Being Jewish in 21st-Century Germany

Description

An unexpected immigration wave of Jews from the former Soviet Union mostly in the 1990s has stabilized and enlarged Jewish life in Germany. Jewish kindergartens and schools were opened, and Jewish museums, theaters, and festivals are attracting a wide audience. No doubt: Jews will continue to live in Germany. At the same time, Jewish life has undergone an impressing transformation in the second half of the 20th century – from rejection to acceptance, but not without disillusionments and heated debates. And while the ‘new Jews of Germany,’ 90 percent of them of Eastern European background, are already considered an important factor of the contemporary Jewish diaspora, they still grapple with the shadow of the Holocaust, with internal cultural clashes and with difficulties in shaping a new collective identity. What does it mean to live a Jewish life in present-day Germany? How are Jewish thoughts, feelings, and practices reflected in contemporary arts, literature, and movies? What will remain of the former German Jewish cultural heritage? Who are the new Jewish elites, and how successful is the fight against anti-Semitism? This volume offers some answers. Contributions by Eliezer Ben-Rafael, Julia Bernstein, H. Julia Eksner, Michael Elm, Walter Homolka, Günther Jikeli, Zachary Johnston, Elke-Vera Kotowski, Hanni Mittelmann, Fania Oz-Salzberger, Julius H. Schoeps, Monika Schwarz-Friesel i.a. Table of Contents Preface. A Word from the Editors of this Volume Legacy, Trauma, New Beginning after ‘45. German Jewry Revisited Jews in Divided Germany (1945–1990) and Beyond. Scrutinized in Retrospect The Making of Holocaust Trauma in German Memory. Some Reflection about Robert Thalheim’s Film And Along Come Tourists Saving the German-Jewish Legacy? On Jewish and Non-Jewish Attempts of Reconstructing a Lost World Migration as the Driving Factor of Jewish Revival in Re-Unified Germany Germany’s Russian-speaking Jews. Between Original, Present and Affective Homelands Russian Food Stores and their Meaning for Jewish Migrants in Germany and Israel. Honor and ‘Nostalgia’ Moving from the Present via the Past to Look toward the Future. Jewish Life in Germany Today Israelis and Germany. A Personal Perspective Culture and Arts – Reflecting a New Jewish Presence Reconceptualization of Jewish Identity as Reflected in Contemporary German-Jewish Humorist Literature Hava Nagila. A Personal Reflection on the Reception of Jewish Music in Germany Aliyah Le Berlin. A Documentary about the Next Chapter of Jewish Life in Berlin Ghosts of the Past, Challenges of the Present: Germany Facing Old-New Anti-Semitism Educated Anti-Semitism in the Middle of German Society. Empirical Findings Anti-Semitism within the Extreme Right and Islamists’ Circles Thrice Tied Tales. Germany, Israel, and German Muslim Youth Towards New Shores: Jewish Education and the Religious Revival New Structures of Jewish Education in Germany A Vision Come True. Abraham Geiger and the Training of Rabbis and Cantors for Europe Authors and Editors Index Names Index