Love – Ahava – אהבה
In Tartu, Sunday, 18.10.2026
What color is love in Jewish heritage?
For the first time, the European Day of Jewish Culture is being held in Tartu, home to Estonia's oldest university. Two events will take place throughout the day. At 11:00 AM, the walking tour “My Favorite Jewish Tartu” will begin. Professional guide Lyubov Yudeykina will lead participants through sites connected to Jewish history in Tartu and share stories of the family lives of local Jews. The tour will offer an entirely new perspective on the university town, which was home to a small yet vibrant Jewish community before the Holocaust.
The European Day of Jewish Culture in Tartu will continue at 2:00 PM at the University of Tartu Library Conference Center under the theme “Love in the Hebrew Bible and Music.” Anu Põldsam, lecturer at the Department of Jewish Studies within the School of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Tartu, will present the lecture “Love is Better Than Wine and Stronger Than Death: Motifs of Human Love in the Hebrew Bible.” Her colleague, Urmas Nõmmik, Professor at the Chair of Old Testament and Semitic Studies, School of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Tartu, will deliver the lecture “Let me sing now of my well-beloved (Isaiah 5:1) – what happens when God loves His people.”
As a musical interlude between the lectures, the song “The World That Lives in You” will be performed. Lyrics by Jaan Kaplinski, Hebrew translation by Rami Sa'ar. Music by Priit Pedajas. Performed in Estonian by Kulno Malva, and in Hebrew by Maria Granot (Israel). Accordion: Kulno Malva. Following the lecture segment, there will be a concert of Jewish love songs titled “I have loved thee with an everlasting love...” (Jeremiah 31:3), performed by the ensemble “Keshet” (“Rainbow”).
The day will conclude with a tasting of Jewish dishes made with love, prepared by the Women's Club of the Tartu Jewish Community.
11:00 AM – “My Beloved Jewish Tartu”. Walking tour in the city centre. Guide: Ljubov Judeikina. Starting point: Science Centre AHHAA (Sadama Street 1). End point: Tartu War of Independence Memorial (Vabaduse pst 5). Duration: 2 hours.
“Love in the Jewish Bible and Music”. University of Tartu Library Conference Centre.
2:00 PM – Lecture: “Love is better than wine and strong as death – on human love in the Hebrew Bible”. Anu Põldsam, Lecturer in Jewish Studies at the Chair of Old Testament and Semitic Studies, School of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Tartu.
2:30 PM – Musical interlude: “The World That Lives in You”. Lyrics by Jaan Kaplinski, Hebrew translation by Rami Sa'ar. Music by Priit Pedajas. Performed in Estonian by Kulno Malva, in Hebrew by Maria Granot (Israel). Accordion: Kulno Malva.
2:40 PM – Lecture: “Let me sing now of my well-beloved (Isaiah 5:1) – what happens when God loves His people.” Urmas Nõmmik, Professor at the Chair of Old Testament and Semitic Studies, School of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Tartu.
3:10 PM – Jewish songs of love: “I have loved thee with an everlasting love...” (Jeremiah 31:3). Performed by the ensemble “Keshet” (“Rainbow”).
3:45 PM – Tasting of Jewish dishes made with love. Anat Shtern, Chairwoman of the Women's Club of the Tartu Jewish Community.
