jews and jewish education in germany today - The Westbury Group

More documents

Recommendations

Info

it, for example, in my own son. He used to have no interest in Russian books, Russian TV or Russian concerts. Now they are looking back, and they look for their own, Russian friends’ network. They also want to go back to their Jewish roots, but in our Community [Berlin] that’s impossible. Their reinforced orientation toward Russian culture is obvious, and I hope the same will come with the Jewish culture. That’s what we have to work on. � You’re referring to the younger generation of the Russian-Jewish immigrants? Yes, that’s what I said. They have managed to enter Germany society and culture, went to high school here, they studied here, learned their profession, but now they’re asking themselves who they really are. Their family came from there and there, and they are Jewish, but who are they now? � What is your general feeling and experience with how non-Jewish German officials and politicians cooperate with the Jewish institutions today? Very positive, I would say. I’m not talking about the Zentralrat, but with the German politicians and officials it works. There is respect and understanding. They are kind and constructive. Personally I have had good experiences with the Foreign Office. For example, I wrote them that we already had been organizing this summer camp for Jewish children for three years, but that we need support in order to be able to continue with it. I also mentioned that we invited children from Israel, but that there are objective problems to continue, for several reasons. And then they arranged a date for me, with the Deputy Foreign Minister. I had enough time to explain that our small organization is, with such projects like the international Jewish summer camp, also improving the German image in general. And that’s what he really understood. Try to imagine, even the Israeli side was hesitant at the beginning. When we organized our first children’s summer camp in Germany and invited children from Israel, there was a strong rejection. Israeli parents didn’t want to send their children to a summer camp in Germany. Now, three or four years later, there is a waiting list for children from Israel, because we cannot provide enough places for the summer camp. � How many of the children come from Israel for the summer camp? About one third. I really think that good work was done over the last few years, and the summer camp is popular across borders now. � How do you perceive the non-Jewish media reports on Jewish life in Germany today? There’s a lot of gossip all the time, sometimes good, sometimes bad. But you know what? If people have problems with Mr. Spiegel [head of the World Congress of Russian Speaking Jews in Moscow, O.G.] then they write bad things, if they like him, they write good things. That’s the way it goes. � Do you mean the international press or German press? The foreign press. Concerning German media, they are rather quiet or just report in a neutral way. It used to be a problem, especially during election campaigns in the Jewish Community. Now they are quiet. � How do you see the Jewish media in Germany? Is there a kind of pluralism, and is it possible to further develop the Jewish media? I think there is not much future in the long run for the Jewish print media. A lot is switching over to the Internet now. Let’s take, for example, the Evreyskaya Gazeta [Russian language Jewish monthly available 143 | P a g e
throughout Germany]. They come out once a month, and write old stuff. And who needs that? Just elderly people who do not have the Internet. � But it’s a good forum to present quite different opinions. I think it’s better to organize such forums in the Internet, as well. � Is there already a Jewish web portal like Ha Galil in Russian, maybe similar to such web portals in Israel? No, I think it’s just a question of money, and people are not yet motivated to establish an actual Russian Jewish web portal here. By the way, the Russian web portals in Israel are distinctly Russian ones. � Do you see real gaps in the spectrum of educational programs as they are provided by the Jewish Communities and other Jewish organizations in Germany today? Not in the religious sector. There are very good programs and activities now, for example from Chabad and Lauder. � And what about pluralistic Jewish education? I think Limmud Germany is doing a very good job. During this year’s Limmud-Festival there was also a large program in Russian, and this was coordinated by one of our colleagues from the Congress [World Congress of Russian Speaking Jews, office Berlin]. I also think that there should be more on offer in culture and the arts, especially for young people. That’s also a possibility to attract them to Judaism. From our side, for example, we try this with annual international artist’s competition “Golden Chanukah.” � Can you just describe, in a short way, what kind of support the WCRJ is offering to immigrated Jews in Germany? We offer social counseling, legal counseling, psychological counseling, and aside from this there have been smaller Hebrew courses and other educational events. During the last years we tried to explicitly support Jewish immigrants who live in the Eastern part of Germany. We make no distinction between Jews from the mother’s side and paternal Jews. 144 | P a g e
Page 1 and 2:
JEWS AND JEWISH EDUCATION IN GERMAN
Page 3 and 4:
Leading figures: The agenda of the
Page 5 and 6:
1. TOBY AXELROD May 13, 2009, Berli
Page 7 and 8:
Yes. Aside from the three-day festi
Page 9 and 10:
2. DMITRI BELKIN Frankfurt, June 8,
Page 11 and 12:
lives, they would say that they are
Page 13 and 14:
● And how much are they percentag
Page 15 and 16:
This has been different from town t
Page 17 and 18:
something that would be different?
Page 19 and 20:
oth are led without contact or with
Page 21 and 22:
don’t go to synagogue every Sabba
Page 23 and 24:
Germany after the 1990’s is a del
Page 25 and 26:
● It’s probably an unusual situ
Page 27 and 28:
18-30 year olds, yes, and within it
Page 29 and 30:
● Well, Chabad could say they’r
Page 31 and 32:
in German politics. This still does
Page 33 and 34:
I think the Jüdische Allgemeine Wo
Page 35 and 36:
I would say so. The Community reall
Page 37 and 38:
think you know them better, I’m t
Page 39 and 40:
centers. The state supports them in
Page 41 and 42:
7. GESA EDERBERG May 4, 2009, Berli
Page 43 and 44:
these spaces. Places where people m
Page 45 and 46:
the respective Community and less o
Page 47 and 48:
synagogue to meet the people and th
Page 49 and 50:
8. DAVID GALL May 28, 2009, Munich,
Page 51 and 52:
if the people in the Ministry don
Page 53 and 54:
presume, the close connection with
Page 55 and 56:
The question is how could they thro
Page 57 and 58:
● Is the percentage of young peop
Page 59 and 60:
Israel is important. I can’t say
Page 61 and 62:
Very poorly. People might be willin
Page 63 and 64:
This would only be possible with st
Page 65 and 66:
Yes, I see it in the bigger Communi
Page 67 and 68:
● What the perspectives for someb
Page 69 and 70:
Now we are also in talks with the U
Page 71 and 72:
● At least probably for those who
Page 73 and 74:
I am sure that one of the next issu
Page 75 and 76:
● There was an overall survey in
Page 77 and 78:
12. KÜF KAUFMANN June 17, 2009, Le
Page 79 and 80:
keep the kindergarten afloat financ
Page 81 and 82:
meeting the board member responsibl
Page 83 and 84:
Probably everything together, we wo
Page 85 and 86:
13. CHARLOTTE KNOBLOCH June 19, 200
Page 87 and 88:
10. Many Jews in Germany seem to ke
Page 89 and 90:
14. MICHAEL KOGAN June 12, 2009, D
Page 91 and 92:
● If you come to the Community be
Page 93 and 94: ● You mean there are good things
Page 95 and 96: 15. SERGEY LAGODINSKY June 11, 2009
Page 97 and 98: ● Would you say that most Russian
Page 99 and 100: to make a big fuss out of not being
Page 101 and 102: 16. ARKADY LITVAN May 27, 2009, Han
Page 103 and 104: can’t speak German well up to tod
Page 105 and 106: ● Another youth center? Our youth
Page 107 and 108: 17. JEWGENIJ SINGER June 8, 2009, F
Page 109 and 110: philosophical concept of Liberal Ju
Page 111 and 112: For the Community board election, f
Page 113 and 114: The social circumstances have impro
Page 115 and 116: Well, from the perspective of the F
Page 117 and 118: understand me in stores or doctors
Page 119 and 120: librarians all over Germany. Now we
Page 121 and 122: Yes, and in Hebrew. That’s one di
Page 123 and 124: organize that with the help of othe
Page 125 and 126: will be some immigrants who are dee
Page 127 and 128: We started with 17 kids, and I thin
Page 129 and 130: ● What do you think about the gen
Page 131 and 132: and the question exactly how volunt
Page 133 and 134: Opening to different movements. Tha
Page 135 and 136: young people are always treated as
Page 137 and 138: I think what is really missing is t
Page 139 and 140: Community]. I don’t see this plur
Page 141 and 142: ● What are the principal Jewish s
Page 143: � What would you say about the yo
Page 147 and 148: There are some challenges of true a
Page 149 and 150: Unfortunately, the reporting about
show all

jews and jewish education in germany today - The Westbury Group

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?