A fun sabbath for children

The children arrive all smiles in the synagogue of Beaugrenelle (15th arrondissement of Paris) this Friday evening in September. “Sabbat Shalom!” wishes them a member of the team, handing them a lollipop. Here they are ready to go and settle into the prayer room – a rectangular room with seats on three sides facing the bimahthe platform where the Torah is read. Rabbi Delphine Horvilleur, a major figure of liberal Judaism in France, awaits them. Once a month, this place of worship from the liberal movement Judaism in Movement offers young believers aged 2 to 8 the opportunity to attend a service in the form of a story. An entry into the Sabbath – the last day of the week in Judaism, dedicated to prayer – that is fun, but above all educational. “Judaism in Movement wants to give children the cards to grow up well in the world, while being in full harmony with their Jewishness,” says the religious association, born in 2019 following the merger of the two largest French liberal Jewish communities: the Liberal Jewish Movement of France (MJLF) and the Liberal Israelite Union of France (Ulif).

At the nerve center of the Parisian synagogue, in a muffled hubbub, Rabbi Horvilleur, dressed in a blue shirt and white pants, begins a song, accompanied by a group of Yiddish jazz musicians. In a context that has been heavy since October 7, 2023 and the resurgence of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, this good-natured break is welcome. Known for her relevant and sensitive interventions in the media, the female rabbi this time reveals a penetrating voice. The room is full. Then, like a schoolteacher who meets her students at the start of the school year, Delphine Horvilleur begins a conversation with the children: “How was your vacation? Who has just started CP?” A few timid fingers are raised. Once the introductions are made, it’s time to learn the Hebrew alphabet. That day, the neophytes recite the first three letters – still in song! Before moving in single file through the milky room to the sound of melodious tunes… The thirty minutes always pass in a warm atmosphere. It is time for the toddlers to leave. Some of them will remain within the walls of the building, looked after by animators, while their parents will attend the Friday evening service in turn.