Abstract: This special section explores the experiences of cohabitation and transnational migration routes of Jews from the Caucasus through the lens of anthropology, sociology, and social history. Focusing on underrepresented Jewish groups from Georgia, Azerbaijan, and the North Caucasus (Russian Federation), it suggests an innovative view on Jewish studies, the study of the Caucasus and Post-Soviet migration studies. The contributions challenge dominant narratives that subsume diverse Jewish identities from Georgia, Azerbaijan and the North Caucasus under the label “Russian Jews” and instead foreground the multi-layered entanglements of Jewish life in and beyond the Caucasus – as locals, minorities, and migrants in multi-religious and multi-ethnic settings. The special section papers reveal how Soviet secularism, post-Soviet nationalism, and global Jewish discourses intersect with local memory, of living together, religious practice, and belonging. By situating Caucasus Jews in broader debates on diversity, migration, and coloniality, this section calls for a rethinking Jewish studies beyond the taken-for granted binary formulas of Ashkenazi/Mizrahi or European/Non European frameworks.
Abstract: В статье рассматриваются некоторые понятия и термины, связанные с такими явлениями, как миграции, диаспора, постсоветские диаспоры, транснациональные сообщества. Опираясь на различные социологические исследования, автор доказывает, что современные российские евреи не являются классической диаспорой, а также так называемой «новой еврейской диаспорой». В настоящее время они представляют часть русскоязычного транснационального сообщества, базирующегося на системе различных связей. В то же время автор подчеркивает, что такое сообщество имеет временный характер, поскольку иммигранты во втором и третьем поколении все более полно интегрируются в принимающих обществах, в том числе в израильском.
Abstract: How have Jews in Germany, stranded or returned there after World War II, related to Israel and to Germany, and how have their attitudes evolved since then? For decades, most Jews had no plans to stay in Germany, and their identification with and commitment to Israel, certainly in the first two decades, was extraordinary. However, over time their distance and even hostility to the German environment began to lessen, especially as West Germany developed ever closer ties with Israel. To a considerable degree, Germans themselves first reinitiated contacts with Jews and Jewish issues via Israel. In recent years, coinciding with the influx of Russian Jews and the policies of the Netanyahu and Sharon governments, there has been renewed emphasis on Diaspora and its values and a more positive reappraisal of the history of Jews in Germany. Nonetheless, basic ambivalences remain in place.
Abstract: After World War II, the center of gravity for world Jewry moved outside Europe. In the aftermath of the Holocaust, large-scale emigration and postwar assimilation resulted in a disheartening contraction of European Jewry, with the notable exception of France. Today, Europe's Jews number only 17 percent of the world Jewish population. At the beginning of this century, they comprised 83 percent and were the center of the modern Jewish experience. In a radical reversal, former peripheries became the centers, notably American Jewry, the largest and most dynamic of the Diaspora communities, and the State of Israel. An examination of the altered place of Europe and its future role in Jewish history is long overdue.
In Jewish Centers and Peripheries, S. Han Troen presents evidence of cultural renewal and community reorganization—both internally driven and supported by Israeli-and American-based Jewish organizations—which promise to assure the continuity and vitality of Jewish life in Europe. This volume presents the contributions of scholars, senior community professionals, lay leaders, and former diplomats from Europe, Israel, and America, including Yosef Gorny, Gabriel Sheffer, Rashid Kaplanov, Barry Kosmin, Ralph Goldman, Jean-Jacques Wahl, Israel Finestein, David Patterson, and Daniel Elazar.
