By Curt Leviant and Erika Pfeifer Leviant, Special to JTNews
Paris, the city of lights, also brims with the bright light of Jewry, with which it has been associated for centuries. With the exception of the period of expulsion in 1395 (no Jews were in Paris in the 15th and 16th centuries), Jewish residence in Paris and in France — the first European nation to grant Jews citizenship — has been almost continuous. And in the 20th century, three Jews became prime ministers of France, a feat never achieved in any other country: Leon Blum, Rene Mayer and Pierre Mendes-France. It was also in Paris that Theodore Herzl composed the great Zionist manifesto, “The Jewish State,” a document central to modern Jewish history.
Today 700,000 Jews live in France, the fourth largest community of Jews in the world, with about 350,000 in Paris. Of the city’s 50 synagogues, three magnificent buildings stand out. One is the so-called Rothschild synagogue (Ashkenazic), on rue Victoire, built in 1874; the second, a few minutes’ walk away, is the slightly smaller but equally dazzling rue Buffault (Sephardic), built in 1877. (In France, shuls are generally known by the name of the street on which they are located.)
The third beautiful synagogue is called Nazareth, at 15 rue Notre Dame de Nazareth, a street where the many Jewish shops display Israeli flags in their windows. The rabbi here told me an interesting fact: Whereas the Sephardic rite of prayer is followed for most of the year, it switches to Ashkenazic during the Rosh Hashanah-Yom Kippur period (very likely to accommodate those Ashkenazic Jews who stream back to prayers during the High Holy Days.)
Built in 1852, not only is the Nazareth synagogue the oldest in Paris, but it achieved world fame when a part of the great comic French movie, The Adventures of Rabbi Jacob, was filmed in its sanctuary. In all these synagogues newcomers are warmly welcomed and invited to the beautiful kiddush after Sabbath services.
Judaism’s preponderant coloration is no longer either the old native French Jews, some of whom trace their family lineage back many centuries (an ancestor of a relative, whose 18th-century portrait hangs on his living room wall, fought for French independence in the 1780s), nor is it the East European Jews, many of whom found refuge in Paris from persecution in Poland and Russian between World Wars I and II. The mass immigration of Jews from Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco in the 1960s helped counterbalance the powerful forces of acculturation and intermarriage that have decimated Ashkenazic Jewry.
In light-filled Paris the city’s famous landmarks are now illuminated with super-bright halogens. Crowning them all is the Eiffel Tower, that engineering marvel, with its lacey iron, which sparkles with thousands of lights every evening on the hour.
For our hotel we chose the hotel de Crillon, one of Paris’s fabled hotels, for its reputation and convenient location in the heart of the city. Two weeks before our departure, the genial general manager Luc Delafosse wrote that a limo would pick us up at the airport — as royal a welcome as one could expect for a palatial hotel. Indeed, it is one of the two or three palace hotels remaining in Paris.
Here the breakfast buffet was a gustatory delight, with dozens of delicious choices from fresh and rare fruits to smoked salmon, salads, pastries and, of course, the famed home-baked Parisian baguettes and croissants. Moreover, the hotel’s luxurious suites, attentive, friendly staff and knowledgeable concierge enhanced our unforgettable stay. Both the rue Victoire and rue Buffault synagogues are about a 10–12 minute walk from the Le Crillon.
A good place to begin one’s Jewish tour of Paris is to visit its oldest and most famous quarter, the area around rue des Rosiers, in the historic Marais district. Some 700 years ago this used to be the Jewish residential quarter, the Juiverie, when rue des Rosiers was called the Street of the Jews. Now it is filled with colorful shops, many with Yiddish or Hebrew signs. One shop offered “Yiddish sandwiches,” as if a language could be swallowed. Not only Jews tour these narrow cobblestoned streets, of course. Many people of different ethnic backgrounds are drawn to the charm of this old quarter. Be sure to visit the rue Pavée synagogue, which was designed by Hector Guimard, the same architect who made the famous Art Nouveau decorations for the Paris Metro.
Nearby lies the Picasso Museum, as does the Museum of Jewish Art and History at 71 rue du Temple. Located in one of the most elegant private mansions in Paris, this Jewish museum accents the history of French and other Jewish communities and displays manuscripts, clothing, artifacts, ritual objects and paintings.
To mitigate the rather hefty museum admission fees, you can buy a three-day or week-long museum pass, which saves you the long, long lines to buy tickets. And get a pass to the Metro, which gives you unlimited rides on the easily negotiated Paris subway system and on all the bus lines. The pass also lets you enjoy the free concerts in the huge spaces that connect the stations. We were often treated to American, folk, and even klezmer music — played by young Swedes.
For a break in sightseeing, we discovered a superb vegetarian restaurant run by an American named Deborah. She serves delicious gourmet meals imaginatively rendered and creatively designed. Gentle Gourmet is at 17 rue Duret, near the Arc de Triomphe (Metro: Argentine). For further info, search online for The Gentle Gourmet.
Enjoy too the wide spectrum of entertainment in Paris. One favorite site is the ornate grandeur of the Palais Garnier, Paris’s famed opera house, a mid-19th century architectural marvel, where we saw a memorable production of Rossini’s The Italian Girl in Algiers. Its sister opera house, the Opera Bastille, also offers stunning operatic productions; to wit, The Marriage of Figaro, which we saw a month later.
If you travel outside of Paris, buy
the France Railpass, which permits you
to board all trains in France (for the high-speed TGV, reservations are needed).
It dramatically reduces costs and lets
you board without waiting in line for tickets. With the pass you can also change your itinerary at will and take spur-of-
the-moment trips. To purchase this pass — not available in Europe — call Rail Europe at 800-361-7245. Also, check www.raileurope.com for special rates and low fares on point-to-point tickets. And for help in planning your trip visit parisinfo.com/english for an array of useful information.
Curt Leviant’s most recent book is the critically acclaimed comic novel, A Novel of Klass. Erika Pfeifer Leviant writes about travel and Jewish art.