Rashi of Troyes – European Places of Remembrance
Photo montage of the 6 sites preserving Rashi’s memory | © PIC Rashi
Photo montage showing the Rashi European University and Cultural Institute, the Troyes old Jewish quarter, the ‘Maison Rachi’, and the three murals along the ‘Rashi Trail’.
The ‘Rashi Sphere’ | © Studio OG – Troyes La Champagne Tourisme
The ‘Isaac de Dampierre’ mural | © Les Passeurs de Fresques
The ‘Rabbeinu Tam and Henry I the Liberal’ mural (detail) | © Delphine Yagüe
The EHL Site
Historian Pierre Nora stated: “What place of remembrance could I have chosen? Rashi ought to have been chosen… Rashi is a place of remembrance!”.
Rashi (acronym for Rabbi Shlomo son of Isaac) was born and died in Troyes (1040–1105). A revolutionary thinker and exegete, his commentaries on the Bible and the Talmud became practical reference guides as early as the 11th century, providing guidance on how to apply religious rules in everyday life. He inspired Jews and Christians, philosophers and writers. His writings and values were disseminated across Europe by his intellectual school, the Tossafists,
as early as the 12th century.
Today, six physical sites preserve his memory, a living legacy:
- In Troyes: the Rashi European University and Cultural Institute, the old Jewish quarter, and the ‘Maison Rachi’
- in Aube: the three murals along the ‘Rashi Trail’ in Dampierre, Lhuître and Ramerupt
The Public Interest Consortium (PIC) ‘Rashi – Troyes and Aube in the Grand Est region’ coordinates initiatives and features new projects designed to promote the site’s European significance.
While Rashi’s heritage is recognised by Jewish communities globally, it remains relatively unknown among Europeans. The PIC’s project is to promote his memory and his European significance from Troyes and Aube, by placing this history in a European perspective.
The six aforementioned sites are already pivotal in preserving and transmitting Rashi’s legacy through educational, cultural, and artistic initiatives, including classes, conferences, tours, and tourist attractions enriched with multilingual digital features.
Local authorities and private stakeholders have supported the establishment of a place of remembrance since the 1990s.
The site’s involvement in European networks since 2019 and collaborative projects with other European Heritage Label sites have contributed to engaging a broader audience across Europe. Securing the label will further this momentum.
Raising awareness of Rashi, who represents intellectual openness and tolerance, as well as his values (gender equality, tolerance, and the advocacy of freedom of expression), will contribute greatly to fight against anti-Semitism.
European Dimension
Rashi of Troyes is a place of remembrance with a multi-faceted European significance.
From the 11th century onwards, his disciples from many European countries convened in Champagne, later dispersing to at least forty-three locations across contemporary France, Austria, Bohemia, Germany, and Italy, thereby diffusing his commentaries, ideas, and values throughout a vast area of present-day Europe. Hundreds of manuscripts from the Rashi School thus circulated across Europe and are now preserved in some forty European
institutions.
From the 15th century onwards, locations for printing their commentaries multiplied throughout Europe.
The values conveyed by Rashi foreshadow those upheld by the European Union: gender equality, tolerance, and the advocacy of freedom of expression (at the time, these values would have been expressed more as a concern for women’s dignity, a forward-thinking
mindset, and humanism).
Rashi’s legacy in Troyes bears witness to the contribution of Jews and Judaism in shaping a diverse and open Europe from the Middle Ages onwards.
The organization
The PIC was established on 30 June 2023 to steer and implement a programme bringing together these initiatives at six sites. In addition, it initiates proposals for new projects.
It counts five founding members (the French State represented by the Prefecture of Aube, the Grand Est Regional Council, the Aube Departmental Council, the City of Troyes, the Central Consistory of France) and seven active members (the Troyes Tourist Office, the Aube Tourist Office, the ‘Maison Rachi’, the Rashi European University and Cultural Institute, the association EDJC-France, the Community of communes Arcis-Mailly-Ramerupt, the City of Vitry-le François).
The PIC’s purpose is to mutualise, coordinate and lead development projects, and to support PIC’s members and physical sites in promoting their projects with a European dimension, especially since additional members involved in promoting Rashi as European heritage may
join in the future.