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Where and How European Jews Are Winning
By Michael Ladeen, Jul. 22, 2014, Pjmedia.com
Jews are dramatically under attack in France, but Judaism is booming in Italy.
The mounting campaign against French Jews was notably on display with attacks against Parisian synagogues last week, and with big anti-Israel demonstrations over the weekend despite an official ban. Some Jews are increasingly considering emigration — the French emigration rate to Israel is up 60% — and many others are attempting to conceal their religious identity.
As I have written in some detail, things are quite different in Italy [1], where big pro-Israel demonstrations are common, kosher restaurants, especially in Rome (the biggest Italian Jewish community at around 15,000), are very popular, the old Jewish quarter around the synagogue has become trendy and pricy, and Jewish festivals abound. There is even a trend, especially and unexpectedly in the south, towards conversion to Judaism. The chief rabbi of Naples recently wrote to the governors of the six southern provinces, proposing an annual day of commemoration of the forced conversion of the southern Italian Jews during the Inquisition, and some of the governors are likely to embrace the proposal.
Why the striking contrast between France and Italy? Why are the French Jews so frightened, while the Italians are doing so well? There are many differences, some historic, others linked to the contemporary behavior of the Jewish communities. I think the lessons from the Italian Jewish revival should be taken to heart by Jewish communities elsewhere, including the United States.
First, the very different national traditions. Keep in mind that France has the largest Jewish community in Europe, while Italy’s is one of the tiniest.
Most people think “Germany” when they think about European antisemitism, but modern mass antisemitism was a late 19th century French invention that subsequently spread to other Western countries. Its infamous early appearance was the Dreyfus Affair, when a Jewish military officer was falsely accused and then convicted of treason. Theodor Herzl attended the trial, concluding that Jews would never be welcome in Europe, and needed their own state. Thus was Zionism born.
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