The Association of Friends of the Judeo-Alsacien Museum of Bouxwiller was formed in 1983 at the instigation of Gilbert Weil, to prevent the old synagogue of the village from being destroyed and transformed into a supermarket parking lot.

The main objective of this association, currently made up of about a hundred members, is to promote and enhance the heritage and culture of the Jews of Alsace.  

After several years of stubbornness, the museum finally opened its doors on June 28, 1998 and very quickly became a great success.

The AMJAB can also congratulate itself for carrying out actions for the knowledge and the "revival" of heritage. Its first action thus dates back to 2001, when the AMJAB proposed to involve - at its expense - a specialist, to restore one of the oldest inscriptions   Hébraïques d'Alsace present on the arch of a Bouxwiller cellar entrance.

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Moreover, on his initiative and under the direction of Professor Fr. Luckel, student architects proceeded to survey some forty rural synagogues.

A first "summer camp", aided by ICOMOS (UNESCO), enabled remarkable work by students on the Ettendorf necropolis and a second helped unravel the mystery of the Hebrew graffiti engraved on the ramparts of Neuwiller-lès - Saverne.

The Association saved a synagogue-school-ritual bath complex in Hochfelden which is now taken care of by a local association.

By winning a European competition organized by the European Economic Community (namely: 100 projects selected out of more than 2000 submitted), the association has made it possible to avoid the ruin of the only "hidden" synagogue that remained in Pfaffenhoffen. The building was rehabilitated and opened to the public in 2000.

The AMJAB also provides voluntary support to mayors wishing to find a reuse for the synagogue in their village.

In all situations, the association proposes a program attached to the place and renewing the Jewish character of the building, by establishing a preliminary project, carrying out estimates, seeking financing, etc. It has already been so for those of Reichshoffen, Schirmeck...

But for the AMJAB, the built heritage can only be understood when placed in the culture that generated it. Thus safeguarding mainly involves raising public awareness of this culture, hence research, exhibitions, articles in the press, conferences in France and abroad, translations, publications.

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The AMJAB is honored to have won the "Living Heritage Prize" from the Fondation de France and to be supported by the Fondation du Judaisme Français.