Abstract: Since their recent dispersion from the former Soviet Union, Russian-speaking Jews (RSJ) have become the vast majority of Germany’s longstanding Jewry. An entity marked by permeable boundaries, they show a solidarity and commitment to world Jewry, including Israel, but feeble identification with their hosts. The identification with the larger Jewish community leads to a wide consensus concerning the importance of offering Jewish education to the young. The study presented here explores the influence of the RSJ community, their relationship with German speaking Jews, and the ways in which the RSJ identification with world Jewry influences Jewish education opportunities for the young. Utilizing surveys of the largest Jewish communities in Germany, interviews of leading public figures, and a comprehensive overview of the Jewish educational framework available in Germany, this book seeks to present a description and analysis of the Jewish population in Germany including its attitudes, activities, expectations, and identify formulations.
Abstract: This is a research report about a large-scale investigation of the Jewish population of Germany, the major current challenges facing it, and its educational institutions. The project was carried out at the initiative of the L.A. Pincus Fund for Jewish Education in the Diaspora and in cooperation with the following foundations: Chais Family Foundation, The Pears Foundation, Schusterman Foundation – Israel, Edmond J. Safra Philanthropies, Severyn Ashkenazy, and The Rosalind & Arthur Gilbert Foundation. Volume 1 first presents the survey that was undertaken among close to 1,200 respondents throughout Germany; the various sections focus on the following: a general characterization of this population, a systematic analysis of the attitudes of its new members, a comparison between veterans and newcomers, and data that particularly concern the issue of Jewish education. During this research, we also investigated and analyzed the general landscape of Germany’s Jewish educational institutions, before conducting a content analysis of individual interviews of leading figures of Germany’s Jewish population that focused on how they perceive the present-day challenges of this Jewry.
