Workshop Programme: Globalizing French Jewish Politics, 2-3 July 2019

Jewish Studies at the Central European University , 2020

French Jewish politics have often been studied through the lens of a single organ¬isation or in isolation from the broader European and international contexts. Historically, however, French Jewish actors have been well integrated into trans¬national, transimperial, and global networks. This conference aimed to revisit the history of French Jewish politics, within the broader contexts of diaspora politics, Jewish and non-Jewish internationalism, and transnational mobility. The panellists also sought to complicate notions of Frenchness and French Jewish identity, probe for/into the impact of such international ties and endeavors upon French Jewish politics and investigate the transformation and legacy of political practices in the longue durée. A secondary aim was to reflect on the French Jewish self-perceptions often inscribed in the archives and used by scholars in the field. The conference took place at the Central European University in Budapest on July 2–3, 2019 and brought together doctoral students, early career researchers, and senior scholars from Europe, Israel, and the United States.

This paper is a "note critique" that at once reviews certain parts of Ethan Katz's "The Burdens of Brotherhood. Jews and Muslims from North Africa to France." (2016) and discusses the echos of the book in contemporary French politics and society.

International Handbooks of Religion and Education, 2011

What has been termed "the renewal of Jewish culture in Europe" is a mixed and nuanced phenomenon. Although much of adult Jewish education in Europe retains the forms and substance of similar efforts throughout the Diaspora and in Israel, Jewish education in Europe for adults is to a great extent a reflection of the specificity of this Jewish renewal and is worthy of examination. Beyond descriptively profiling these developments, this chapter claims that what is currently taking place in Jewish education has importance not only for Jewish life in Europe, but also has far-reaching implications for education in the rest of the Jewish world. A profile of contemporary Europe and Jewish life therein must commence with the caveat that the concept "Europe" is a construct, a geographical notion that, given the variety of cultures, languages, and histories, encompasses a great number of divergent realities. Together with all that, however, the emergence of the European Union has done much to give substance to the notion of a unified entity. Sweeping developments, including the fall of the Berlin Wall, the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the formation of a single European market, and the opening of borders of previously intact nation-states, have affected all citizens of Europe, and Jews among them. The trajectory of transformation that has been embarked upon, if successful, will lead to a pluralistic Europe composed of a mosaic of cultures that both maintain their own identities and yet participate in the common agora. Jewish life is part of that transformation. Jonathan Webber points out, "in today's new Europe the Jews have the opportunity, as do all other European citizens, to participate in the future political and economic reconstruction of the continent-and the question for them is to determine what their own social and political philosophy might be in these new circumstances." 1 Jeremy Cohen emphasizes that the new context of the breakdown of nation-state identities towards multiethnic mosaics entails great challenges for contemporary B.L. Spectre (B)

2015

This study has been enabled by the generous support of the European Forum and the Paul Desmarais Center at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, to which I am very grateful.

2007

2010

Over the past fifteen years, a revival of Jewish life has spread across Europe, one that is rooted in its 2,000-year heritage, reflects the diversity of contemporary Jewish thought and experience, and reflects the hope for a promising future. Quietly, and in small pockets across the continent, Jewish social entrepreneurs have been experimenting with new forms of communities and organizations designed to engage a new generation of Jews, their partners and friends in meaningful Jewish experiences. Conventional discussions of Europe often emphasise antisemitism, Jewish continuity, and anti-Israel activism. While we do not dismiss or diminish those concerns, we know that these are only part of the story. The European Jewry we know is confident, vibrant, and growing.

European Judaism, 2005

European just in name because we live on this continent? I think these are tremendously important questions and how they are answered should directly impact the delivering of services to Jewish communities across Europe. It should directly affect the work of pan-European Jewish organisations, especially the European Council of Jewish Communities and it also affects the question whether or not we can or should speak with 'one voice' as we were exhorted to do so, even by a couple of speakers last night. Now fortunately we are in a better position than ever before to provide answers to these kinds of questions. The report in your packs will be used to focus on in this session. We have a growing mass of data dealing with Jewish identity. This report is a result of an initiative taken jointly by the JDC and Hanadiv Charitable Foundation. It gathers all the existing data on Jewish identity and Jewish demography in Europe and analyses it in order to reach some conclusions about identity across Europe. A fellow in European Jewish demography, David Graham, who was appointed at the Institute of Jewish Policy Research, was asked to undertake this study and he has, I believe, reached some fascinating information, considerations and conclusions. I hope you all read this from cover to cover. There will be a test on it later. If we want to build a new Jewish life in the new Europe, we need a new language for the new situation. On the one hand we need a new political language. Last night was in many ways a very inspiring and a very uplifting experience, but for me there was too much of the old language around … anti-Semitism, threats to the survival of Israel, Holocaust victim-hood. It is not these things alone which define who we are today. I for one, anyway, take issue with some of the assumptions of which statements were made yesterday about anti-Semitism and our relationship with Israel. We need to speak in a new way about our role in Europe, about what an open Jewish world can contribute to the European future, not about what Europe owes us. Similarly we need a new language to discuss the data on Jewish life that takes into account the fact that Jewish life is not a numbers game, that technology, globalisation, the quest for meaning and spirituality, the richness of secularity, the beauty of diversity, that all these things have turned the assumptions we normally make upside down. So let's turn now to the speakers.

La revue K, 2024

Version française: https://k-larevue.com/un-desarroi-dans-lair-reflexion-sur-le-judaisme-francais-contemporain/ The author believes that Franco-Judaism has forgotten its spiritual heritage. Deploring the adoption of an ultra-Orthodoxy that rigidifies practices and minds, and criticizing the lack of audacity of the institutions representing the Jewish community, he calls for a revival of a Judaism that knows both the value of revolutionary universalism and the intellectual richness of Sephardic civilization. https://k-larevue.com/en/a-sense-of-disarray-hangs-in-the-air-reflections-on-contemporary-french-judaism/