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The AEPJ has promoted, together with the network of participating institutions, an edition that will be based on new technologies and the digital world, giving the opportunity to reach a wider audience worldwide. In this way, for the first time in 20 years, on the opening day of the Festival, an eight-hour online program will be held, open to the entire public, where conferences, interviews, concerts and videos on European Jewish heritage will take place, offering a unique look, from the inside, at the history and Jewish communities of a large number of European participating countries. We will connect live with Luxembourg, Barcelona, Jerusalem, Paris and Oxford.
 
The broadcast will have four main events, detailed below, in which viewers will be able to interact with the speakers through the chat. During the rest of the broadcast, various documentaries and videos produced by the participating institutions will be retransmitted. The Online Kickoff will be broadcast live on the AEPJ's profiles on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. We invite you to connect during the day and invite your community to do the same.
 
Program
(Times indicated in Central European Summer Time - CEST)
 
11:30h - Concert
Cantor Michel Heymann. From the Luxembourg Sinagogue
13:00h - Lecture: Trees have roots, Jews have legs (in English).
By Jeremy Leigh, Director of RJ Scheuer Israel Seminar. From the National Library of Israel, Jerusalem.
16:00h - Interview: Paradigm shift? A new look at Judaism in Europe in 2020 (in Spanish).
By Marcelo Dimenstein, JDC International Centre for Community Development, in conversation with Víctor Sörenssen, director of the AEPJ. From the AEPJ Headquarters, Barcelona.
17:30h - Virtual Tour: The Jewish Journey: 4000 years in 22 objects from the Ashmolean Museum (in English).
By Rebecca Abrams, journalist & author of the book "The Jewish Journey". From the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
19:00h - End of broadcast
 
During the rest of the broadcast, several documentaries and videos produced by the participating institutions will be retransmitted.
 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jewisheritage/live/
Youtube: https://youtu.be/xqL86READaw 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jewisheritage/

This European-wide festival, dedicated to the knowledge and deepening of Judaism, and to the encounter between cultures, which has been organized by the AEPJ since 2000, will celebrate this year its 21st edition from September 6th. This year, due to the terrible health emergency that has overwhelmed the world, we will have an edition that will necessarily be different. The coordinators of the more than 20 participating countries have made a great effort to ensure that the Festival will continue and guarantee the promotion of European Jewish history and heritage, through all kinds of activities, especially designed for the general public. The central theme of this edition is Jewish Journeys, and although it may seem contradictory, it may be more revealing than ever. The Festival will offer all kinds of proposals that will make us reflect on a few Journeys, that are a big part of the Jewish story. And in this era of interconnectivity, it presents a unique opportunity to explore these connections, their causes and motivations, as well as their relevance today and how they are projected into the future. After all, we are all part of this Journey.
 
Without a doubt, this is a special edition. All the participating countries have been affected by the health crisis, and many of the participating institutions dedicated to Jewish heritage have experienced very difficult times in recent months, as their main source of funding, cultural tourism, has been one of the areas most affected by this crisis. We are very proud of having found a great proactivity and enormous determination in all the institutions, which have seen the Festival as a challenge, which projects us in a different way of doing and enjoying culture, pushing us to refine and apply new resources and new possibilities. It is worth mentioning that countries like Italy or Spain, the most affected by the COVID-19, will participate extensively in this year's edition (Italy, more than 80 cities and Spain, more than 40), showing that Jewish culture is not only very present, but also shows a great resilience.

The new website of the European Routes of Jewish Heritage is in the final stretch of development. Today, coinciding with the start of the European Days of Jewish Culture, the preview of the website is being launched, where it is possible to see the profiles of the different routes that make up the European Routes of Jewish Heritage.