Abstract: The article presents the results of surveys done on anti-Semitism in Poland in 1992, which in part were compared to results from a 1996 survey. The group, under the author's direction researched anti-Semitism in the context of Poles' attitudes towards other nations, as well as in terms of their own national identity. Two types of anti-Semitic attitudes were observed: traditional, religiously grounded anti-Semitism, and anti-Semitism rooted in anti-Semitic political ideology, of the type that has developed since in the French Revolution. Traditional anti-Semitism occurs only among older people who are not well educated and live in rural areas; increased education results in the disappearance of this type of anti-Semitism. Modern anti-Semitism, on the other hand occurs among both the lowest and most highly educated groups in society. Moreover, from 1992 to 1996, the percentage of the respondents declaring anti-Semitic views increased. At the same time, however, there was also a larger increase in the number of respondents declaring anti-anti-Semitic views, which has meant that there has been a clear polarization of attitudes. Having a university education makes a person more likely to be ill-disposed toward anti-Semitism. Nevertheless, the attitude of Poles toward Jews cannot be described simply on the basis of anti-Semitic attitudes. The researchers noted that there was also an attitude of "not liking Jews", which was less engaged than the anti-Semitic views, and to a large extent a result of the content comprising Polish national identity. The model of Polishness assumes a Romantic-Messianic image of the Polish nation. According to this model, Poles see themselves as being distinguished by their noble fulfillment of obligations, even when it is to their own detriment, particularly with respect to symbolic Jews and Germans. Researchers also assumed that there was a particular kind of competition between Poles and Jews with respect to the moral superiority of their respective nations. The results from 1992 in part confirmed this hypothesis.
Abstract: This paper shows how from the start of the modern era to today, Jewish education always depended on the successive identity types to which the Jewish minority in France chose to belong. Following the heder of Jewish groups under the Ancien Régime, the consistorial schools followed Emancipation in the face of a concomitant and difficult challenge, namely promoting Jewish individuals in the community while acknowledging each individual’s religious specificity. Primarily a favorite means of regeneration for the poor and immigrants, this means of improvement reached the end of the 1930s in an unhappily weakened state as a result of the success of assimilation and the social secularization of society in general. Between the two world wars but mainly on the eve of World War Two, weaknesses began to appear in French Judaism as a whole along with yearnings for a more religious dimension of Jewish identity as well as a more favorable perspective on Zionism, even if many remained convinced Israelites. These yearnings were manifested in the emerging youth movements, mostly the French Israelite Boy Scouts, and the creation of the Maimonides College in Paris, which during the Occupation, experienced favorable conditions for their growth and the birth of new structures. However, this renewal was transient. Not until the 1960s and even more so in the 1970s did the development of Jewish educational opportunities flourish. The collapse of the French Israelite model was the fundamental cause of this new growth.
Abstract: Весной и летом прошлого 2001 года социологическое бюро «Новой еврейской школы» провело опрос руководителей воскресных школ Российской Федерации. Полученные результаты оказались не просто неожиданными, они озадачивали, обескураживали...
Не желая искать соринку в чужом глазу, мы сочли исследование малоудачным, а причину этого усмотрели в несовершенстве собственных методов. Мы положили исследование «под сукно». Однако одна из его главных тем — тема взаимодействия воскресных и дневных еврейских школ — не утратила от этого своей актуальности. Она постоянно вставала в ходе дискуссий, которые проходили на наших семинарах, поднималась в письмах читателями нашего журнала и членами-корреспондентами Педагогического клуба НЕШ, всплывала в беседах с кормчими еврейского образования — экспертами-методистами, представителями различных академических и спонсорских структур.
В результате мы все же решились вынести на читательский суд собранные год назад материалы. Ибо постепенно нам стало ясно, что при всех своих недостатках проведенное исследование обладает одним важным достоинством: оно выявляет серьезную проблемную область, причем делает это аналитическими методами.
В основу этой статьи положен отчет, представленный социологическим бюро «НЕШ» на семинаре директоров воскресных школ СНГ и стран Балтии (Москва, 2001). Мы надеемся, что руководители и педагоги воскресных школ откликнутся на ее публикацию. Сейчас именно тот «исторический момент», когда ваши мнения могут сыграть важную роль в определении будущего еврейского образования, основного и дополнительного. Ждем ваших писем, друзья.
Abstract: Uit de geringe maatschappelijke reactie op de uitingen van antisemitisme moet geconcludeerd worden, dat er binnen de samenleving een gewenningsproces is opgetreden. Een parallel dringt zich op met andere vormen van criminaliteit, die wel in toenemende mate geregistreerd worden, maar minder dan ooit voor de rechter komen. Dreigementen met geweld en fysieke geweldplegingen worden, ook als het niet om antisemitisme gaat, onvoldoende vervolgd. Voor Joden met hun beladen verleden roepen deze verschijnselen gevoelens van onveiligheid en soms angst op.
Enkele jaren geleden zou het ondenkbaar zijn geweest, dat honderden demonstranten in Amsterdam ‘dood aan de Joden’ en ‘Sieg Heil’ zouden roepen, zonder ingrijpen van de politie. Het voortdurend tijdens voetbalwedstrijden kunnen roepen ‘Hamas, hamas Joden aan het gas’ werkt grensverlagend. De term is nu ook buiten de sfeer van het voetbalveld in zwang.
Het gemak waarmee antisemitisme geuit wordt, de bedreigingen tegen Joden en de onvoldoende reactie van regering, justitie en politie hebben wellicht ook te maken met het groter worden van de afstand tot de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Het afschrikkend effect ervan ebt weg. Het hakenkruis wordt door sommigen niet meer gezien als symbool van de vernietiging van 6 miljoen Joden door de Nazi’s, maar als het symbool van het ultieme kwaad. De geringe kennis over de Tweede Wereldoorlog leidt ertoe dat sommigen kennelijk niet meer in staat zijn om verschil te maken tussen het ene en het andere kwaad. Zo valt Israels optreden in de Westoever – hoe men daarover ook moge denken – niet op één lijn te stellen met de systematische uitroeiing van een volk. De gewenning lijkt overigens ook aan de kant van de slachtoffers plaats te vinden. Scheld-incidenten worden nauwelijks bij de politie of justitie gemeld, sterker ze worden vaak door het slachtoffer verdrongen. Dat gebeurt zowel op privé- als op instellingsniveau. Joodse instellingen houden antisemitische telefoontjes lang niet altijd bij, evenmin als e-mails of brieven. Individuele scheldincidenten worden afgedaan met de opmerking: “Ach, het is niet zo erg”. De berusting lijkt in belangrijke mate veroorzaakt te worden door de ervaring van de slachtoffers, dat het doen van aangiften, als ze al serieus worden genomen door de politie, zeer tijdrovend is, terwijl er vrijwel nooit vervolging wordt ingesteld.
Een aantal aangiften die CIDI de afgelopen jaren bij Offficieren van Justitie heeft gedaan is zonder opgaaf van redenen geseponeerd. Op andere kwam geen enkele reactie terug. In dit klimaat van berusting en te grote tolerantie worden we thans geconfronteerd met een serieus te nemen ontwikkeling, waarbij meer individuele Joden het slachtoffer worden van scheldpartijen en geweld, zoals het Joodse jongetje dat door een buschauffeur wordt uitgescholden en de bedreiging van
een Joodse marktkoopman met een pistool.
In de meeste CIDI-rapportages over antisemitisme hebben wij aanbevelingen gedaan dat politie en justitie strenger dienen op te treden tegen antisemitisme. Deze zijn vrijwel nooit op een consistente wijze opgevolgd. Het is nu hoog tijd, dat de politiek zich intensiever met dit verschijnsel gaat bezighouden. In het buitenland hebben zich tal van zware incidenten tegen Joodse voormannen, gebouwen en instellingen voorgedaan en in eigen land heeft ook op ander vlak verruwing van de samenleving plaats. Daarom is het hoog tijd dat politie en justitie, aangezet door de overheid, een actiever beleid gaan volgen. Ook directies van scholen dienen elk incident serieus te nemen en maatregelen tegen de daders te nemen, trainers van voetbalclubs dienen hun leden duidelijk te maken dat leuzen als ‘Hamas, hamas, Joden aan het gas’ niet kunnen, evenmin als het brengen van de Hitlergroet.
Het antisemitisme onder Marokkaanse jongeren verdient daarbij extra aandacht. In het rapport wordt er het één en ander gezegd over de achtergronden ervan. Het is zeer noodzakelijk hun integratie te bevorderen. Hun kennis van het Nederlands en de Nederlandse cultuur en democratische waarden dient te worden verbeterd en tot slot dient ook aan hen duidelijk te worden gemaakt waar onze tolerantiegrenzen liggen.
Abstract: Mindennapi életünk milliárdnyi eseménye alussza Csipkerózsika álmát lelkünk mélyrétegeiben, mindaddig, amíg valamilyen 'sorsesemény' felszínre nem hozza azokat, és ezzel mintegy átstrukturálja életünk megszokott szerkezetét. Ezek az események a maguk idejében nem alkottak jelent vagy jövőt meghatározó élményt. Ahogy a szerzők ezt megfogalmazzák: 'Ez a múlt tehát olyan múlt, amely soha nem volt jelen'. A rendszerváltozás olyan 'sorseseménynek' számít, amely képes volt átstrukturálni a múltat, az egykor jelentésnélküliként megélt események a megváltozott jelenben új struktúrába szerveződtek, ettől jelentésük megváltozott, jelent formáló, jövőt meghatározó jelentést kaptak, ahogy a szerzők ezt - talán túl tömören fogalmazva - írják: 'a sorsesemény olyan jelenre utal, amely soha nem volt jövő. Értelmezésünkben e soha-nem-volt-jövő jelenből tekintünk vissza e soha-nem-volt-jelen múltra, s előre a soha-nem-lesz-jelen, illetve soha-nem-lesz-múlt jövőre'. A magyarországi zsidó identitást, illetve annak a rendszerváltozás utáni változását, 'átstrukturálódását' vizsgálta Kovács Éva és Vajda Júlia. Két csoport körében végezték - az erre a célra kidolgozott interjú-készítési módszerrel, a 'narratív interjús technika' alkalmazásával - vizsgálataikat a kilencvenes évek elején alakult zsidó iskolákba beíratott gyermekekkel és szüleikkel - akik részben vallásos, részben vallásukat már elhagyott zsidók, de ugyanúgy van közöttük katolikus, vagy éppen vegyes felekezetű család is. A lefolytatott beszélgetések szociológiai, szociálpszichológiai elemzése a választások indítékait, az identitás hátterét tárják fel.
Abstract: Jødisk Menighetsblad (“Jewish Community Letter”) was published in Oslo in the years 1976–1991 as an organ for the two Jewish (“Mosaic”) congregations in Norway. It appeared three times a year, usually before the Jewish festivals Pesach, Rosh Hashana, and Chanukka. Each number counted between 45 and 75 pages. Its chief editor was Oskar Mendelsohn, well known for his two-volume work on the history of the Norwegian Jews. The community letter brought reports on Jewish congregational life and annual meetings, registered births, bar and bath mitzwahs, weddings, and deaths. The general picture given is a slow but steadily increasing activity in both congregations. In addition, the community letter also recorded what was said and written about Jewish and Israeli questions in radio, television and press. It gave up-to-date information about Israel, and presented articles on Jewish religion and culture. Its most outstanding feature, however, is the meticulous recording and report on literature, poetry and factual prose as well, regarding some aspect on Israel or Judaism. Through this journal, its editors have secured documentation about Jewish life and culture in Norway. In addition, there can be no doubt that the community letter has been of pivotal importance for promoting a conscious feeling of Jewish identity in Norway.
Abstract: Contents:
Introduction
Drs. Hans Vuijsje, Director Jewish Social Service
The Netherlands
Welcome words
Mr. Abraham Lehrer, Chairman ZWST Germany
Opening words
Mr. Gabriel Taus, Former Director ECJC
Overview of social demographic changes in the Jewish communities
throughout Europe
Prof. Barry Kosmin, Executive Director, Institute for Jewish Policy Research, London
The influence of migration on a Jewish community from a multicultural perspective
Prof. David Pinto, Multicultural Communication, University of Amsterdam
The Dutch method for building new communities,
Identity strengthening as a way towards integration into a new community
Dr. Hans Vuijsje, Director Jewish Social Service, The Netherlands
The changing Jewish community in Spain
Dr. Mario Izcovich, Coordinator of PAN European Affairs, JDC Paris
The changing Jewish community in Germany
Mrs. Paulette Weber, staff member, ZWST Germany
The changing Jewish community in Germany viewed from Moscow and
an overview of the Jewish community in Moscow
Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, Chief Rabbi of Moscow
Hesed models of community organization and adaptation of charity
to community changes
Mr. Leonid Kolton, Director, Hesed Avraham Charity, St. Petersburg
The implementation of community development concepts during
the buildup phase of viable new communities
Mrs. Nicolienne Wolf, Head, Community Development Department,
Jewish Social Services, The Netherlands
Summary and conclusions
• Dr. Hans Vuijsje, Director, Jewish Social Services, The Netherlands
• Prof. David Pinto, Multicultural Communication, University of Amsterdam
Closing words
Mr. Beni Bloch, Director, ZWST Germany
Abstract: Jüdische Gemeinden sind mehr als religiöse Gemeinschaften, sie stellen das jüdische Kollektiv in einzelnen Ländern und Orten dar. Das Erscheinungsbild dieser Kollektive wird einerseits durch ihre Umwelt, andererseits durch innerjüdische Entwicklungen bestimmt. Die in diesem Band ersammelten Essays zeigen, daß die Juden durch Emanzipation, Akkulturation und Säkularisierung zum integralen Bestandteil ihrer Umwelt wurden, was zu neuen Formen religiösen, kulturellen und politischen Lebens geführt hat.
Inhalt
Ariel Muzicant (S. 11–13), 150 Jahre Wiener Kultusgemeinde
Eleonore Lappin (S. 15–20), Vorwort der Herausgeberin
I. Das Erbe der Habsburger Monarchie
Lois C. Dubin (S. 23–42), The Jews of Trieste: Between Mitteleuropa and Mittelmeer, 1719–1939
Mykola Kuschnir (S. 43–52), Czernowitz – Stadt ohne Juden? Das Bukowiner Judentum zwischen Mythos und Realität
Juraj Sedivy (S. 53–62), Im Schatten der großen Geschichte? – Die heutige Gemeinde in Pressburg/Bratislava
Géza Komoróczy (S. 63–101), Israeliten / Juden in ihrer Gemeinde. Juden in der ungarischen Gesellschaft der Nachkriegszeit, 1945–2000
II. Israelitische Kultusgemeinden in Österreich
Marsha L. Rozenblit (S. 105–130), From Habsburg Jews to Austrian Jews: The Jews of Vienna, 1918–1938
Evelyn Adunka (S. 131–137), Die Wiener jüdische Gemeinde
Michael John (S. 139–178), Gebrochene Kontinuität – Die Kultusgemeinde Linz nach 1945
Helga Embacher, Albert Lichtblau (S. 179–198), Die Jüdische Gemeinde in Salzburg seit 1867 – Ein Neubeginn nach 369 Jahren Verbannung
Niko Hofinger (S. 199–210), Eine kleine Gemeinde zwischen Erinnerung und jüdischem Alltag: Die Israelitische Kultusgemeinde für Tirol und Vorarlberg in Innsbruck nach 1945
Dieter A. Binder (S. 211–241), Jüdische Steiermark - Steirisches Judentum
III. Juden auf Wanderschaft
Haim Avni (S. 245–265), „Insular Jewish Communal Life:“ Russian Jews in Argentina and German Jews in Bolivia
Edna Brocke (S. 267–281), Jüdisches Leben in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland
Michel Abitbol (S. 283–294), From an „Israelite“ Identity to a „Jewish“ Identity and Back – French Jewry Forty Years After the Jewish Immigration from North Africa
Mira Katzburg-Yungman (S. 295–319), The New Synagogue in the New World
Renate Meissner (S. 32–345), „Auf den Schwingen des Adlers“ Von Jemen nach Zion
Sergio DellaPergola (S. 347-364), World Jewish Population at the Dawn of the 21st Century: Trends, Prospects and Implications
AutorInnen (S. 365–357)
Abstract: In the English-speaking world, it is generally believed that there are very few Jews living and thriving in Germany. Yet, there has been an unlikely postwar history 1945-2001 that has been somewhat repressed in North America and the United Kingdom. While most people are well-informed about the Holocaust and the consequences that this tragic event has had for the world, very few people know that there has been a steady increase in the population of Jews in Germany since 1945 and that there is a flourishing 'Jewish' culture, certainly a relatively strong Jewish presence, in Germany today. Does this development mean that Jews are playing a significant role in German social life? Does this mean that the great German-Jewish relationship, often referred to as a kind of symbiosis, has re-emerged despite the odds against it? The sixteen essays in this book written by the leading critics in the field cover the fascinating changes that have been made in German society since 1945 in the Jewish communities, literature, theater, film, architecture, and other areas of interest including an examination of the resurgence of anti-Semitism in Austria. For anyone interested in reading about the unpredictable transformations in German-Jewish relations since 1945, Unlikely History will provide information and insights into a history that needs to be told to bring about greater understanding of Jews and Germans in contemporary Germany.
Abstract: Ten authors from five countries present a variety of fresh analyses of the strategies Germans have adopted in coping with the Nazi past. Through historical, sociological, educational, and cultural approaches the unresolved tensions existing in German society – between the will to be accepted as an integral part of western civilization and to put the Nazi chapter in general and the Holocaust in particular behind, on the one hand, and an awareness of responsibility combined with recurring, sometimes sudden, manifestations of long-term results and implications of the past, on the other – are analyzed. Through its multifaceted approach, this book contributes to a better understanding of present-day German society and of Germany’s delicate relationships with both the United States and Israel.
Contents: Dan Michman: Introduction – Jeffrey Herf: The Holocaust and the Competition of Memories in Germany, 1945-1999 – Gilad Margalit: Divided Memory? Expressions of a United German Memory – Y. Michal Bodemann: The Uncanny Clatter: The Holocaust in Germany before Its Mass Commemoration – Inge Marszolek: Memory and Amnesia: A Comment on the Lectures by Gilad Margalit and Michal Bodemann – Chris Lorenz: Border-crossings: Some Reflections on the Role of German Historians in Recent Public Debates on Nazi History – Dan Diner: The Irreconcilability of an Event: Integrating the Holocaust into the Narrative of the Century – Michael Brenner: The Changing Role of the Holocaust in the German-Jewish Public Voice – Shlomo Shafir: Constantly Disturbing the German Conscience: The Impact of American Jewry – Yehuda Ben-Avner: Ambivalent Cooperation: The German-Israeli Joint Committee on Schoolbooks – Yfaat Weiss: The Vague Echoes of German Discourse in Israel.
Abstract: Israelis form a unique case in the field of diaspora studies. When the State of Israel was founded in 1948 it was seen as the longed-for end to the wandering and oppression which had characterized the Jewish diaspora over the centuries. For various reasons, however, one percent of the Israeli population chooses to live abroad despite the condemnation of those who see emigration as a threat to the ideological, demographic, and moral viability of Israel itself.
In this fascinating study, based on extensive field work in the major Israeli communities of New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Sydney, Steven J. Gold looks at emigrants' reasons for leaving - existing links abroad, political and economic dissatisfaction at home, the lure of world-class career opportunities and cultural environments in global cities, and in the case of the Sephardim (or Israelis of non-European origin) often a feeling of being treated as second-class citizens. He also examines the tensions, compromises, and satisfactions involved in their relations with Israelis who have not left and with the Jewish and non-Jewish communities in the countries in which they settle. In the final chapter, Gold talks to Israeli men and women who after years as emigrants have made the decision to return. The end result is a major contribution not just to the study of the Israeli diaspora but also to our wider understanding of migration and transnational identity.
Topics: Synagogues, Ethnography, Race, Racism, Ethnicity, Diversity, Pluralism, Conflict, Bukharian Jews, Mountain Jews, Main Topic: Identity and Community
Abstract: The prevalence of anti-Semitism in Russia is well known, but the issue of race within the Jewish community has rarely been discussed explicitly. Combining ethnography with archival research, Jewish Russians: Upheavals in a Moscow Synagogue documents the changing face of the historically dominant Russian Jewish community in the mid-1990s. Sascha Goluboff focuses on a Moscow synagogue, now comprising individuals from radically different cultures and backgrounds, as a nexus from which to explore issues of identity creation and negotiation. Following the rapid rise of this transnational congregation—headed by a Western rabbi and consisting of Jews from Georgia and the mountains of Azerbaijan and Dagestan, along with Bukharan Jews from Central Asia—she evaluates the process that created this diverse gathering and offers an intimate sense of individual interactions in the context of the synagogue's congregation.
Challenging earlier research claims that Russian and Jewish identities are mutually exclusive, Goluboff illustrates how post-Soviet Jews use Russian and Jewish ethnic labels and racial categories to describe themselves. Jews at the synagogue were constantly engaged in often contradictory but always culturally meaningful processes of identity formation. Ambivalent about emerging class distinctions, Georgian, Russian, Mountain, and Bukharan Jews evaluated one another based on each group's supposed success or failure in the new market economy. Goluboff argues that post-Soviet Jewry is based on perceived racial, class, and ethnic differences as they emerge within discourses of belonging to the Jewish people and the new Russian nation.
