Highlights of the collection a family visit Welcome to our tour! In this booklet, wherever you can see the ear

symbol you need to listen carefully, and when you can see the

magnifying glass symbol you can explore by yourself. All set? Let’s go!

1. Jewish life in Paris

a. Look at the two photos of the Hôtel Saint-Aignan! One is from

1903 and the other from 2017. Who lived in this building before it became

a museum?

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2. Introduction gallery

a. In this gallery you you can find a number of

objects that are important

within Judaism.

Can you name any of them?

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Your Name: _______________________________________________________________

3. Jews in medieval France

a. Look at the gravestones in the middle

of the room. Where were they discovered?

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b. Some of the people mentioned on the gravestones have Hebraic

names whereas others have French names. Do you know why?

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4. Synagogue furniture and furnishings

a. How old are you? Look at this

beautiful wooden Ark from a period

we call the Renaissance.

Imagine how this was made

in Italy more than 500 years ago!

Do you know what would have been

stored inside?

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Ashkenazi Jews use

upright tombstones

whereas Sephardic

Jews use tombstones

that lie flat on the

ground.

Synagogues share a number of

features. They usually face

east towards Jerusalem, and

the interior is arranged around

the Torah Ark and the reading

desk. The Ark recalls the Ark of

the Covenant from the temple

of Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is a very important city for Jewish

people. Why? It was home to a famous

temple, built 3000 years ago. This temple

housed the Ark of the Covenant containing

the Tables of the Law.

Did you know?

5. The Sukkah booth

Building a Sukkah is a fun family

project, and you can use any material

available!

a. Why, do you think, we can find

numbers on the different panels of our

Sukkah?

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b. Our Sukkah is richly decorated.

You can see a small German or

Austrian village, the tables of the Law,

and another place that we have

already seen during our visit today. Can you name this other place?

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6. The traditional ahskenazi world

a. In every shtetl you

would have found a wooden

synagogue or shul.

Imagine,

the models in front of you

were made by teenagers

in schools!

Choose one of

these wooden synagogues

and draw the detail that you

like best.

Don’t worry, you can finish your drawing after the tour! Would you like to

tell us what detail you chose?

The Sukkah is used during the

holiday known as Sukkot, or

the feast of Tabernacles,

which is celebrated every fall

during the harvest season.

During this holiday Jews

remember how the biblical

Israelites spent 40 years in

desert after their Exodus from

slavery in Egypt.

The Sukkah reminds us that

the Israelites slept in

temporary Sukkot or small

huts during this hard journey

on their way to the Promised

Land.

The walls and ceilings of these synagogues were decorated with

colourful inscriptions and paintings such as animals and flowers.

In Hebrew, Ashkenaz means Germany.

When the Jews had to leave their home

countries during the Middle Ages, many

Ashkenazim migrated from countries

such as France or Germany to so-called

shtetl (small towns) in Eastern Europe

in the 15th and 16th centuries.

7. The traditional sefardi world

a. Look at the display case in

front of you. Can you name some of

the materials that were used for this

beautiful wedding dress (berberisca)

and the jewelry a Moroccan Jewish

bride would have worn?

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8. Jews in France in the late 18th century

a. Look at the document in the

display case.

This is called a tariff.

Who was asked to pay an extra tax

when entering the city

of Toulouse?

Who had to pay double?

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This unfair tax was finally abolished (this means that they officially got rid

of it) in 1784.

9. The Emancipation

a. The Revolution changed the

daily life of French Jews. Can you

name some of the changes?

Listen carefully!

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Sepharad means Spain in

Hebrew. When the

Sephardim were expelled

from Spain in 1492, many

of them went to different

places around the

Mediterranean Sea, such

as North Africa and the

Middle East.

The French Revolution (1789-

1799)!

You’ve probably heard

stories about this

Revolution.

Yes, there was some

violence, but do you know

why the Revolution was

necessary? Before the war,

French people had few

rights and many lived in

extreme poverty. This began

to change in 1789, when the

revolutionaries wrote the

Declaration of the rights of

Man and of the Citizen, a

document inspired by the

American Revolution (1765-

1783).

After the Middle Ages, Jews slowly

began to return to France and by

the 1780s they numbered around

40,000. Ashkenazi Jews were

mainly in Alsace in northeast

France and Sephardic Portuguese

Jews in the city of Bordeaux in the

southwest.

Captain Dreyfus

10. The Dreyfus-affair

In this gallery you will meet Captain

Alfred Dreyfus (1859-1935), a French Jew from

Alsace in North-Eastern France!

Can you find another image of him?

Listen to his story and then decide what we can

learn from his experience.

Throughout his harsh

Imprisonment, Dreyfus never

gave up hope and always

believed in the French justice.

In your opinion, what is most

important lesson we can learn

from the Dreyfus affair?

(There are no right or wrong answers, it’s up to you to decide!)

A) Dreyfus was innocent and his struggle teaches us about the

dangers of prejudice.

B) Dreyfus’s perseverance teaches us to never give up.

C) Many people in France supported Dreyfus and defended his

innocence, because this could have happened to anybody.

D) Any other lessons you would like to add?

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11. Jewish 20th century art

Look around the gallery.

All the paintings and sculptures

in this room were made

by Jewish artists who lived

during the 1900s.

Which one is your favorite?

What does this artwork depict?

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We hope that you have enjoyed your tour.

Here you can find the answers!

Alfred Dreyfus was a captain in the

French army. In 1894, he was falsely

accused of providing secret

information to the German Imperial

Army.

He was stripped of his military rank

and sentenced to life in prison.

The real spy, however, was Major

Esterhazy. It would take 12 years

before Dreyfus was finally declared

innocent!

Developed in cooperation with Marie-Pierre Delaporte and the Mahj. Design and text: Claudia Eicher.

Editorial assistance: Stephanie Nadalo and Madeline Díaz.

Many important Jewish artists are

featured in museums today, and you

can see some of their portraits along

the gallery wall. However, specialists

still cannot agree whether there are

characteristics that distinguish

modern Jewish art from the rest of

modern art.

Solutions: 1. a) In 2015, the building looks cleaner; in 1903 you can see three additional floors

that had been added to the building. b) Aristocrats lived here in the 17th century, poor workers and

artisans lived here in the 19th and 20th centuries, and many of them were immigrants and Ashkenazi

Jews. 2. a) Important objects include the Torah scroll, the relief map of Jerusalem, the Torah ornaments, and the Hanukkah lamp. 3. a) Most of the gravestones were discovered on the Left

Bank in 1849, during construction work for the Hachette bookstore. One of the gravestones comes

from the Marais and was discovered in a foundation wall. Many Jewish cemeteries in France were

used as quarries for building material after the medieval expulsions. b) Some women had French

names but Jewish men always had Hebraic names because their first name also served as the

family (last) name. 4. a) In the Ark you would find the Sefer Torah. 5. a) The numbers helped to

reassemble the Sukkah every year. Sukkot (plural of Sukkah) are not permanent and have to be

taken apart after the festival. b) Jerusalem is depicted in this scene, including the Wailing Wall or

Western Wall. 6. a) Choose whatever detail you like best! 7. a) The materials include: cloth (velvet, silk), gold thread, silver, glass, coral. b) The fish is a symbol of abundance, and it is used to wish

the married couple many children! 8. a) Jews had to pay an extra tax and pregnant Jewish women

even had to pay double. 9. a) In 1790 and 1791 the Jews of France were emancipated, they

became French citizens and now had the same rights and responsibilities just as every other French

citizen. They would have been able to vote, run for public office, work as journalists, as teachers, as

artists or actors. They also could have joined the military. Jews also were allowed to build

synagogues if there were at least 2,000 Jews living in a community. 10. a) These are all important

lessons!