Salon Amsterdam: Energizing Jewish Culture

Dafna Ruppin is project coordinator at the International Institute for Jewish and Israeli Culture. M.A. graduate of the Program in Cultural Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Writer and assistant editor for All About Jewish Theatre website, literary critic for the Haaretz book section, journalist and translator.

Up until recently, the synagogue and other formal community institutions offered the only means for young Dutch Jews to interact within the context of their Jewish heritage. Anyone unaffiliated with these official Jewish establishments would have found it difficult to express or explore their Jewish identity. However, a new initiative, Salon Amsterdam, aims to show young Dutch Jews and non-Jews alike that there is more to Jewish culture than just High Holidays, chicken soup and overbearing mothers. 

Salon Amsterdam offers engaging and dynamic cultural events with a contemporary Jewish twist. As part of the Jewish Salons international network, conceived and directed by Tel Aviv-based social worker/café owner Benny Bailey, it places an emphasis on the happy collisions that occur in the process of exchange between local and global cultures.