jews and jewish education in germany today - The Westbury Group

I am sure that one of the next issues that we have to target is the youth work and we need to find independent
operators because the ‘Zentralrat’ is obviously incapable or not interested in doing this. We need
organizations that can provide such camp experiences for the 10-17 year olds, and then Limmud can do
something for the 16-30 year olds. With rabbinical and cantorial training, and with the scholarship
foundation, we can then provide an additional tool to bring all those who have become interested in their
earlier years more solidly into the Jewish Community. In the whole program that I have described, what we
are missing most definitely is a mechanism to interest the 8-20 year olds. One good program is ‘Jung und
Jüdisch’ (Young and Jewish) where I can see that the 17-25 year olds are very, very active and I think one
should copy and widen that experience. We need to find another step, a basic program, and I think a camp
experience can be very valuable for younger Jews.
● Is ‘Jung und Jüdisch’ directly connected with Union of Progressive Judaism in Germany?
Yes, it’s an affiliate of the Union and also of the international youth network Netzer Olami.
● Returning to the Communities again. A couple of years ago we had a broad discussion of language
differences and cultural barriers between German speaking and Russian speaking Jews in Germany, also
about different mentalities and very distinct ideas of how to build a Community. Do you think these problems
are getting better now?
I don’t think that these problems are diminishing at all. Well, I have very positive examples for the
integration of Russian leaders. They are successful and absolutely unproblematic.
But there were also problems mentality-wise; for example, that Russians are used to having everything
organized for them. And they find it awkward that they should suddenly take an active role and
responsibility. Our students, for example, never say, ‘You know, I have a problem here or there’, but they
always paint a very positive picture, so a clearer analysis is necessary to find out whether they actually have
problems or not. They would not air these problems themselves. So there are mentality differences. I don’t
think that they are getting better, but I do think that within the next generation that has been educated here,
we will see a great improvement on this specific level.
I also think that immigrants are still underrepresented in Jewish leadership positions, e.g. in the Zentralrat.
The current representation is not really influential enough to shape the policy of the Zentralrat in a significant
way. This is why I think the main focus of support and stimulus for the Jewish community in Germany can
be found in the creation of independent change agents.
The rabbinical seminary [Abraham Geiger College], for example, is only very partially dependent on money
from the Jewish Community. Predominantly it’s the government that pays for it; therefore we can play an
independent role. ‘Jung und Jüdisch’ is not dependent on the ‘Zentralwohlfahrtstelle’ and can play an
independent role. Limmud is a highly independent program, and therefore, I think, we should stimulate the
creation of a Jewish civil society where people can organize things for the Jewish Community. That is the
way forward.
● To what extent do you think that outreach programs for adult immigrants, Jews who came here to Germany
and who had little to no knowledge of Judaism, have been successful?
The Zentralrat administers a great amount of funding, about 900,000 €, that is solely meant to be used for
immigrant programs. Local Communities can apply for some of this money.
● 900,000 € exclusively meant for immigration programs?
Yes. Just integration projects, what can be anything from language courses to other things. But most of the
programs are, as far as I know, short-lived. You cannot effectively change such a dramatic social problem as
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