The Future of Conservative Jewry
■Conservative Jewry faces three major challenges. These concern its message, its quality control, and its structure. The definition of the message has become a priority in part because of the blurring of the boundaries with other movements.
Scotland’s Jews: Community and Political Challenges
The Jewish community in Scotland numbered eighteen thousand in the 1950s but has now shrunk to around ten thousand, largely through emigration. The community is overwhelmingly concentrated in the Greater Glasgow area with around a thousand Jews in Edinburgh and smaller numbers scattered around the country.
The Roles of the Jews in Italian Society
Most Italians think there are many times more Jews in Italy than the thirty-one thousand paying members of the Italian community. Native Italian Jews probably number no more than fifteen thousand. There are sizable communities of Libyan (mainly in Rome) and Lebanese and Iranian origin (mainly in Milan). The false perception of a large number of Jews in Italy results from the fact that several Jews have indeed played key roles in Italian society over the past century and a half.
The Future of Jewish Education
Important new trends and major challenges have reshaped the field of Jewish education over the past two decades. An overarching development has been families’ insistence on choice as they try to find the schools and programs offering the best fit for each of their children. These expressions of consumerism have required Jewish educational institutions to tailor their programs to the needs of individual students and their parents.
How French Society Views the Jews
The way a country’s population views the Jews largely determines their position in its society. This is often far more important than the Jews’ own behavior. The French perception of the Jews is different from how the Jews see themselves. To a certain extent, everyone lives in his own mental sphere.
Insights into the Situation of the Jews in the Netherlands
Demographic research by the Jewish social organization JMW shows that three-quarters of the Dutch Jewish community, which numbers about 30,000, is not organized in one of the three religious organizations-the Ashkenazi, Progressive, and Portuguese. Among other things, this means they do not send their children to a Jewish school and, if they are ill, do not go to the Jewish hospital. Close to half of the Jews live in Amsterdam and the adjacent southern suburb of Amstelveen.
Environmental Activism in the Canadian Jewish Community
While there have been numerous literary efforts to inform the scholarly and lay public concerning ecology and Judaism at least from the 1980s, the penetration of these concepts to the level of ordinary public discourse within the Canadian Jewish community is barely a decade old, and its appreciable impact has been even more recent.
American Jewry’s Future as Seen Fifty Years Ago and Now
The twenty-first century has challenged if not shattered much of the prevailing optimism about the American Jewish future. Nevertheless, the United States continues to be the Diaspora society most welcoming of Jews and receptive to Jewish participation. Jewish renewal coexists alongside a larger narrative of Jewish assimilation. Jewish political influence may well have peaked, and its continuation should not be taken for granted.
Modern Orthodoxy and the Challenges to Its Establishment
American Modern Orthodoxy consists of at least two rather distinct types, an intellectual and a sociological one. Intellectual Modern Orthodoxy has an ideology of joining the best of Western civilization with a commitment to Jewish law and traditional Jewish values. Sociological Modern Orthodoxy numbers many more people and is mainly a lifestyle choice. It is a commitment to Jewish law combined with the better things in life.
Jewish Grandparenting in the United States
Many stereotypes exist about Jewish grandparents. One is that in their children’s interfaith marriages they will be the ones to teach grandchildren about being Jewish, thus functioning as transmitters of the Jewish heritage. In reality-in such a sensitive situation-grandparents are often afraid to fulfill this role, even if they are knowledgeable about Judaism.
The Unfolding Economic Crisis: Its Devastating Implications for American Jewry
The full impact of the current economic crisis may not be felt for years. In the midst of it, core institutions are being fundamentally reshaped and individual lifestyles reconstructed. These economic challenges threaten the existing infrastructure of the American Jewish community, leading to a new order of institutions and leaders.
Muslim-Jewish Relations in Australia: Challenges and Threats
There are 350,000-400,000 Muslims in Australia, drawn from many countries with the largest sources of immigration being Lebanon, Turkey, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Pakistan, and Indonesia, while just over one-third are Australian-born. There are an estimated 120,000 Jews in Australia.
Revisiting the 2008 Presidential Election: Reflections on the Jewish Vote
Despite a strong effort to portray this election as a watershed moment in redefining the Jewish vote, American Jews remain overwhelmingly Democratic and liberal.
The Jews in Poland: Recent Developments
The Polish Jewish community is growing and the average age of its members is declining. The process of Jews discovering their Jewish origins and wanting to "do something Jewish" is likely to continue for years to come. A number of new rabbis have arrived from abroad in recent years. Developing local leadership, however, remains slow.
China’s Interaction with Israel and the Jewish People
China is largely uncharted territory for Israel and the Jewish people. The Chinese slate is blank with regard to Jews. No holy books exist where the Jews are condemned for killing God’s son or rejecting Allah’s prophet. The Chinese word youtai (Jew) has no negative connotations. For the Chinese, Jews and Israel are the same. Besides the Hindu world this is the only major civilization where the Jewish people can start from a neutral or even positive position.
