Finding the Unexpected
I don't think anyone expected to see this headline: "The World's Fastest Growing Jewish Community."
No, It's not happening in Dallas, nor in Palm Beach County, it's in Germany. Yes, it is estimated that there are as many as 300,000 Jews eligible for Aliyah. This makes Germany the second largest Jewish community in Europe rivaling with England for the silver medal.
It's an irony of history, the very country that Hitler wanted to be clear of Jews, a Judenrein, is now the fastest growing Jewish community in Europe.
What happened? In the midst of Operation Exodus, Soviet Jews either moved to Israel, North America or stayed. Slowly but surely, between 1991 and 2005, a more quiet wave of immigration took place towards Germany.
Why not? After all, Germany was a welfare state with a solid economy with a policy welcoming immigrant Soviet Jews. It was an opportunity for many to escape the hardship and discrimination they were facing for having Jewish ancestors.
As we met with local young leaders of the Berlin Jewish community, we listened to their stories. "I immigrated to Germany because we were Jewish and discriminated against, yet when I tried to enlist in a Jewish summer camp in Germany, the gates were closed on me, I was not recognized as Jewish."
To understand the irony of history, the story of someone Jewish enough to be discriminated against in Soviet Ukraine but not Jewish enough to be part of the German "Jewish community" you need to take a step back.
German Jews are made of returnees from the Holocaust who came back after the war. Like any other religious groups in Germany, they pay a 9% mandatory religious tax to maintain Jewish institutions.
Imagine telling a Jew who escaped discrimination in the Former Soviet Union, "Willkomen to Germany, now pay a tax because you are Jewish." So, for most of them, they opted out of the "Jewish community" who challenged their halachic status anyways.
However, something happened. The new generation, those who moved as children to Germany, started to ask questions and seek their identity. It started with: "why did we move to Germany?" It continued with: "what does it mean to be Jewish?"
Similar to the Former Soviet Union, this quest of Jewish identity led this new generation to embrace Judaism in its own way. The Jewish Agency for Israel saw an opportunity in this and partnered with local organizations to create platforms of community engagement for this generation.
"We are providing them tools to be the architect of their own communities" summarizes my Jewish Agency colleague Rebecca Stern, Director of Missions.
One of the flagship programs funded by the Jewish Agency through the Korczak House is called Nevatim. It serves as an incubator for innovative ideas: participants receive a grant and can develop their ideas. For instance, studentim, is a grassroots Jewish organization for college students that started out of Nevatim.
Today, the Jewish Agency plays a central role with local institutions training educators, leaders, teaching Israel advocacy, engaging post-Birthright participants and sending German Jews on short and long term experiences in Israel.
The average age of the non-Russian Jewish "community" is now 62 and it is shrinking, today it is less than 20% of the German Jewish community. It's fascinating to see that slowly the "established community" is starting to accept the new immigrants (who are not so new anymore). In fact, the new generation is taking leadership roles in the German Jewish institutions that were once closed to them.
So, it's not what you expected to hear about Germany? The young leaders below in the picture below are a shining light amidst the dark spots of history. A renaissance of Jewish life is happening in a place no one could have predicted.
PS: I skipped the monuments, the museums the antisemitism, BDS and the Kippah walk we took part in (you can read about the walk here).
No, It's not happening in Dallas, nor in Palm Beach County, it's in Germany. Yes, it is estimated that there are as many as 300,000 Jews eligible for Aliyah. This makes Germany the second largest Jewish community in Europe rivaling with England for the silver medal.
It's an irony of history, the very country that Hitler wanted to be clear of Jews, a Judenrein, is now the fastest growing Jewish community in Europe.
What happened? In the midst of Operation Exodus, Soviet Jews either moved to Israel, North America or stayed. Slowly but surely, between 1991 and 2005, a more quiet wave of immigration took place towards Germany.
Why not? After all, Germany was a welfare state with a solid economy with a policy welcoming immigrant Soviet Jews. It was an opportunity for many to escape the hardship and discrimination they were facing for having Jewish ancestors.
As we met with local young leaders of the Berlin Jewish community, we listened to their stories. "I immigrated to Germany because we were Jewish and discriminated against, yet when I tried to enlist in a Jewish summer camp in Germany, the gates were closed on me, I was not recognized as Jewish."
To understand the irony of history, the story of someone Jewish enough to be discriminated against in Soviet Ukraine but not Jewish enough to be part of the German "Jewish community" you need to take a step back.
German Jews are made of returnees from the Holocaust who came back after the war. Like any other religious groups in Germany, they pay a 9% mandatory religious tax to maintain Jewish institutions.
Imagine telling a Jew who escaped discrimination in the Former Soviet Union, "Willkomen to Germany, now pay a tax because you are Jewish." So, for most of them, they opted out of the "Jewish community" who challenged their halachic status anyways.
However, something happened. The new generation, those who moved as children to Germany, started to ask questions and seek their identity. It started with: "why did we move to Germany?" It continued with: "what does it mean to be Jewish?"
Similar to the Former Soviet Union, this quest of Jewish identity led this new generation to embrace Judaism in its own way. The Jewish Agency for Israel saw an opportunity in this and partnered with local organizations to create platforms of community engagement for this generation.
"We are providing them tools to be the architect of their own communities" summarizes my Jewish Agency colleague Rebecca Stern, Director of Missions.
One of the flagship programs funded by the Jewish Agency through the Korczak House is called Nevatim. It serves as an incubator for innovative ideas: participants receive a grant and can develop their ideas. For instance, studentim, is a grassroots Jewish organization for college students that started out of Nevatim.
Today, the Jewish Agency plays a central role with local institutions training educators, leaders, teaching Israel advocacy, engaging post-Birthright participants and sending German Jews on short and long term experiences in Israel.
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| Example of educational program developed with Korczak Academy |
The average age of the non-Russian Jewish "community" is now 62 and it is shrinking, today it is less than 20% of the German Jewish community. It's fascinating to see that slowly the "established community" is starting to accept the new immigrants (who are not so new anymore). In fact, the new generation is taking leadership roles in the German Jewish institutions that were once closed to them.
So, it's not what you expected to hear about Germany? The young leaders below in the picture below are a shining light amidst the dark spots of history. A renaissance of Jewish life is happening in a place no one could have predicted.
 |
| Just before Shabbat dinner with young leaders in Germany |
PS: I skipped the monuments, the museums the antisemitism, BDS and the Kippah walk we took part in (you can read about the walk here).
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