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Date: 2024
Abstract: The Sixth Survey of European Jewish Community Leaders and Professionals, 2024, presents the results of an online survey offered in 10 languages and administered to 879 respondents in 31 countries. Conducted every three years using the same format, the survey seeks to identify trends and their evolution over time. The 2024 survey came during a historically fraught moment for the Jewish people globally. The impact of the horrific October 7th attacks and the subsequent war in Israel cannot be understated. How is this affecting Jewish leadership and Jewish communal life? Therefore, in addition to the regular topics covered by the survey (community priorities, threats, security concerns, attitudes towards Europe and Israel), this edition included a special section designed to understand the impact of October 7th on Jewish life in Europe. That October 7th has profoundly affected Jewish Europe is evident across multiple sections throughout the survey. Concern about antisemitism and the threat of physical attack has intensified. A large majority of 78% feel less safe living as Jews in their cities than they did before the Hamas attack, and respondents are more cautious about how they identify themselves as Jews. They are also more distant from their wider environments, with 38% reporting they have become more distant from non-Jewish friends. The respondents were comprised of presidents and chairpersons of nationwide “umbrella organizations” or Federations; presidents and executive directors of private Jewish foundations, charities, and other privately funded initiatives; presidents and main representatives of Jewish communities that are organized at a city level; executive directors and programme coordinators, as well as current and former board members of Jewish organizations; among others
Author(s): Ariese, Paul
Date: 2024
Author(s): Glöckner, Olaf
Date: 2023
Abstract: Our narrative and expert interviews with Jewish and non-Jewish key figures in public and political life mainly focussed on the question of to what extent have Jewish-non Jewish relations changed, compared to the discord prior to 1933, and the general reservation and uncertainty after 1945? We also raised other key questions like: to what extent do Jews in Germany feel integrated into today’s non-Jewish majority society? What do they consider core elements of their Jewish identities? What is the meaning of Israel in their lives as Jews? How do they cope with new trends of antisemitism in Germany? As a complementary question, we wanted to know from our non-Jewish interviewees how different they consider Jewish/non-Jewish relations today? To what extent does Shoah memory (still) affect these relations? How do Jews and non-Jews cooperate in social activities, and are there new, joint strategies to combat antisemitism?

Our interviews revealed that Jews in present-day Germany do not romanticize their lives in the country of the former Nazi regime. However, they appreciate efforts by the state to promote future Jewish life, to carry out dignified politics of commemoration, and to ensure security. Antisemitism is perceived as a societal problem but not as an existential threat. None of the Jewish interview partners considered Germany as a place that is too dangerous for Jews. Memory of the Shoah is considered important, but building a Jewish future, especially for one’s
own children, is the more relevant issue.

A key finding of our interviews in Germany is that a new generation of young Jews has grown up neither justifying living in the “country of the offenders” nor considering themselves representatives of the State of Israel. Young Jews in Germany run their own multifaceted networks, understanding themselves as Jews but to a similar extent also as Germans. Some of them enjoy participation in public and political life, deliberately acting in both roles
Author(s): Kosmin, Barry A.
Date: 2018
Abstract: The Fourth Survey of European Jewish Community Leaders and Professionals, 2018 presents the results of an online survey offered in 10 languages and administered to 893 respondents in 29 countries. Conducted every three years using the same format, the survey seeks to identify trends and their evolution in time.

The survey asked Jewish lay leaders and community professionals questions regarding future community priorities, identifying the main threats to Jewish life, views on the safety and security situation in their cities, including emergency preparedness, and opinions on an array of internal community issues. Examples include conversions, membership criteria policies on intermarriage, and their vision of Europe and Israel.

The respondents were comprised of presidents and chairpersons of nationwide “umbrella organizations” or Federations; presidents and executive directors of private Jewish foundations, charities, and other privately funded initiatives; presidents and main representatives of Jewish communities that are organized at a city level; executive directors and programme coordinators, as well as current and former board members of Jewish organizations; among others.

The JDC International Centre for Community Development established the survey as a means to identify the priorities, sensibilities and concerns of Europe’s top Jewish leaders and professionals working in Jewish institutions, taking into account the changes that European Jewry has gone through since 1989, and the current political challenges and uncertainties in the continent. In a landscape with few mechanisms that can truly gauge these phenomena, the European Jewish Community Leaders Survey is an essential tool for analysis and applied research in the field of community development.

The Survey team was directed by Dr. Barry Kosmin (Trinity College), who has conducted several large national social surveys and opinion polls in Europe, Africa and the U.S., including the CJF 1990 US National Jewish Population Survey.
Date: 2008
Abstract: Американский еврейский распределительный комитет «Джойнт» и его политика в постсоветских странах стали в последнее время одной из самых обсуждаемых тем в еврейских общинах евразийского пространства. Этот вопрос был затронут в одной из публикаций прошлого "Евроазиатского еврейского ежегодника", что вызвало активную реакцию представителей российской еврейской общины.

Недавно в выходящей в Нью-Йорке газете "Мы здесь" был опубликован обширный аналитический доклад на эту тему, подготовленный группой израильских и российских экспертов, которые предпочли сохранить свою анонимность, по заказу московских предпринимателей, активно участвующих в еврейской благотворительной деятельности.

Мы перепечатываем эту статью с любезного разрешения редакции газеты "Мы здесь" и надеемся, что ее появление приведет к оживлению дискуссии о будущем еврейской общины на постсоветском пространстве.
Author(s): Kosmin, Barry A.
Date: 2016
Abstract: Launched by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee’s International Centre for Community Development (JDC-ICCD), and conducted by a research team at Trinity College (Hartford, Connecticut, USA) between June and August 2015, the Third Survey of European Jewish Leaders and Opinion Formers presents the results of an online survey administered to 314 respondents in 29 countries. The survey was conducted online in five languages: English, French, Spanish, German and Hungarian. The Survey of European Jewish Leaders and Opinion Formers is conducted every three or four years using the same format, in order to identify trends and their evolution. Findings of the 2015 edition were assessed and evaluated based on the results of previous surveys (2008 and 2011). The survey posed Jewish leaders and opinion formers a range of questions about major challenges and issues that
concern European Jewish communities in 2015, and about their expectations of how communities will evolve over the next 5-10 years. The 45 questions (see Appendix) dealt
with topics that relate to internal community structures and their functions, as well as the external environment affecting communities. The questionnaire also included six open-ended questions in a choice of five languages. These answers form the basis of the qualitative analysis of the report. The questions were organized under the following headings:• Vision & Change (6 questions)
• Decision-Making & Control (1 question)
• Lay Leadership (1 question)
• Professional Leadership (2 questions)
• Status Issues & Intermarriage (5 questions)
• Organizational Frameworks (2 questions)
• Community Causes (2 questions)
• Jewish Education (1 question)
• Funding (3 questions)
• Communal Tensions (3 questions)
• Anti-Semitism/Security (5 questions)
• Europe (1 question)
• Israel (1 question)
• Future (2 questions)
• Personal Profile (9 questions)
Author(s): Freud-Kandel, Miri
Date: 2015
Abstract: Extract:

A striking feature of the debates associated with appointing a new chief rabbi in Britain at the end of the term of Emeritus Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks was a clear sense of the contribution the role makes to Jewish life both in Britain and more broadly. This was widely noted, also, in the specific praise and reflection on the achievements of the outgoing chief rabbi which accompanied his retirement. On both a national and international plane, the British chief rabbinate is perceived to have acquired a wide-ranging voice and influence. The reach of the office is seen to extend both to Jewish communities outside Britain and in a British context to the wider society beyond the Jewish community. The possibility of abolishing the post and replacing it with some sort of body that could serve in its place was given only the most cursory consideration.1 This was despite the fact that it is a role that has its origins in nineteenth-century Victorian Britain, when it was designed under Anglican influences to serve a very different community with markedly different needs.2 The instinct to retain the post in its current form also ignores the fact that the chief rabbinate itself has rather limited real powers, a product of its evolutionary development rather than being a particularly clearly thought out office from the outset. Moreover, the reality of the British chief rabbinate is that notwithstanding the varied types of “success,” however we may choose to define this notion, that different chief rabbis have enjoyed in Britain, it has also consistently been a cause of division and disagreement—as much a source of controversy as it has been a source for leadership and representation.
Author(s): Miller, Helena
Date: 2014
Abstract: This summer has been a challenging and exceptional one for Israel Tour madrichim, who have run Tour during a period of ferocious hostilities between Israel and Gaza, which have impacted on both the itineraries and the day to day running of their groups. They have had to deal with sirens, taking their groups into shelters, hearing explosions afar and nearby, the political situation and last minute changes to itineraries caused by the security situation. This of course, has been in addition to the regular stresses and challenges of being responsible for a group of 35-40 sixteen year olds for three and a half weeks in Israel.

Remarkably, the chanichim have almost without exception had a fantastic time. UJIA felt, however, that it would be the responsible way forward to follow up with all madrichim on their return, to do the following:

a) To thank the madrichim
b) To acknowledge concern for the welfare for the madrichim
c) To see if there are any particular chanichim requiring follow up
d) To find out the extent to which Tour Providers/YMs/UJIA/taglit/other agencies and individuals were supportive to them and their chanichim before and during the time in Israel
e) To find out if the madrichim would like/need additional support/counselling etc now that they are home.
f) To find out whether the madrichim have any advice for UJIA regarding our handling of the situation, handling of the madrichim and YMs, and could this be improved upon for the future.
In addition, we agreed that a letter of appreciation and thanks would be emailed to all madrichim just prior to return. In the email, they were told that a named person (usually their UJIA contact) would ‘phone them within a couple of days of their return to debrief and check how they are.
Date: 2014
Abstract: Part of a four-part series funded by the Rothschild Foundation (Hanadiv) Europe that looks at Jewish life in east-central Europe since the collapse of communism, the Ukraine report calls for the development of a common organisational framework to bring together the various Jewish communities throughout the country; support from international foundations to enable the Jewish community to become less dependent on external sources of financial support; and a more inclusive policy on Jewish status issues given the high levels of intermarriage in the country.

In addition, the report stresses the need for enhancements in the field of Jewish education, with a particular emphasis on increasing the number of trained teachers and educators, and access to better quality Russian and Ukrainian-language educational materials. Given the extraordinary history of Jewish life in the country, the recommendations also push for the preservation of this heritage and the utilisation of it for community development purposes.

The report also explores the issue of antisemitism in Ukraine, and calls for the establishment of a centre to monitor antisemitic incidents, and to liaise with government, the police and security services to counter it.

The research was conducted by community activist and doctoral student Darina Privalko under the advice of Dr Betsy Gidwitz, a former Soviet-area specialist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Versions of the report are also available in Russian and English. This is the Ukrainian version
Date: 2014
Abstract: Part of a four-part series funded by the Rothschild Foundation (Hanadiv) Europe that looks at Jewish life in east-central Europe since the collapse of communism, the Ukraine report calls for the development of a common organisational framework to bring together the various Jewish communities throughout the country; support from international foundations to enable the Jewish community to become less dependent on external sources of financial support; and a more inclusive policy on Jewish status issues given the high levels of intermarriage in the country.

In addition, the report stresses the need for enhancements in the field of Jewish education, with a particular emphasis on increasing the number of trained teachers and educators, and access to better quality Russian and Ukrainian-language educational materials. Given the extraordinary history of Jewish life in the country, the recommendations also push for the preservation of this heritage and the utilisation of it for community development purposes.

The report also explores the issue of antisemitism in Ukraine, and calls for the establishment of a centre to monitor antisemitic incidents, and to liaise with government, the police and security services to counter it.

The research was conducted by community activist and doctoral student Darina Privalko under the advice of Dr Betsy Gidwitz, a former Soviet-area specialist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Versions of the report are also available in Ukrainian and English. This is the Russian version
Author(s): Privalko, Darina
Date: 2014
Abstract: Part of a four-part series funded by the Rothschild Foundation (Hanadiv) Europe that looks at Jewish life in east-central Europe since the collapse of communism, the Ukraine report calls for the development of a common organisational framework to bring together the various Jewish communities throughout the country; support from international foundations to enable the Jewish community to become less dependent on external sources of financial support; and a more inclusive policy on Jewish status issues given the high levels of intermarriage in the country.

In addition, the report stresses the need for enhancements in the field of Jewish education, with a particular emphasis on increasing the number of trained teachers and educators, and access to better quality Russian and Ukrainian-language educational materials. Given the extraordinary history of Jewish life in the country, the recommendations also push for the preservation of this heritage and the utilisation of it for community development purposes.

The report also explores the issue of antisemitism in Ukraine, and calls for the establishment of a centre to monitor antisemitic incidents, and to liaise with government, the police and security services to counter it.

The research was conducted by community activist and doctoral student Darina Privalko under the advice of Dr Betsy Gidwitz, a former Soviet-area specialist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Versions of the report are also available in Ukrainian and Russian.
Date: 2009
Abstract: From the Introduction by Rosalind Peston (Chair of the Task Force): Since the publication of Women in the Jewish Community in 1994
I have been asked on numerous occasions, ‘What happened to your
report and its many recommendations?’.
In 2008 I approached the Board of Deputies of British Jews with a
view to re-visiting the work we had carried out a decade and a half
earlier. It soon became apparent that we had to broaden the scope
of our original project, reaching out not just to those women who
contributed to the ideas in our 1994 report and whose lives had
now moved on, but to a whole new generation of younger Jews.
The intervening fifteen years had seen many changes in family
structure and attitudes to personal relationships, in the economic
climate and above all in the ways in which we communicate through
new technologies. How had these changes impacted on women’s
lives, on their approaches to their Judaism and on their sense of
Jewish heritage? How had they influenced women’s perception
of community?
One of the most exciting elements of the 2009 Review was our
on-line survey facilitated by SurveyMonkey. Through this survey
along with our focus and discussion groups, Facebook site,
questionnaires and face to face meetings we elicited the views
and opinions of almost a thousand Jewish women.
We decided to let the women speak for themselves and this report
Connection, Continuity and Community: British Jewish Women
Speak Out is the result. We believe it represents the authentic
voice of female Jewry in Britain today. Women are very articulate
about their desire for a cohesive, dynamic, inclusive community.
We sincerely hope they will be listened to and that the leadership
of the community, across the religious spectrum, will heed their
concerns and their hopes.
 
Date: 2012
Abstract: It seems clear that the UK Jewish community makes it hard for the kind of high achieving and well educated women who thrive in secular life to take on leadership responsibilities within it. In contrast to the wider ‘third sector’, Jewish charitable organisations have very few women in leadership roles despite exceptionally high levels of achievement and education. Four-fifths of a large sample of both men and women in the British Jewish community surveyed in February and March 2012 demanded change in the gender balance of our organisations, statistically signifying clear support for a pro-active and long-lasting agenda for change now proposed in this report by the Commission on Women in Jewish Leadership (CWJL). Evidently this state of affairs resonates strongly with our community. The Commission takes this and other research data from both organisations and individuals as a broad mandate of support from across the community, and it now looks to leaders and to our organisations for implementation. The CWJL was set up by the JLC in early 2011 to recommend ways of advancing more women to senior paid and voluntary roles in the community. It now calls on the community publicly to acknowledge that the current state of affairs is unsustainable, to pledge to make changes that will create equal opportunities for women and men and to act to promote more women to leadership positions. The CWJL accepts the reality that our community, being relatively conservative, prefers evolution to revolution, and that it would prefer to move slowly. The recommendations seek to work within this reality, while noting that the gender imbalances in our leadership are a pressing matter of equality and social justice. There is also a compelling need to address the issues raised by this inquiry before another generation, particularly of young women, becomes alienated, and their talents are lost to the community. The Commission limited the scope of its attention to voluntary (‘lay’) and professional leadership roles in Jewish communal organisations. The terms of reference were tightly defined in order to be realistic about opportunities for change. Some other, related issues which were relevant only to certain sections of the community were frequently raised by members of the public and acknowledged in the Commission’s deliberations (such as helping women back into work, men and leadership, women and reading from the Torah) but have purposely not been followed through with specific recommendations in this report as they fall outside the remit of the CWJL. The issues of women leading synagogue boards and educating children about gender equality form a recommendation for future work as they are key to meeting our remit long term but are beyond our specific brief or expertise. Other areas of diversity and equality, such as age or disability, were not part of our remit. The CWJL’s recommendations cover Governance, Personal Development, Networking, Communications and Other (comprising ideas which do not fall into any of the other four categories). At the heart of the recommendations is a recognition that change needs to come from women themselves, both individually and collectively; from the Jewish community’s organisations and institutions and also, from schools and youth organisations. Before change can take place in organisations, they need to recognise where and when there is indeed a problem.To drive the specific recommendations under the five headings introduced above, the Commission recommends the establishment of a group of lay leaders, to be known as the Equality Support Group (ESG), housed in an
existing organisation, which will monitor progress and ensure that we move forward on this vital issue. The focus is
on ‘tachlis’ (action/substance) not talk.