crossing the Strait of Gibraltar and settled down in the land already known as Morocco. Two hundred years later, some descendants of these now Moroccan Jews returned to Gibraltar, a rock of less than two square miles that had just become part of the British Empire. And since 1749 there has been a significant Jewish presence here.
Caucasus, Central Asia and the Far East

The Bukharian Jews
Ruben Shimonov
The experience of the native Jews of Central Asia - Bukharian Jews - is situated at a unique intersection of Sephardic, Mizrahi, and Russian-speaking Jewish identities. We will explore the eclectic story of this millennia-old Jewish community, discovering the ways in which Bukharian Jews have developed their multifaceted and rich culture, while also shedding light on how their journey fits into the broader historical saga of the Jewish people.
The Bene-Israel of India
Eliaz Reuben-Dandeker
The Bene-Israel
is the largest Jewish historical community from the Indian sub-continent. We will explore their history, culture and heritage. How did it all began?
What part did they take in the history of today's India and Pakistan? What was
their role under British colonial rule, and in the creation of the Bollywood
film industry? Of some 100,000 Bene Israel at the turn of the 21st century,
less than 4,000
remain in India. The great majority have immigrated to Israel, UK, USA and Australia.

The Jews of Georgia
Lasha Shakulashvili
Travel with us to the
Caucasus Mountains and get acquainted with a diverse Jewish world, one
that
still sings in Georgian, Yiddish, Ladino and Jukhuri. All these
languages were
spoken by Georgia's Jewish communities, something which made the country
one of the most
unique locations in the Jewish world. From its peak of 100,000 members,
today
the Georgian Jewish population comprises only a few thousand people.

The Jews of the Silk Road
Manashe Khaimov
Follow in the footsteps of the Jewish merchants
on the Silk Road and discover the ancient network of trade routes that
were for
centuries crucial to Eurasian cultural interaction. Understand the impact and contribution
that Central Asia's Jews of today's Uzbekistan,
Tajikistan,
Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Kyrgyzstan
made towards the development
of this ancient path, and learn about their presence in this area
for over 2000 years.

Jewish Life in China
Pablo Faivel Levinton
There is a long and rich history of Jewish communities in China. In this talk we will explore the three places with the most relevant historical presence of Jews: Kaifeng (where a community was established in the Middle Ages and whose descendants still live today); Harbin (where Russian Jews thrived around the Trans-Siberian Railway), and Shanghai (where thousands of Jews came as refugees during WWII). We will also learn how Jewish life is today for Jews in China.

Jews of Burma
Misha Gulko
This is the story of the Burmese Jewish - a community that once
flourished but quickly ceased to exist. In its short history, the Burmese
Jewish community went through the archetypical Jewish narrative, with inner
rifts and the mortal danger from the outside. Its members either immigrated or
assimilated, but is there still hope for the revival of Jewish life in this
distant South-East Asian country?

Kavkazi "Mountain Jews"
Valeriya Nakshun
Kavkazi Jews live in Azerbaijan and the Russian Republics of the North
Caucasus. They remained
under the sphere of Persian influence until 1812, when the lands of the
Caucasus were ceded to Tsarist Russia, to be later absorbed into the Soviet
Union. This talk will feature an overview of
Kavkazi Jewish origins, history, and the way in which the diaspora is making
efforts to preserve their heritage today.

Recalling Jewish Calcutta
Jael Silliman
I will present the story of our community, which came from the Middle East to Calcutta, then the seat of the British empire, to seek their fortunes. Though small in number, these Jews made an indelible impression on the mercantile city. Global events of the 1940s and 50's led to an exodus from India, and most of them sought their future abroad There are only a handful of Jews left in Calcutta but there are 3 synagogues, 2 schools and a cemetery.
Latin America

The Jews in Argentina
Claudia Hercman
The presence of Jews in Argentina goes back to the expulsion from Spain. In the late 19th century, masses of Ashkenazi immigrants fleeing Russia and Eastern Europe settled the country, becoming one of the largest Jewish communities in the world. Despite waves of antisemitism, xenophobia and terrorism, Jews have become fully integrated in most sectors of the society.

Jewish Heritage of Brazil
Felipe Lichand
In
Brazil we can find one of the largest Jewish communities in Latin
America, with presence in different regions, each with distinct stories.
In this talk we will introduce you to the Jewish history of Brazil from
colonial times to present. Travel with us to Rio, São Paulo and Recife,
and discover with images and videos the most emblematic Jewish
landmarks of these cities.

The Jews of Cuba
Ruth Behar
My talk will offer a broad perspective on the Jews of Cuba. We will start with a close look at the formation of the first Jewish communities in the early 20th Century and examine the rise and fall of these communities after the Cuban Revolution. The revitalization of Jewish life since the 1990s will lead us to the present day and to how Jews continue to assert their presence on the island.

Jewish Mexico
Monica Unikel
I invite you to a visual tour through the history of the Jews in Mexico, focused mostly on the twentieth century, when the current community was formed, but touching on episodes from the sixteenth century, when Crypto-Jews first arrived. It will be a visual feast thanks to the incredible historical photos and documents I received from immigrant families.
Former Soviet Union

Jews of Belarus
D. Brunner and A. Livshyts
Belarus'
Jewish story is rich, vital, traumatic, fascinating and barely spoken
of. Jews here were part of the broader Lithuanian (Litvak) culture. Come
on the journey through time and explore the story of Jewish Belarus
across the centuries, its rich history with artists like Chagall and
Rabbis like Gaon of Vilnius. Learn from the Jewish activists offering
support, training and aid to Belarusian communities today.

Jews of Siberia
Gregory Touretsky
Siberia is always bitterly cold, and dangerous, brown bears walk its streets - as the popular stereotype says. But is it really so? In this talk we'll learn about life on this vast territory during the last 400 years. Jews of the Pale of Settlement tried to escape to America, to Palestine - but some of them chose Siberia. Others were forced to go. We'll explore when and how Jews got to Siberia, where they settled and what they did there.

Jewish city tour of Riga
Daniel Gurevich

The Jews of Georgia
Lasha Shakulashvili
Travel with us to the Caucasus Mountains and get acquainted with a diverse Jewish world, one that still sings in Georgian, Yiddish, Ladino and Jukhuri. All these languages were spoken by Georgia's Jewish communities, something which made the country one of the most unique locations in the Jewish world. From its peak of 100,000 members, today the Georgian Jewish population comprises only a few thousand people.

The Bukharian Jews
Ruben Shimonov
The experience of the native Jews of Central Asia - Bukharian Jews - is situated at a unique intersection of Sephardic, Mizrahi, and Russian-speaking Jewish identities. We will explore the eclectic story of this millennia-old Jewish community, discovering the ways in which they have developed their multifaceted culture, while also shedding light on how their journey fits into the broader historical saga of the Jewish people.

Kavkazi "Mountain Jews"
Valeriya Nakshun
Kavkazi Jews live in Azerbaijan and the Russian Republics of the North
Caucasus. They remained
under the sphere of Persian influence until 1812, when the lands of the
Caucasus were ceded to Tsarist Russia, to be later absorbed into the Soviet
Union. This talk will feature an overview of
Kavkazi Jewish origins, history, and the way in which the diaspora is making
efforts to preserve their heritage today.

Jewish St. Petersburg
Evgenia Kempinski
St. Petersburg, capital of Russian Empire for 200 years, is known for its unique beauty and rich cultural heritage. It's my privilege to show you the beauty of my city and much more; we will look at St. Petersburg through a Jewish lens. I will also share with you my own family's story to illustrate the history and present-day life of our Jewish community.

To be a Jew in Estonia
Evgenia Kempinski
This tour will take us through the 150 years of Jewish life in Estonia, the smallest of the Baltic countries. We will learn about the Jewish community's commercial success in the late 19th Century, we will talk about the Holocaust and the Communist repression that followed. Finally, we will look at today's community and discuss the current Estonian attitude towards Jews and Israel,

Vilnius: The Jerusalem of Lithuania
Daniel Gurevich
Lithuania became home to a Jewish community seven hundred years ago that suddenly was known as "Litvak". Why? When? What did it
mean then and what does it mean
today? In this talk
I will use my own personal and family stories to illustrate the past and
present
of Vilnius and Lithuania, explaining the main reasons why Vilnius is famous in the Jewish world, and showing you the principal
hallmarks of a Jewish tour in Vilnius.

3K Tour of Jewish Lithuania
Daniel Gurevich
In my first talk we presented Jewish Vilnius. Now, get ready for the country's second-largest city, Kaunas, and the towns of Kedainiai and Kalvarija. Kaunas (Kovno) was 60% Jewish at the end of the XIX century. Using videos I will guide you through its main Jewish heritage sights. After that, we will jump to Kedainiai, (Keidan), Finally, the shtetl of Kalvarija.(Kalvarye), is definitely a must-see in this journey.

Jewish Moscow
Evgenia Kempinski
Moscow is home to the largest Jewish community in Russia, numbering some 250,000 people. Today Jewish life here flourishes and the community is known for its rich religious and cultural life. But it was not the same in the past. Our talk will cover the period of about 140-150 years, from the time when Jews were first allowed to settle in Moscow to the present days.
Jewish Culture

Music of Sefarad
Judith Cohen
Sefarad is both a geographical place and a concept - it's Spain and Portugal, and it's the centuries and continents of the Sephardic diaspora. Old ballads with hypnotizing stories, irresistible wedding songs, the popular love songs and songs of daily life will be presented both live and in archival recordings, with photos and stories of the Sephardim who kept this tradition alive against all odds.

Jewish Food Traditions Around the World - Yaffi Lvova

Jewish Languages Today
Sarah Bunin Benor
Throughout history,
Jews around the world have spoken many languages. In this multimedia session,
you will learn what these languages have had in common and how they are
currently shifting. The past two centuries have led to major changes in the linguistic profile of Jewish
communities. Several long-standing Jewish languages
have become endangered and new Jewish
language varieties are developing.

Music and History of Klezmer
Yale Strom
The word "klezmer"
comes from Hebrew "kli zemer" which means "instrument of the singing". Over
time it came to signify the musicians themselves, and in current usage it also
refers to the musical genre of East European Jewish dance
music. This lecture will look at the
development of klezmer from medieval times
through the 20th century, with the inclusion of photos, video and
musical
examples (some from Yale Strom himself).

Music among the Crypto-Jews
Judith Cohen
After the expulsion of Jews from Portugal, some stayed as Crypto-Jews. The early 20th century saw the "discovery" of the Jews of Belmonte and the northeast region of Tras-os-Montes, who had lived in isolation with few cultural contacts with the outside world. I will introduce the people I interviewed, and explain how songs and recited prayers work in both the religious and secular contexts.

Desert Roots
Dror Sinai
Dror will
take us on a beautiful journey around Yemen, Spain and North Africa from the 10th
century until today, through songs of spirit and awe, songs of thanks and songs
of love and hope. We will unveil
how these chants inspired and connected Jews from different times and places,
but with the same longings and spiritual quests. Dror will
accompany his singing with a variety of percussion instruments.
