The Rashi sphere

The town's medieval Jewish cemetery, which has now disappeared, was located at the entrance to the Preize district outside the ramparts, between the rue de Preize and today's Médiathèque Jacques-Chirac. It adjoined a Christian cemetery.
However, preventive excavations carried out in the district in 2021 uncovered burials that probably correspond to the medieval Jewish cemetery.

Nevertheless, preventive excavations were carried out in the area in 2021, uncovering burials that probably correspond to the medieval Jewish cemetery.
To commemorate this place, the "Sphère Rachi" was inaugurated to mark the opening of the Institut universitaire européen Rachi in 1990, in the presence of Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel.
The monument is located in front of the Théâtre de Champagne.

Created by sculptor Raymond Moretti (1931-2005), this large carbon steel sphere, 2.20m in diameter and 2.80m high, rests on a hexagonal granite base. The base represents France and is illustrated by a drawing of sefirot, the ten degrees of the divine world in Jewish mysticism.
The two-tone sculpture takes up the symbolism of opposites and features the Hebrew acronym for Rashi, cut into the interior of the sphere.

Originally, a beam of light pointed skywards, symbolizing infinity. This light was removed a few months after the inauguration to avoid disrupting air traffic.