Budapest’s oldest synagogue, the Óbuda Synagogue at 1036 Budapest, Óbuda, Lajos Street (Lajos utca) 163, is again setting the pace for a revived Hungarian Jewish community. Once nearly forgotten during the socialist decades, Óbuda’s Jewish face is being redrawn with energy, creativity, and a full calendar of programs designed for all ages and interests. From weekly kids’ afternoons to memory training, craft workshops for Shavuot, and theater-history showdowns, the spring-to-summer lineup is dense, lively, and welcoming.
Weekly KiddieTime Takes Over Wednesdays
Every Wednesday from 16:30 to 18:00, the synagogue turns into a playground for 3–10-year-olds. KiddieTime blends music, learning, games, and movement into a three-part, age-grouped program that keeps both kids and parents engaged. First, children join a music session with parents, then pivot to playful Jewish learning while the adults head to a Hebrew course to sharpen their skills. Finally, parents rejoin the children to close with Krav Maga. These Wednesdays roll through May and June—May 13, May 20, May 27, and June 3 are all in the diary—anchoring the community’s midweek rhythm in Óbuda, Budapest.
MemoryLab: Mental Aerobics for Everyone
“Memories are like winding paths between brain cells. The well-trodden road remains; the places visited only a few times become overgrown and disappear.” The Anders Hansen line frames the synagogue’s MemoryLab, a memory-training series designed primarily as mental aerobics for participants over 50. But the doors are open to all ages. The aim: keep cognitive function, memory, and concentration fresh and improving. Sessions take place on May 18 and June 1 in Óbuda, giving the community a brain-boosting counterpoint to the physical pulse of Krav Maga.
Shavuot Blooms in Paper and Color
On May 19, recurring guest Hanna Somogyi (Somogyi Hanna) returns to lead a Shavuot paper-flower workshop. Shavuot marks the giving of the Torah, when, tradition says, Mount Sinai burst into bloom in an instant. This time, the celebration centers on those blossoms—only they’ll be crafted from paper to last for years, a vivid keepsake of the holiday of new bread and revelation. Doors open at 18:30. Tickets cost 2,000 HUF (about 5.50 USD). Expect hands-on creativity and a warm, communal vibe in the heart of Óbuda.
Theater Tales: Legends, Secrets, and a Quiz
Acting giants Kálmán Latabár (Latabár Kálmán), Juci Komlós (Komlós Juci), and József Székhelyi (Székhelyi József) step back into the spotlight through a popular theater-history series led by Ágnes Szebényi (Szebényi Ágnes), theater historian and staffer at the Bajor Gizi Actors’ Museum. The format blends behind-the-scenes secrets, stories, and aphorisms with focused attention on stage legends of Jewish origin. József Székhelyi’s arc stands out: beyond his professional work, he received the Miklós Radnóti (Radnóti Miklós) anti-racism award—testament to his extraordinary public voice as well as his craft. The program continues on May 27, capped by a knowledge-quiz showdown on June 8 at 10:00. Tickets are 2,000 HUF (about 5.50 USD), or 1,500 HUF (about 4.10 USD) with a Haver card.
Beyond Óbuda: A Network of Learning and Events
The Óbuda Synagogue’s calendar is embedded in a wider network that stretches across Budapest and beyond. The Havruta – House of Learning Together (HAVRUTA – Közös Tanulás Háza) meets regularly at 1 Újpesti Embankment (Újpesti rakpart 1) in the 13th district, with Wednesday editions and several Monday and Tuesday sessions through May and June. Kabbalah classes with Rabbi Baruch Oberlander (Oberlander Baruch) run at the Vasvári Pál Street Synagogue in Terézváros (1061 Budapest, Vasvári Pál utca 5) on multiple dates—May 18, May 25, June 1, June 8, June 15, June 22, and June 29. A parallel schedule lists some classes simply as Kabbalah with Baruch Oberlander at the same address, underscoring the steady beat of textual learning.
Meanwhile, Tea & Torah with Rabbi Shalom Ber anchors Tuesdays in Kecskemét at 12 József Katona Square (Katona József tér 12) through late June. In Szentendre (6 Patriarch Street, Pátriarka utca 6), Sundays bring Fusion Foods on May 17 and June 7, while June 14 hosts Women’s Protection? Self-Defense! and June 18 offers a communal baking session. Esztergom gets a local-history walk on May 17—Matzah, Liqueur, Esztergom—tracing Jewish memory in the cityscape. The Jewish Quarter’s Secret Sites tour on May 17 has already sold out, but the end of May still includes In Search of Crypts and Tombstones / Stetl Jewish City Walks (Kripták és síremlékek nyomában / Stetl Jewish City Walks) on May 31.
Summer Highlights and a Story of Survival
June widens further with a striking seminar in English on June 1: Blood Libels, Old and New, featuring Professor Rachel Elior—an unflinching look at one of history’s darkest, most persistent falsehoods. On June 24, authors Michael Calvin and Naftali Schiff present Miracle – Hungarian Boys Who Escaped the Gas Chamber, a harrowing story of survival that resonates powerfully in Hungary. And when school’s out, Camp Balaton returns July 5–16 in Balatonőszöd—registration open and summer-ready.
Together, these programs sketch a portrait of a community as dynamic as its heritage. The Óbuda Synagogue stands not just as a historical site but as a living, learning, singing, crafting, and debating agora, where old paths are kept well-trodden—and new ones are being cut with purpose.
