A highlight of our trip to France was the Museum of Art and History of Judaism (Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme) in Paris.
It’s well laid out and can be enjoyed by Jewish and non-Jewish visitors alike. I’m still traveling, so there’s no time for a long post, but I wanted to share 19 photos that I hope will make readers want to visit this wonderful museum.
Let’s start with Purim items, and begin with one of the older pieces in the museum:
A Purim charity collection box from pre-Expulsion Spain: it dates from 1319.
A Purim noisemaker from late-19th-century France, depicting Haman leading Mordecai through the streets of Shushan.
One of the many Megillat Esther scrolls on display.
A colorful, hand-decorated Megillah.
Rooms are organized thematically. Behind the Purim area sits this Chanukah room.
Chanukah menorah, 18th-century Poland.
A Jewish wedding, circa 1780, attributed to the Italian artist Marco Marcuola.
Chumash (Pentateuch), mid-1650s, Amsterdam. Note the decorative touches on the edge of the pages.