Budapest’s Zsilip Community Center at 1137 Budapest, Újpesti Embankment (Újpesti rakpart) 1, throws open its doors in 2026 with a busy, warm, and welcoming lineup. The space blends a kosher café and bagel spot with music, theater, study, and a two-level kids’ playhouse. It’s an easy entry point into Jewish culture and tradition for every age and background, with programs that mix learning, joy, and community.
Family Friday: Péntekecske
May 1, Friday. Zsilip’s pint-sized Kabbalat Shabbat happens in the Zsiliputi playhouse while adults study with Rabbi Glitzi in the synagogue. A madricha runs a playful session for kids on the weekly Torah portion, Shabbat, and current holidays—picture cards, games, and even a tombola. Kids who listen well get a prize. Bring the whole family and make Shabbat learning a team sport.
Zsiliputi Jewish Sunday School
May 3, 10, 17, 24, 31; June 7, Sundays, 10:00–12:30. The reimagined Zsiliputi Jewish Sunday School (Zsiliputi Zsidó Vasárnapi Iskola) is back, now rooted in the center’s playhouse and multiple study rooms. Hundreds of children still talk about the memories they made here: shared games and, yes, playful learning. For ages 4–14 (tweens and teens welcome), activities are split by age group to prep for holidays, learn about mitzvot, get close to traditions, and absorb the values that carry through life. Whether you’re tiny, teen, pre- or post–Bar/Bat Mitzvah, this school is for you.
Havruta: House of Learning Together on Mondays
May 4, 11, 18, 25; June 1, Mondays. The weekly schedule:
– 18:30 The weekly Torah portion with Rabbi Sámuel Glitzenstein
– 19:30 The role of women in Judaism with Rebbetzin Sarah Nógrádi
Havruta here isn’t just study; it’s a worldview and a way of life. Learning is embedded in Jewish identity and thrives in community. Zsilip’s study house follows the yeshiva model—small groups thinking together to absorb ancient wisdom.
Havruta on Wednesdays: Philosophy, Halacha, and 613 Mitzvot
May 6, 13, 27; June 3, Wednesdays. Now in its third year with undimmed energy, Havruta keeps rolling twice weekly. The Wednesday lineup:
– 17:30 The Messianic era: philosophy and halacha with Rabbi Báruch Oberlander
– 18:30 The Book of Mitzvot: the 613 commandments with Rabbi Jonatán Megyeri
The format champions community and curiosity—Zsilip’s doors are open to every knowledge-hungry member ready to learn in small, focused circles.
Special: Havruta With Rebbetzin Sarah Nógrádi
May 20, Wednesday, 19:30. Rebbetzin Nógrádi clears away question marks (and exclamation points) about the true role of women in Judaism. Participation is free with registration and open to halachically Jewish participants; you can join any time during the year.
Special: Havruta With Rabbi Báruch Oberlander
May 27, Wednesday, 17:30. Dive deep into the era of the Messiah with Rabbi Oberlander. Free with registration; open to halachically Jewish participants with rolling admission. Location: Zsilip, 1137 Budapest, Újpesti Embankment (Újpesti rakpart) 1.
Theater Highlight: Babylon Dossier (Babilon dosszié)
May 10, Sunday. A radiant young writer, Olga Galló, was deported to Auschwitz at 30 with her mother. In the camp and subsequent labor camps, she kept a diary—snatching paper and pencils even at the price of her food rations—because writing meant survival, an escape from the unbearable present into her past and the life she longed to reclaim. She survived, but lost her mother, her dearest sibling, her home, and the literary gift that had kept her alive. After the war, as the new order demanded, she acted as if nothing had happened and never touched the diary. Twenty years later, after a nervous breakdown, doctors urged her to open it; she decided to publish. The Kádár-era silence around trauma didn’t welcome her decision—yet she refused to back down.
In Babylon Dossier (Babilon dosszié), this extraordinary camp diary returns to the stage as a one-woman show that also weaves in the author’s correspondence documenting her fight to publish. Performed by her granddaughter, Andrea Fullajtár, it’s deeply personal and devastating, setting the darkest chapter of 20th-century Europe alongside the absurd, tragicomic world of socialism, drawing a bittersweet smile from the audience. The script uses the manuscript of Olga Galló’s Ten Months in Babylon (Tíz hónap Babilon) and her letters.
Performed by: Andrea Fullajtár. Writer: Olga Galló. Dramaturg: Róbert Solt. Music: Botond Lelkes. Poster photo: Péter Németh. Poster design: László Csáfordi. Director: Máté Szabó. Price: 5,900 HUF; with Haver Card: 5,015 HUF.
What Zsilip Stands For
The Zsilip Center is built around curiosity and connection—an easy, lively on-ramp to Jewish life. There’s a kosher café–bagel bar, concerts, theater, study circles, and a playhouse that makes kids feel at home. Learning here isn’t solitary. It’s plural, social, and stitched into everyday life. The center keeps its calendar flexible; organizers reserve the right to change times and programs. But the promise holds: whether you’re four or 94, Zsilip has a door open for you this spring.
