A Place for All Jews | Celebrating 30 Years of JCC Budapest – Bálint Ház

JCC Budapest – Bálint Ház is the beating heart of Jewish Hungary. For 30 years, this place has offered people of all ages a chance to connect to their Jewishness through holiday celebrations, professional development programs, young leadership initiatives, educational seminars, and more. We recently sat down for a brief conversation with Zsuzsa Fritz, the former director of JCC Budapest – Bálint Ház who today leads the JCC’s Knowledge Center. In this interview, she discusses the significance of these last three decades and why this institution is so vital today. 

JCC Budapest – Bálint Ház was founded five years after the collapse of communism, in a community devastated by the Holocaust. When it was established, what made this place feel so important, both for you personally and for Hungary’s Jews?

In the 1980s, very few people lived a Jewish life. This was before the collapse of communism, when Jewish Hungary was characterized by empty synagogues. The communist regime didn’t support religious life at all, so only the most devoted were observant. 

For young Jews like me growing up during that time, the situation was also bleak. There were almost no youth programs besides some Talmud Torah, nor were there easily accessible spaces for Jewish celebration or joy. Jewish life focused on Holocaust remembrance — which was and is important, of course — and that was it.

In the early 1990s, more and more Jews found their way back to the community and Jewish life started to be more active. JCC Budapest accelerated and intensified this process of rediscovery. It was easy to access, it was fresh and modern, and it wasn’t just about the past — it was about the present and future, too. 

How has JCC Budapest – Bálint Ház has evolved — in terms of its mission and the scope of its work— since the mid-1990s? 

JCC Budapest started out as more of a Jewish cultural center, providing a wide range of programs to the community: youth initiatives, a club for Holocaust survivors, cultural programs, presentations, concerts, Jewish holiday celebrations, learning sessions, a sports center, and more. 

Three decades later, it’s also become a place to connect to all spheres of Budapest Jewish community life. It’s a place that has empowered individuals to take initiative and start organizing programs and services they feel passionate about, and it’s opened its doors to every segment of the community. Regardless of whatever path you’re on, you will feel comfortable and welcome here.

Today, we see our impact reflected in the community’s enthusiasm for Jewish programming. We receive more than 3,800 visitors per month — up 18% since 2018 — and more than 12,000 attendees at Judafest, our annual public celebration of Jewish life. As we look toward the future, I think these numbers will continue to grow. 

Tell us about a program you’re particularly excited about and/or proud of. 

I’m very proud of our Tikkun Leil Shavuot — a study session observed on Shavuot that lasts well into the night. This initiative is something we began the very year JCC Budapest was founded, and it has been our proud and treasured tradition ever since. It brings Jewish learning to the community for one night with the greatest minds of the Hungarian Jewish community. It also just brings people together.

Despite the way this place has grown, what never changes about this place? What remains “core” JCC Budapest – Bálint Ház?

No matter what, JCC Budapest remains a warm and welcoming place with immensely creative, passionate people — everybody feels they belong when they walk in. And for Jewish families, it has remained one of the central places to come, celebrate, and learn with your children. 

How would you describe the partnership with JDC these last 30 years? What role has JDC played in strengthening Jewish life at JCC Budapest – Bálint Ház?

JDC founded JCC Budapest and continues to significantly support it. They have always been the most important and cherished partner of JCC Budapest. The resources, expertise, and connections JDC brings to the table are all invaluable. 

No matter what, JCC Budapest remains a warm and welcoming place with immensely creative, passionate people.

JCC Budapest – Bálint Ház is the heart of Jewish life in Hungary. What’s been most meaningful for you about this place and your work there? What makes you proud to say that you were director of JCC Budapest – Bálint Ház?

It has been an incredible honor to serve as the director of JCC Budapest. To be able to connect to members, organizations, and colleagues, to create programs which brought in Jews who otherwise would have been lost — this has been my life’s work. I’ve grown as a leader and as a Jew and have had the privilege to meet outstanding individuals on this journey.

When I became director, I was awash with uncertainty and doubt. So, my first priority was to build a team around me. Those were wonderful times — as we had the freedom to experiment and come up with new ideas. I received amazing support from both my colleagues at the JDC and my own team members. 

I was driven by the desire to create an experience for the Budapest Jewish community that mirrored the one I’d had back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when I first got involved in Jewish community life. I was immersed in it. Everything was exciting. We debated identity, defined what it meant to be a Hungarian Jew, and spent nights passionately discussing how this battered Jewish community, recovering from the Holocaust and communism, could move forward and redefine itself.

JCC Budapest became the means and the venue for that to happen. It became a landmark, a byword, somewhere everyone knew they could drop in to and find a home — a Jewish home. It was wonderful to see it fill up during events, to mingle with the crowd, and to chat with people. I loved our family holiday and school event programs when the whole building was filled with children and exciting activities in every corner of every room.

My Hungarian Jewish community desperately needs the JCC Budapest, and I need it, too, even from my new home in Vienna. And the JCC Budapest needs the Hungarian Jewish community — and JDC — to continue operating and building for the future.

The former director of the JDC-supported JCC Budapest – Bálint Ház, Zsuzsa Fritz now leads the JCC’s Jewish Knowledge Center.

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