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How Best to Define Antisemitism? A Structural Approach
Author(s): DellaPergola, Sergio
Date: 2024
Topics: Antisemitism, Jewish Perceptions of Antisemitism, Main Topic: Antisemitism, Statistics, Surveys, Antisemitism: Definitions
Abstract: In the current discussion about definitions of antisemitism, the empirical social sciences have been marginalized. Groups of well-intentioned experts make decisions without considering the real-life experiences and perceptions of Jewish people—those who are impacted by antisemitism. I advocate returning the decision to the people, attributing greater weight in defining antisemitism to the actual perceptions of the victims—bottom-up rather than top-down. As a basis for a valid definition, we need to demonstrate these perceptions empirically. This paper presents a structural analysis of the 2018 Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) Survey. The study, conducted through the internet, included over 16,000 self-identified Jews in 12 European Union countries. I review the findings regarding the main contents of antisemitic expressions, the channels of transmission of antisemitism, and the identity of perpetrators. Using Similarity Structure Analysis (SSA), I suggest a new and better analytic typology of the main patterns of perceptions of contemporary antisemitism.
Grounding Jewishness: How attached do Jews feel to Israel, Europe and the countries in which they live?
Author(s): DellaPergola, Sergio; Staetsky, Daniel
Date: 2023
Topics: Jewish Identity, Main Topic: Identity and Community, National Identity, Surveys, Integration, Israel Attachment, European Union
Abstract: How attached do European Jews feel to the countries in which they live? Or to the European Union? And are their loyalties ‘divided’ in some way – between their home country and Israel? Answering these types of questions helps us to see how integrated European Jews feel today, and brings some empiricism to the antisemitic claim that Jews don’t fully ‘belong.’

This mini-report, based on JPR's groundbreaking report ‘The Jewish identities of European Jews’, explores European Jews’ levels of attachment to the countries in which they live, to Israel, and to the European Union, and compares them with those of wider society and other minority groups across Europe. Some of the key findings in this study written by Professor Sergio DellaPergola and Dr Daniel Staetsky of JPR’s European Jewish Demography Unit include:

European Jews tend to feel somewhat less strongly attached to the countries in which they live than the general population of those countries, but more strongly attached than other minority groups and people of no religion.
That said, levels of strong attachment to country vary significantly from one country to another, both among Jews and others.
European Jews tend to feel somewhat more strongly attached to the European Union than the general populations of their countries, although in many cases, the distinctions are small.
Some European Jewish populations feel more strongly attached to Israel than to the countries in which they live, and some do not. The Jewish populations that tend to feel more attached to Israel than the countries in which they live often have high proportions of recent Jewish immigrants.
Having a strong attachment to Israel has no bearing on Jewish people's attachments to the EU or the countries in which they live, and vice versa: one attachment does not come at the expense of another. They are neither competitive nor complementary; they are rather completely unrelated.
Jews of different denominations show very similar levels of attachment to the countries in which they live, but rather different levels of attachment to Israel and the EU.
Jews in Belgium: A Demographic and Social Portrait of Two Jewish populations
Author(s): Staetsky, L. Daniel; DellaPergola, Sergio
Date: 2022
Topics: Demography, Antisemitism, Jewish Identity, Haredi / Strictly Orthodox Jews, Main Topic: Demography and Migration
Abstract: About 29,000 self-identifying Jews live in Belgium today, constituting 0.25% of Belgium’s population. Adding people with familial ties to Jews, who are entitled to settle in the State of Israel under its Law of Return, brings the total to 46,000 people (0.4%);
The Jewish population of Antwerp (56% of the whole) is now larger than the Jewish population living in and around Brussels (39%). 63% of the Jews living in Antwerp identify as Haredi, with a further 19% identifying as Orthodox. In Brussels, Haredi and Orthodox Jews make up only 4% of the Jewish community – the rest are mainly traditional, progressive or ‘just Jewish’;
At present, the Jewish population of Brussels is experiencing close to zero growth, while the Jewish population of Antwerp has a significant excess of births over deaths;
The proportion of Belgian Jewish adults with a university education (80%) is twice as high as that found in the general population. This pattern, and scale of difference, are observed in many Jewish populations around the world.
About half of all Jews in Belgium reported that they had experienced antisemitic harassment over the previous twelve months (48%). About one-third of Belgian Jews reported that they had experienced antisemitic discrimination over the same period. They are much less likely to report antisemitic vandalism (2%) or physical attacks (4%).
L'antisemitismo : fenomenologia reale e percezioni nel pubblico ebraico
Translated Title: Anti-Semitism: real phenomenology and perceptions in the Jewish public
Author(s): DellaPergola, Sergio
Date: 2019
Topics: Antisemitism, Main Topic: Antisemitism
Abstract: The article analyzes a number of fundamental aspects of contemporary antisemitism through the use of data sources and quantitative analysis techniques. The review includes the main research methods used, the definitions and typologies of antisemitic content, the worldwide geographical distributions of Jews and of anti-Semites, the position of antisemitism in relation to the overall space of Jewish identification, the ideological matrixes of antisemitism, the measure of perceptional coherence between sources internal and external to the Jewish groups, and implications for future research. The data used to illustrate these is-sues derives from recent research, mainly in the European Union but also in the United States and Latin America. The distinction between cognitive, behavioral and emotional aspects will be underlined.
La via Italiana All'ebraismo: Una Prospettiva Globale
Translated Title: The Italian Way to Judaism: A Global Perspective
Author(s): DellaPergola, Sergio
Date: 2010
Topics: Main Topic: Identity and Community, Jewish Identity, Jewish History, National Identity
Abstract: The history, demography and sociology of Jews in Italy over the 150 years since Italy's political unification are discussed in the global framework of modern and contemporary Jewry. The Italian experience in general, and that of Italian Jews in particular, can only be explained by examining the various cultural spaces that gave rise to the nation. The peculiar ecology of Italian Jews is based just upon this difficult balance of interdependence and originality. Across the range from full social acceptance to total exclusion, Italy's Jewish communities experienced roles of either forerunners or late joiners vis-à-vis demographic, socioeconomic, and cultural change. Observed models of Jewish identification reflected a wide range of options linking personal values with associative networks within the peculiar constraints of the Italian duopoly of Catholic public religion and national secularization. The dialectics of Jewish identity versus Italian assimilation was irreversibly shaken up by the emergence of a powerful third pole of reference – Israel. The dilemmas, hopes and fears that prevailed at the outset of national unity were not superseded 150 years after, and the need for a clarifying dialogue is more alive than ever.
La Comunità ebraica di Milano: profilo sociodemografico
Author(s): DellaPergola, Sergio
Editor(s): Paganoni, Marco
Date: 2010
Topics: Demography, Main Topic: Demography and Migration
How do Jews live their Jewishness? Religious lifestyles and denominations of European Jews
Author(s): DellaPergola, Sergio; Staetsky, Daniel
Date: 2022
Topics: Jewish Identity, Main Topic: Identity and Community, Religious Belief, Religious Observance and Practice, Religious Denominations, Surveys, Ritual
Abstract: The third of four mini-reports highlighting different aspects and findings from JPR’s major study ‘The Jewish identities of European Jews: what, why and how’, dives deeper into the different religious lifestyles and denominations of European Jews. Is there a single Jewish voice – or a majority Jewish voice – that represents the entire community? And if there is one – who holds it? In today’s political culture, understanding lifestyle differences within ethnic and religious groups is critical, both to understand their needs and concerns, and to address them.

The new mini-report highlights different aspects of how European Jews express their Jewishness through their choice of denomination – or lack of – and through different Jewish rituals:

• The most numerically significant subgroup is the ‘Just Jewish’ (38%), a general category indicating no clear denominational alignment, followed by the ‘Traditional’;
• European Jewry is undergoing a process of desecularisation: Today, across Europe, the share of more religious persons (Haredi and Orthodox) among younger age groups is substantially larger than among the older;
• The most traditional communities are those in Western Europe. In these communities, about 40%-60% of adult Jews identify as Traditional, Orthodox or Haredi;
• The less traditionally observant lifestyles are in the 74%-78% range in Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands, and reach 90% in Hungary and Poland;
• Attending a Passover Seder and fasting on Yom Kippur are observed by most Jews, including those outside of the Haredi/Orthodox fold. Lighting candles on Friday night and keeping kosher at home are also observed by a much broader range of Jews than just those from the Haredi and Orthodox communities.
The report is based on research conducted in twelve European Union Member States in 2018, which, together, are home to about 80% of the Jewish population of Europe. The study includes the opinions and experiences of over 16,000 respondents – the largest sample of Jews ever surveyed in Europe.
The Jewish identities of European Jews: What, why and how
Author(s): DellaPergola, Sergio; Staetsky, L. Daniel
Date: 2021
Topics: Jewish Identity, Main Topic: Identity and Community, Religious Observance and Practice, Religious Denominations, Surveys, Age and Generational Issues, National Identity
Abstract: Throughout 2021, JPR researchers Professor Sergio DellaPergola and Dr Daniel Staetsky analysed the responses of over 16,000 European Jews in 12 European countries who participated in the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights survey conducted by JPR and Ipsos in 2018. The result of their hard work and innovative approach is ‘The Jewish identities of European Jews’, a study into the what, why and how of Jewish identity.

The report finds some extraordinary differences and similarities between Jews across Europe, including:

European Jews are much more likely to see themselves as a religious minority than an ethnic one, yet fewer than half of all Jewish adults across Europe light candles most Friday nights;
Jewish identity is strongest in Belgium, the UK, France, Austria, Spain and Italy, and weakest in Hungary and Poland;
The memory of the Holocaust and combating antisemitism played a more important part in people’s Jewish identity than support for Israel, belief in God or charitable giving. Rising perceptions of antisemitism may have stimulated a stronger bond with Jewish peoplehood;
Only about half of all Jews in Europe identify with a particular denomination, although there are significant differences at the national level;
Higher proportions of younger Jews are religiously observant than older Jews;
Belgium has the largest proportion of Jews identifying as Orthodox in its Jewish population, followed by the UK, Italy, France and Austria;
Spain has the largest proportion of Jews identifying as Reform/Progressive, followed by Germany and the Netherlands;
Levels of attachment to the European Union among European Jews are higher than, or very similar to, levels of attachment among their fellow citizens in the countries in which they live
Jews in Europe: Demographic Trends, Contexts and Outlooks
Author(s): DellaPergola, Sergio
Editor(s): Gloeckner, Olaf; Schoeps, Julius H.
Date: 2011
Topics: Demography, Main Topic: Demography and Migration
Jews in Europe, 2019: Demographic Trends, Contexts and Outlooks
Author(s): DellaPergola, Sergio
Editor(s): Pardo, Sharon; Zahavi, Hila
Date: 2019
Topics: Demography, Main Topic: Demography and Migration
Jewish Demography in the European Union – Virtuous and Vicious Paths
Author(s): DellaPergola, Sergio
Editor(s): Fireberg, Haim; Glöckner, Olaf; Zoufalá, Marcela Menachem
Date: 2020
Topics: Demography, Main Topic: Demography and Migration
Jews in Europe at the turn of the Millennium: Population trends and estimates
Author(s): DellaPergola, Sergio; Staetsky, L. Daniel
Date: 2020
Topics: Demography, Main Topic: Demography and Migration, European Union, Aliyah, Emigration, Immigration, Israeli Expatriates, Intermarriage
Abstract: This detailed and thorough report is rapidly becoming the ‘must-read’ study on European Jews, taking the reader on an extraordinary journey through one thousand years of European Jewish history before arriving at the most comprehensive analysis of European Jewish demography today.

Written by leading Jewish demographers Professor Sergio DellaPergola and Dr Daniel Staetsky, the Chair and Director of JPR’s European Jewish Demography Unit respectively, it explores how the European Jewish population has ebbed and flowed over time. It begins as far back as the twelfth century, travelling through many years of population stability, until the tremendous growth of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, followed by the dramatic decline prompted by a combination of mass migration and the horrors of the Shoah. Extraordinarily, after all this time, the proportion of world Jewry living in Europe today is almost identical to the proportion living in Europe 900 years ago.

Using multiple definitions of Jewishness and a vast array of sources to determine the size of the contemporary population, the study proceeds to measure it in multiple ways, looking at the major blocs of the European Union and the European countries of the Former Soviet Union, as well as providing country-by-country analyses, ranging from major centres such as France, the UK, Germany and Hungary, to tiny territories such as Gibraltar, Monaco and even the Holy See.

The report also contains the most up-to-date analysis we have on the key mechanisms of demographic change in Europe, touching variously on patterns of migration in and out of Europe, fertility, intermarriage, conversion and age compositions. While the report itself is a fascinating and important read, the underlying data are essential tools for the JPR team to utilise as it supports Jewish organisations across the continent to plan for the future.
Jews in Austria: A Demographic and Social Portrait
Author(s): Staetsky, L. Daniel; DellaPergola, Sergio
Date: 2020
Topics: Demography, Censuses, Main Topic: Demography and Migration, Israeli Expatriates, Orthodox Judaism, Haredi / Strictly Orthodox Jews, Surveys
Abstract: Written by the world’s leading Jewish demographer, Professor Sergio DellaPergola, and Dr Daniel Staetsky, Director of JPR’s European Jewish Demography Unit, this report shines a light on the demography of Jewish in Austria today, and presents in-depth analysis of fertility rates, age distribution data, patterns of Jewish identity, migration and intermarriage rates to predict Austrian Jewry’s future. It demonstrates, through careful and methodical analysis, that the population is projected to grow.

Whilst the Austrian Jewish population is small, its projected growth constitutes an important finding in European Jewish demography. The Jewish population of Europe has declined dramatically over the past century and a half, particularly as a result of mass migration and the Holocaust. Yet today, in several European countries, demographers are beginning to see signs of growth, driven particularly by high birth rates in the strictly Orthodox population. This study provides an important example of this phenomenon.

The report is a publication of JPR’s European Jewish Demography Unit, an initiative established in 2019 to produce new data to support Jewish community planning across Europe. Funded by the Rothschild Foundation Hanadiv Europe, the Unit is working to produce country-specific reports annually, and this study about Austria is the first of these.

The report draws on three major sources of data: the 2001 Austrian Census, comprehensive records of the Austrian Jewish community and a survey carried out by a JPR/Ipsos consortium in 2018 for the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA).

Key findings include:

Today the core Jewish population of Austria is estimated to be just above 10,000. The ‘core Jewish population’ consists of people who would explicitly identify themselves as Jews. This is the highest number of Jews observed in Austria since the 1960.
According to the Israeli Law of Return – which uses a broader definition to determine who is entitled to migrate to Israel and immediately apply for Israeli citizenship – the eligible Jewish population in Austria is currently about 20,000.
The core Jewish population constitutes 0.1% of the total population of Austria. 64% of all Austrians are Roman Catholics, 17% are unaffiliated in religious terms, and 8% are Muslims.
The Jewish population of Austria is growing and may reach 11,000-12,000 by the mid-2030s.
About 86% of all Austrian Jews reside in Vienna. Only 19% of all Austrians live in Vienna
The average number of children that a Jewish woman in Austria is expected to have in her lifetime is 2.5; strictly Orthodox Jewish women have 6–7 children per woman, on average, while non-strictly Orthodox Jewish women typically have about 2. The average among Austrian women in general is 1.5.
Migration has been a powerful factor of growth in the Austrian Jewish population. Jews born in Israel constitute about 20% of Jews in Austria today.
About 78% of Jewish households in Austria are affiliated with the Jewish community through membership of its representative organisation. Compared to other communities around the world, this is a very high level of affiliation.
About 30% of Jews in Austria identify as ‘Orthodox’ or ‘Traditional’ and 19% as ‘strictly Orthodox.’ 15% identify as ‘Reform/Progressive’ and 19% as ‘just Jewish.’ Austrian Jewry has one of the highest proportions of strictly Orthodox Jews of all European Jewish communities.
Due to their high fertility, the strictly Orthodox represent the main engine of population growth for the Jewish community as a whole. For the same reason, their share in the Jewish population is expected to increase significantly in the medium term.
About two thirds (70%) of partnered Austrian Jews have a Jewish partner.
About 70% of all Jewish children of compulsory school age in Austria attend Jewish schools. While 100% of strictly Orthodox Jews attend Jewish schools, among the non-strictly Orthodox uptake is still significant – about 52%.
Antisemitism in Italy
Author(s): DellaPergola, Sergio
Date: 2015
Topics: Antisemitism, Attitudes to Jews, Demography, Main Topic: Antisemitism, Antisemitism: Attitude Surveys
Abstract: This paper focuses on the background and characteristics of antisemitic expressions and
perceptions in Italy – not the largest but one of the oldest Jewish communities in Europe. We
provide a profile of the main characteristics of Italy's Jewish population and review the main
themes and prejudices that have long permeated Italian society and public opinion regarding
Jews in the country. Through a variety of recent sources we document the extant public
knowledge and attitudes about Jews, attitudes about Israel, and perceptions of the diffusion of
antisemitism among the general public. Perceptions of antisemitism among Italian Jews have
been documented separately as part of the FRA study. Our purpose here is to contribute to a
better assessment of the antisemitic syndrome, its sociological and political components,
through the prism of the Italian case. In particular we demonstrate the extent of the
phenomenon in a country where antisemitism, while not rated among the highest in Europe, is
nevertheless a matter of concern. We also compare the actual socio-demographic profile of
the Jewish population with the distorted perceptions of its rivals and detractors.
Jewish Perceptions of Antisemitism in the European Union, 2018: A New Structural Look
Author(s): DellaPergola, Sergio
Date: 2020
Topics: Antisemitism, Jewish Perceptions of Antisemitism, Surveys, European Union, Main Topic: Antisemitism
Abstract: This paper aims at providing a new systemic contribution to research about perceptions of antisemitism/Judeophobia by contemporary Jews in 12 European Union countries. The perspective – the viewpoint of the offended side – has been less prominent relatively in research literature on antisemitism. The data analysis demonstrates the potential power of Similarity Structure Analysis (SSA) as a better theoretical and empirical tool to describe and conceptualize the contents of chosen research issues. After a brief review of some methodological problems in the study of antisemitism, this paper will re-elaborate data first published in the report of the 2018 FRA study Experiences and Perceptions of Antisemitism – Second survey on Discrimination and Hate Crimes against Jews in the EU (FRA 2018a). Topics include the perceived importance of antisemitism as a societal issue, the contents of anti-Jewish prejudice and discrimination, channels of transmission, perpetrators of offenses, regional differences within Europe, and the role of antisemitism perceptions as a component of Jewish identification. Special attention is paid to the distinction between cognitive and experiential perceptions of antisemitism, and to the typology of practical, populist, political, and narrative antisemitism.
Why European Jewish Demography? A foundation paper
Author(s): Staetsky, L. Daniel; DellaPergola, Sergio
Date: 2019
Topics: Demography, Main Topic: Demography and Migration, Policy, Statistics, Intermarriage, Migration
Abstract: This paper is the first output of the new European Jewish Demography Unit, set up by JPR in January 2019 with the generous support of the Rothschild Foundation Hanadiv Europe, to undertake demographic research about Jewish populations across Europe.

Demography provides answers to questions such as how many Jews exist in the world? Or in Europe? Or in any particular country of Europe? And where will European Jewry go from here?

The objective of the Unit is to create demographic profiles of European Jewish populations at a country level, documenting their size, structure, composition, patterns of Jewish identity, factors of growth and decline and past and projected trajectories over time. The foundational paper demonstrates the practical sides and uses of demography, with the focus on its use by the Jewish community.

The paper is written in three parts. Part 1 describes what Jewish demography is, as a subject area, and its purpose and value, with specific reference to Jews in Europe. Part 2 explores some of the critiques of demography from the past and present and responds to these by outlining how the data should be used and have been used for highly constructive purposes. Part 3 outlines what the European Jewish Demography Unit will do, and the methods and approach it will take.
A Census of Jewish Schools in the Former Soviet Union for 1993/94 School Year
Author(s): DellaPergola, Sergio; Bassan, Esther; Rebhun, Uzi; Sagi, Dalia
Date: 1997
Topics: Jewish Schools, Statistics, Main Topic: Education
Identity à la Carte: Research on Jewish identities, participation and affiliation in five Eastern European countries
Author(s): Kovács, András; Ildiko, Barna; DellaPergola, Sergio; Kosmin, Barry
Date: 2011
Topics: Affiliation and Belonging, Antisemitism, Intermarriage, Israel Attachment, Surveys, Jewish Identity, Religious Observance and Practice, Main Topic: Identity and Community
Abstract:

This report describes the process and results of a research study on Jewish identity and community participation in Central and Eastern Europe. In particular, it identifies trends among Jewish adults in Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Romania. This two-year and wide-reaching study, examined views on religious observance, Jewish identity, anti-Semitism, Israel, Jewish knowledge, and organizational affiliation among 1,270 Jews, ages 18-60.
The Demographic Context of the Soviet Aliya
Author(s): DellaPergola, Sergio
Date: 1991
Topics: Aliyah, Immigration, Main Topic: Demography and Migration
La popolazione ebraica in Italia nel contesto ebraico globale
Translated Title: The Jewish population in Italy in the global Jewish context
Author(s): DellaPergola, Sergio
Editor(s): Vivanti, Corrado
Date: 1997
Topics: Demography, Main Topic: Demography and Migration
Jews in the European Community: Sociodemographic Trends and Challenges
Author(s): DellaPergola, Sergio
Editor(s): Singer, David
Date: 1993
Topics: International Relations, Security, Jewish Organisations, European Union, Main Topic: Demography and Migration
Abstract: At the start of 1993, the European continent was emitting ambivalent and troubling political signals. Ramifications of major geopolitical changes were not fully understood or absorbed and sparked a massive wave of international migrations. These developments accounted for growing social turmoil and outbursts of xenophobia. As such, the status of Jewish communities within the framework of the European Community (EC) aroused anxiety. This article reviews the major sociodemographic processes that currently characterize the Jewish population with the EC. Basic historical background is provided, and brief attention is paid to a few issues of broader significance for the present and future of Western European Jewry.
World and Regional Jewish Population Projections - Russian Republic, 1994-2019 (Interim Report)
Author(s): DellaPergola, Sergio; Tolts, Mark; Rebhun, Uzi
Date: 1996
Topics: Demography, Jewish Future, Main Topic: Demography and Migration
Abstract:

This report presents first results of a new series of demographic projections of the Jewish population in the Russian Republic, the largest component of the Former Soviet Union (FSU). The projection extends over a period of 25 years, between the mid-1990s and approaching the year 2020, and portrays different scenarios reflecting the most likely developments to be expected in conformity with a variety of assumptions.
From Old and New Directions: Perceptions and experiences of antisemitism among Jews in Italy
Author(s): DellaPergola, Sergio; Staetsky, Daniel L.
Date: 2015
Topics: Antisemitism, Jewish Perceptions of Antisemitism, Main Topic: Antisemitism
Abstract: The study demonstrates significant concern among Jews in Italy about antisemitism in their country, with clear indications that many perceive it to be a growing problem, particularly online. At the same time, most Italian Jews feel well integrated into Italian society, antisemitic violence is rare, and only a minority feels sufficiently unsafe to be considering their future in the country.

The report,also highlights the particular nature of antisemitism in the country. It indicates that today it is more commonly grounded in political ideologies – from both the left and right – than in religious extremism, suggesting that it is driven both by old style right-wing nationalism, and newer forms of left-wing antipathy informed by a spill-over of incidents in Israel and the Middle East.

The data in the report were gathered and analysed by researchers at JPR, as part of a major study commissioned by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) in 2012. The general findings from that study were published in a landmark report in late 2013, but have been analysed afresh in this follow-up study, the second in a series of JPR reports about antisemitism in different European Member States.