While there is a vibrant and active Jewish community in Paris (especially in the Marais, where you can find some of the best falafel in Europe), I found that Parisian Jews are generally not as open about their religion amongst non-Jews as what I’ve grown accustomed to living in New York City. I had the great fortune of living with a reform Jewish family in the 16th arrondissement, where there is no shortage of Jews (according to my host family), and we did Shabbat every Friday night and celebrated Passover together. However, I was warned by my host family not to openly express my religion in the presence of strangers, because it’s impossible to know “how they’d react.” I was never confronted by any sort of anti-semitism, I was just told
that it exists in Paris and may possibly be becoming an increasing problem, but I do know that my host family took special measures to ensure that their religious identity was not made obvious in public. Even when friends came over to the house, Shabbat prayers would be said discreetly in a separate room so as not to “alienate” any non-Jews. Perhaps this discretion of Parisian Jews has something to do with France’s policy of “laicite” and is not so much a question of anti-Jewish sentiment, but compared to New York City, where Jewish culture is celebrated openly and
proudly, Paris is less openly accepting. However, this is not to say that Jewish students will feel ill at ease in Paris—on the contrary, I found that although Jewish culture may be somewhat strictly confined to within the Jewish community, there is a strong sense of solidarity, warmth, and acceptance amongst Jews in Paris. Though perhaps a bit insular, the Jewish community is vibrant and the culture is incredibly rich, making it quite easy to forget that it is not a mainstream lifestyle. – Alexa Davis, CC ‘11