Budapest’s Zsilip community hub at 1137, Újpesti rakpart 1, opens its doors in 2026 with a packed, easy-to-join program for all ages. Expect a welcoming kosher café and bagel bar, live music, theater, study circles, and a two-story kids’ playhouse. The focus: approachable Jewish culture, learning by doing, and a sense of home whether you’re four or forty. Dates may change, organizers note, but the spirit is steady—curiosity, tradition, and community under one roof.
Friday minis for kids, Shabbat learning for adults
Péntekecske lights up Friday evenings with a mini Shabbat welcome in the Zsiliputi playhouse. While adults attend Rabbi “Glitzi” Glitzenstein’s teaching in the synagogue, little ones join a madricha for playful sessions on the weekly Torah portion, Shabbat, and current holidays—story cards, games, and cheerful learning included. Attentive ears get small gifts, and yes, there’s a raffle. Families are encouraged to show up together and make Shabbat a shared habit. Dates: April 24 and May 1, 2026, Budapest.
Zsiliputi Sunday School is back, bigger and brighter
The beloved Sunday morning children’s program returns as Zsiliputi Jewish Sunday School (Zsiliputi Zsidó Vasárnapi Iskola), now fully embedded in Zsilip’s upgraded center with plenty of classrooms and a two-level play zone. A young, enthusiastic team welcomes kids and tweens ages 4–14 every Sunday, 10:00–12:30, for age-group sessions. They prep for holidays together, learn about mitzvot, meet traditions hands-on, and build the values that stick for life. Whether tiny, tween, almost a youth leader, or pre–Bar/Bat Mitzvah, this school is designed for you. Dates: April 26; May 3, 10, 17, 24, 31; June 7, 2026, Budapest.
Parents’ Club with Flóra Bacsó: boundaries without battles
When a simple ask spirals into a power struggle and everyone’s spent by bedtime—you’re not alone. In this 90-minute, practice-first workshop, educator Flóra Bacsó explores limit setting through the lens of Connected Parenting. Dig into what sits beneath a child’s defiance, then try out clear, loving boundaries that protect your child’s sense of safety and your relationship. Bring your latest “stormy” moment; you’ll map out shifts you can test at home. This is a judgment-free space with concrete tools you can use tonight. Price: about $4.10 (1,500 HUF). Date: April 26, 2026, Budapest.
Havruta: House of Learning, Mondays and Wednesdays
Havruta—Zsilip’s study track modeled on yeshiva partner learning—continues into its third year, building knowledge and community in small, think-together groups. Mondays: 18:30 Weekly Torah Portion with Rabbi Sámuel Glitzenstein; 19:30 The Role of Women in Judaism with Rebbetzin Sarah Nógrádi. Wednesdays: 17:30 The Messianic Era: Philosophy and Halacha with Rabbi Baruch Oberlander; 18:30 Sefer HaMitzvot: The 613 Commandments with Rabbi Jonatán Megyeri. Dates span April 27; May 4, 6, 11, 13, 18, 20, 25, 27; June 1, 3, 2026, Budapest. Select sessions are highlighted below with registration notes.
Meet the heroic grandmother: a hostage story told firsthand
One night, armed terrorists broke down the door of Rachel Ederi and her husband. Rachel responded with cookies, refreshments, even lunch—because, as she told herself in the moment, “I have guests.” The “visit” lasted twenty hours. She survived unharmed by staying calm and reading her captors with uncanny instinct, ultimately outwitting them. Hear Rachel tell it in person, in conversation with Rabbi Jonatán Megyeri. Price: about $2.70 (1,000 HUF). Date: April 28, 2026, Budapest.
Women’s learning with Rebbetzin Nógrádi
Rebbetzin Sarah Nógrádi is on a mission to clear up question marks (and exclamation points) around the true role of women in Judaism. Participation is free with registration, open to halachically Jewish women, with rolling admission year-round. Featured date: May 20, 2026, at 19:30, Budapest. Monday evening sessions with her also run throughout the spring under Havruta.
Rabbi Oberlander on the Messianic age
Thirsty for sources, context, and conversation about the Messianic era? Join Havruta with Rabbi Baruch Oberlander to explore philosophy and halacha around Mashiach. Free with registration, for halachically Jewish participants; you can join anytime during the year. Highlighted slot: May 27, 2026, 17:30, at Zsilip, 1137 Budapest, Újpesti rakpart 1.
Babilon Dossier: a monodrama of memory and defiance
At 30, promising young writer Olga Galló was deported to Auschwitz with her mother. In the camps and subsequent labor sites, she kept a diary under impossible conditions, trading away food rations when needed to secure paper and pencil. Writing was survival—a tunnel from brutal present to the life she once had and yearned to reclaim. She lived, but lost almost everything: her mother, her dearest sibling, her home, and even the literary gift that had helped her endure. In the postwar years of enforced silence, she left the diary closed—until a nervous collapse two decades later, when a doctor urged her to reopen it and publish. The Kádár-era system wasn’t having it. Olga wouldn’t back down.
Her extraordinary camp diary and the letters documenting her fight to publish are reborn as a singular monodrama, performed by her granddaughter, Andrea Fullajtár. It moves between Europe’s darkest chapter and the absurd, tragicomic textures of socialism, drawing bittersweet laughs through tears. Text by Olga Galló; dramaturgy by Róbert Solt; music by Botond Lelkes; poster photo by Péter Németh; poster design by László Csáfordi; directed by Máté Szabó. Price: about $16.10 (5,900 HUF); with Haver Card: about $13.70 (5,015 HUF). Date: May 10, 2026, Budapest.
Practicals and how to join
– Location: Zsilip, 1137 Budapest, Újpesti rakpart 1, 13th District.
– Family and kids’ programs run on weekends, with Friday mini Shabbat and Sunday School 10:00–12:30 for ages 4–14.
– Havruta study meets Mondays and Wednesdays on rotating topics with Rabbis Glitzenstein, Megyeri, and Oberlander, and Rebbetzin Nógrádi.
– Some programs are free with registration; others carry modest fees listed above.
– Organizers reserve the right to change dates and programs.
