The marvellous colours - unaffected, intimate, and laced with humour - are what first draw your attention to Mayer July's work. The artist, whose real name is Mayer Kirshenblatt, was born in 1916 in the mostly Jewish village of Opatów, Poland. He lived there until 1934, when he emigrated to Canada. A few years ago, at his daughter's urging, Kirshenblatt painted his recollections of life in Opatów. This series of pictures looks through the eyes of the inquisitive boy he was then. Blending memory, oral history, and visual interpretation, it offers valuable insight into a bygone era of East European Jewish life. From 4 June, these paintings will be on display at the JHM.

The writer Jonathan Safran Foer, illustrator Bernice Eisenstein, and literature professor Ernst van Alphen have been invited to choose their favourite gouaches from Charlotte Salomon's Life? or Theatre?. Their selection will be on display in the Print Room starting on 4 June, accompanied by statements about the personal reasons for their choices. They will draw on the more than 1,300 gouaches through which Charlotte Salomon (1917-1943) told her dramatic life story - a tale of the rise of Nazism, her flight from Berlin in 1939, and the suicide of her mother and grandmother.

In the Netherlands, and especially in Germany and France, Jews used to be leading collectors of modern art. Many museums relied on their patronage. Their significance as art patrons has been largely forgotten, but recent research has produced surprising findings! Edward van Voolen is a curator at the Jewish Historical Museum and organizer of the exhibition Daring Patronage. From Chagall to Mondrian.

In the JHM auditorium.
Free entrance with your JHM ticket.
Information: T +31 (0)20 5310 374 or E events.

From January to March 2010 the Portuguese Synagogue will once again host a series of unique 'concerts by candlelight'. The candlelit concerts are a special experience: visitors will enjoy classical winter concerts with a surprising musical programme in the impressive surroundings of a seventeenth-century synagogue.

Duo Edelen have performed throughout the United States and Northern Europe since 1983.  Both received Performer's Certificates from the Indiana University School of Music for outstanding performance.  Their extensive repertoire includes lesser-known music of the French Baroque, more familiar repertoire of Bach, Geminiani, and the Italian masters, to early Classical.

Tickets can be purchased at the synagogue (Sunday to Thursday, 10.00 - 16.00, Friday 10.00 - 14.00)
Doors open: 19.00

More information: E concerts

Presentation on the exhibition Daring Patronage. From Chagall to Mondrian.

In the JHM auditorium.
Free entrance with your JHM ticket.
Information: T +31 (0)20 5310 374 or E events.

The Menasseh ben Israel Institute presents a lecture by Mark Cohen (Khedouri A. Zilkha Professor of Jewish Civilization in the Near East, Princeton University) in the four-part series Caught Up in the Clash of Civilizations, Jewish Culture between East and West.

At De Balie. For more information and to register see Menasseh ben Israel Institute.

As the art sector faces increasing cutbacks and sponsorship declines as a result of the crisis, the support of donors is more important than ever.

In the JHM auditorium.
Free entrance with your JHM ticket.
Information: T +31 (0)20 5310 374 or E events.

How do you arrive at the idea of starting a collection? Marieke Sanders-ten Holte, former Member of the European Parliament and collector, describes her and her family's experiences.

In the JHM auditorium.
Free entrance with your JHM ticket.
Information: T +31 (0)20 5310 374 or E events.

Exclusive guided tours of the museum repository (max. 10 people). There are also guided tours of the exhibition for the whole family.

Free entrance with your JHM ticket.
Information: T +31 (0)20 5310 374 or E events.

Bring your best stamp, shell, stuffed toy or any other special item to the museum and have it 'appraised' by Maxim Hartman (from the children's TV programme 'Rembo & Rembo'). Then you can make a pedestal or showcase in the workshop to display your treasured object. You can also take part in a guided tour of the exhibition.

In the JHM Children's Museum.
More information: T (020) 5310 327 or E children's events.