Adar I 5776/March 2016 Volume II, No. 5 TheJewishWordYour window into Israel & the Jewish world The State of Photo: Flash 90 World Jewry Including: Jack Engelhard, Lisa Klug, Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld Dr. Richard Landes, Rabbi Dov Fischer, Ari Soffer Alex Maistrovoy, Steven Apfel, Michael Freund Contents Her Majesty's Jews 6 From the Editor...................................................................................................... 3 Jewish Life in Post-War Western Europe .................................. 4 Whither French Jewry? ................................................................................ 6 Germany: Where A New Generation of Jewish Grandparents is Being Born ...................................... 12 A Look at America: The Jews of Russia: A"Golden 8 The Jews who live 13 Age" in a Volcano’s Crater "Down Under" A (Sometimes) Great Divide ............................................................... 16 American Jewish anti-Zionism ....................................................... 17 American Jews Must Not Fail Again............................................ 19 The State of American Jewry ............................................................ 22 South Africa – Dark Clouds over a Diaspora Dream 14 Religious Zionists of America, Publisher TheJewishWord Martin Oliner, Editor Your window into Israel & the Jewish world Rochel Sylvetsky, Deputy Editor The Jewish Word brings together leading journalists, Subscriptions: Uzi Baruch, Ari Soffer, Shulamit Melamed, Senior Editors opinion-makers and experts to provide you with a unique One year Rabbi Dr. Solomon Rybak, Seymour Shapiro, Liaison editors window into Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, (Continental US): USD $24.95 Board of Directors: from a Religious-Zionist perspective. 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POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Jewish Word, Rabbi Gedalia Dov Schwartz, Rabbi Zevulun Charlop, Beit Din Hakavod 500 7th Ave. 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10018 TheJewishWord 2 Volume II, No. 5 Adar I 5776/March 2016 World Jewry: Giving the Diaspora Its Due… But what about America? oft quoted Arab aphorism notes that “Your enemy’s enemy is your friend.”In the Does there remain a raison d'etre to the diaspora, if there now exists a Jewish country? An case of America and its Jewish citizens, our enemy’s (whether our enemy has Some Jews see diaspora support for Israel as essential, others feel less of a connection, been Germany, the Soviet Union, Arab dictators, or native anti-Semites) enemy (i.e. the some are ashamed of Israel for not living up to the ideals they set for the beleaguered, tiny United States o f America) has always been our friend. Indeed, over the centuries, America country in which they don't live but which they consider theirs, and some, of course, see has embraced its Jewish population not only because of common enemies but because residing in any land but Israel as a betrayal of the Jewish dream and ideal Jews have longed of shared values, goals, and principles. It has been a symbiotic relationship resulting in for for thousands of years. benefit to all and which has inured to the success of the majority of Americans and the security of America’s Jewish minority. This issue of The Jewish Word analyzes aspects of the current, often uneasy, "state of the Jews" in Europe, South America, Australia and the United States: Given the current world situation however and the rise of a unique foe employing terrorism, the internet, and a radical ideology, the question now arises as to whether our long time, "In the diaspora,” proclaimed The Economist in the summer of 2012, “Jewish life has never trusted friend still has the will and/or the ability to protect us from our enemies, and been so free, so prosperous, so unthreatened." It is far from certain that the magazine whether our friend can even protect itself. The merger of anti-Americanism with anti- would write that sentence today. Semitism poses a heretofore unencountered threat to both entities that will require new and different forms of strength, ingenuity, strategy, patience and courage on the part of both that only the future will show they are capable of. Indeed, the horrors of the Holocaust had given rise to the hope that anti-Semitism, at least in Western democracies, was a thing of the past. Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld traces the change for the worse that occurred at the start of the 21st century. A statement in the Talmud (Tractate Psachim 87) notes that it was an act of kindness on G-d's part to disperse the Jewish people among the nations. In the center of this change is France, recently shocked by the horrific terror attacks on November 13th. An interview with a member of the Central Organization of French Jewry Given the many centuries of persecution and torment, it is hard to reconcile the reality of explores the way Jews feel in France and their thoughts about the future. Jewish history with the Talmud’s observation and reference to kindness. Life in the UK today for Her Majesty's Jews is described by Arutz Sheva's managing editor Yet an analysis of the expulsion and dispersion of the Jewish people reveals several positive Ari Soffer, a fairly recent oleh from London who visits England frequently. results emerging from what was otherwise a national tragedy and for other peoples would have been, and often was, a fatal one. Surprisingly, Germany is a country where Jewish life is thriving once again. German researcher Oliver Bradley tells Almost immediately following the destruction of Judea by readers about the Jews who have permanently unpacked the Romans, the Talmudic Sages took steps to preserve their suitcases in a country other Jews refuse to even visit. Jewish unity, including changing to a fixed calendar based on astronomy and mathematics rather than reports of the new moon brought to the Sanhedrin. In this way they From the Editor Russia, too, has less anti-Semitism and more security for ensured that all Jews would continue to celebrate holidays Jews than many other European countries. Writer Alex at the same time irrespective of their location. Martin Oliner Maistrovoy puts that in perspective with wry Russian humor. The dispersion also led to the establishment of new centers A shadow seems to be falling over South African Jewry, of Torah learning that developed lines of communication writes author Steve Apfel. Australian anti-Semitism expert with far off Jewish communities and thus preserved the continuity of Jewish scholarship, Julie Nathan and staunch Zionist David Singer tell what life is like for Jews "down under." tradition and observance Lisa Klug expresses the divided love of land of a Zionist American Jew with a beautiful A millennium later, Don Isaac Abravanel, living through the 1492 Expulsion from Spain, family story that spans Jerusalem and California. quoted the enigmatic saying in his Torah commentary, calling Jewish dispersion an act of Her “yiddishe mameh-mode ode” to chicken soup accompanies her story. "kindness on G-d's part" because it ensures the continued survival of the Jewish people. He explained that G-d saw to it that there would always be Jews in some corner of the globe who would survive even if others underwent the most horrible of persecutions. In Spain, Jews who remained hid their religion; Michael Freund tells of the Spanish crypto- Jews who are trying to return to the Jewish people. The diaspora has also had a salutary effect on the world. When given the opportunity, Jews have always become a part of the cultures of the lands in which they have lived, The diaspora was an act of kindness from G-d in yet another way: The fact that Jews contributing to those countries' development and success in numbers much higher than were dispersed but had common beliefs and practices – and were victims of common their percentage of the population. Indeed, for example, since 1901 almost one-fifth of all prejudices - gave rise to a special feeling of Jewish brotherhood, an instinctive attachment Nobel prizes have been awarded to Jews. and acceptance of mutual responsibility that Jews were known to feel for one another as distinct from their connection with the others around them. However, centuries of unabated anti-Semitism made the Avravanel's prediction that Jews would endure only by wandering from haven to haven eerily prescient. Until America opened Is that true today of liberal American Jews? Are Israel and the right of the Jewish people to its doors, the wandering Jew was not given the chance to put down roots in any one place have a homeland a part of their identity or is Israel just another place with Jews - whose for long. At the start of the twentieth century, the Jewish sociologist Yaakov Leshchinsky actions sometime embarrass them? Professor Richard Landes takes on that issue, while wrote in his text The Jewish Dispersion: Jack Engelhard finds American Jews wanting.