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Activities
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Changes in French Jewry
Prof. Sergio DellaPergola French Jewry is the second-largest Jewish community in the Diaspora after U.S. Jewry. A community which has largely been well established in recent years now finds itself continually subject to harassment and anti-Semitism, and the time has come to discuss the diverse aspects of its communal life. Dr. Erik Cohen What is the Jewish population of France ? Previous estimates ranged from 600,000 to 700,000; there were also more modest estimates of 535,000 Jews. The above-mentioned study yields a figure of half a million persons, based not on a direct census but on estimation and inference. This is not far from Prof. Della Pergola's 20-year old data; and the relative stability of that figure, despite the immigration of some 40,000 Jews to Israel in the past 30 years, indicates that the natural rate of increase of French Jews is quite high. Dr. Cohen has tried in various ways to confirm this figure of 500,000 Jews living in France. Unfortunately, up-to-date lists of the different communities are not available. Nevertheless, one conclusion of his study is that 26 percent of the subjects interviewed had children studying in Jewish schools. On the basis of this figure, the total number of students in Jewish schools being known, as well as the percentage in the population of this age group, he constructed a model from which he derived the above-mentioned figure of half a million. This figure has moreover been confirmed by further studies and other data at Dr. Cohen's disposal. Unfortunately, since the first stage of the study, the rate of intermarriage has increased, reaching an average of some 30 percent. In the 20–30 age group mixed marriages account for around 40 percent. Interestingly, more than 20 percent of these intermarriages end in divorce, while the figure for divorces in marriages between Jews is only 8.2 percent. According to the data, about 50 percent of French Jews were not born in France, but around three quarters were educated in France (or received a French education, as did Jews of Algerian origin). While thirty or forty years ago French Jewry was considered an immigrant community, it should now be seen as a native French community. As far as origin is concerned, some 70 percent of French Jews are Sefaradim, while the number of Ashkenazi Jews is steadily falling. In terms of religious belief, 5 percent are defined as Orthodox ( haredim ), and 51 percent claim to be “traditional.” An interesting fact: there are now about 100 kosher restaurants in Paris and environs... As to education, while 24 percent of the total French population hold a Baccalauréat diploma, the figure among Jews is 60 percent. The data are even more impressive with regard to higher education: 40 percent of French Jews possess an academic degree. There is a constant increase of figures, both absolute and relative, for students in Jewish education. In 1950 there were 400 students, one percent of the age group. In 1970 we reached 3,000, and the estimate for 1978 is 8,000. The number of students in 1988 was 15,907. Given the rate of increase of students, if present trends are maintained, we should reach a figure of around 35,000 students in 2012 (constituting from 31 to 35 percent of their age group). Most of the Jewish schools (95 percent of students) are supported by the French government on a contractual basis. This support guarantees supervision, educational standards, and an agreed curriculum—a rare combination of Jewish culture and Jewish status as French citizens. Responding to questions, Dr. Cohen explained that there is a considerable demand for Jewish education. Parents are worried when their children study in schools where Jewish students are occasionally harassed; thus they are interested in Jewish education not only for reasons of Jewish identity, but also so that the school should serve as a safe refuge. In order to provide Jewish education for several thousand more students, however, one needs buildings, plans, training of teachers and professional staff, etc.; this is indeed a complex and time-consuming task. Today, unfortunately, students are sometimes refused simply for lack of space. Along with the growth in formal education, there is also a serious problem with regard to informal education—youth movements, university students, communal centers—so that French Jewry is facing a formidable challenge. The data with regard to French Jewry's relationship with the State of Israel are quite encouraging. Seventy-five percent of French Jews have been to Israel at least once, and 45 percent have visited at least three times. Fifty-nine percent have first-degree relatives in Israel, and a further 23 percent have more distant kin; eight percent have friends in Israel and only 16 percent know no-one in Israel. Data about immigration to Israel are no less interesting: six percent express an intention “to make aliyah ” soon, and 36 percent say they are contemplating aliyah . Fifty-eight percent state that they are not interested in aliyah . In this connection, it should be mentioned that, on the basis of the previous survey, in which 3 percent expressed interest in immigrating to Israel, we charted aliyah data over 15 years, and it turned out that the corresponding number had indeed immigrated to Israel (that is, the forecast was accurate). We can therefore state that the aforementioned 6 percent, and possibly more, will surely immigrate to Israel in the coming years. The question “If you could be born again, what would you like to be?” received the following answers: forty-two percent said they would have liked to be born as Jews in France, and 38 percent said they would have liked to be born as Jews in Israel. In other words, some 80 percent of French Jews openly affirm a personal commitment to Judaism, and to Israel as well. In sum: community life is much richer and more stable today than in the past. Jews identify more strongly with the community, with the majority of Jews and with Israel. Apart from their rich Jewish life, the community is fully integrated in French society. The finds of the study strongly refute the allegation that the community is in decline and moreover demonstrate the community's profound link with the Jews in France, apart from its deep-seated feelings for Judaism and Israel. Dr. Cohen's many interviews have brought him to the sad conclusion that, over the past five years, one out of every five Jews in France has suffered, verbally or physically, on anti-Semitic grounds, that is, some 100,000 Jews have been affected by active anti-Semitism, which has surely had its influence on community life. Such incidents have had an adverse effect on the Jews; they have also suffered from the indifferent attitude of the authorities, though this has recently changed for the better. Mr. Haim Musicant For thirty years, the Jewish community in France lived in peace and no-one entertained any doubts about the future of French Jewry; the situation has changed during the last three years, because of several serious incidents. The community is well-established, large, and structured. Several central institutions are active in the community: The Consistoire is concerned with religious affairs. The F.S.J.U. is responsible for affairs of welfare and education. The C.R.I.F. represents French Jewry before the authorities and the media. The educational system is growing, with some 31,000 students registered today in day-schools; Jewish studies are expanding; there are Jewish newspapers, four radio stations, television studios, etc. In July 1995 President Jacques Chirac marked the fiftieth anniversary of the roundup and deportation of the Jews of Paris (July 16 and 17, 1942), condemned the actions of the Vichy government, and apologized to the Jews. In addition, committees were established which established the responsibility of anti-Semitic legislation for the plundering of Jewish property and the need for compensation. Among other things, a memorial fund was established in December 2000 to teach and commemorate the Holocaust. Collaborators with the Nazis have been prosecuted. The Jewish community in France also expresses its solidarity with Israel, which has not been undermined by occasional criticism of some issue or another. Frequent visits to Israel are just one expression of such solidarity. In June of this year the central institutions organized a major demonstration, lasting 12 hours, in favor of French-Israeli friendship; some 50,000 people took part. Unfortunately, the outbreak of the Intifada in September 2000 sparked various serious incidents in France, which are still going on; in fact, there had already been ominous signs in the two preceding decades: the damage to the synagogue in Rue Copernic in 1980; the desecration of the Jewish cemetery in Carpentras in 1990; and the rise of the extreme right party of Jean-Marie Le Pen since the 1980s; other factors, too, were responsible for the series of serious incidents: internalization of the results of the Second World war; Holocaust denial; and so on. A particularly aggravating factor is the difficult absorption process of Muslim and Arab emigrants. The past three years have seen a variety of serious incidents, attacks on Jewish institutions, particularly in the suburbs of large cities, mainly Paris, in areas which in any case have been suffering daily violence. When a delegation from the C.R.I.F. met the president for an audience on the eve of the Day of Atonement 2000 and complained, mainly about criminals of Arab-Muslim origin, we were not understood, and the only response was to tell us that France is not an anti-Semitic country. It is indeed true that these emigrants experience absorption problems; but on the other hand, their violent, aggressive behavior is releasing forces in French society that may harm them first and foremost... The factors mentioned above were compounded by the weakness of the socialist government in its attempts to deal with these outbursts when they were just beginning; moreover, the ideology of the extreme left has been leaving its mark since the 1970s. For example, diabolical descriptions of Ariel Sharon preclude any possibility of a sober, balanced discussion, and the fact that the Intifada began when Barak was in power is completely ignored; biased media reportage of events in the Middle East has contributed quite significantly to the outbreak of these grave incidents. People tend to identify the Jews with Israel and vent their wrath on them. In the last few months, a concerted effort on the part of the Jewish organizations has resulted in more balanced reports. Activities have not been confined to influencing the media and the authorities. In a big demonstration, organized on April 4, 2000, 150,000 people marched in Paris and in other large cities. While the demonstration itself was a success, the truth is that 95 percent of the demonstrators were Jews, though in the same month there had been a great many anti-Semitic incidents; essentially, only the Jews protested, a situation very different from the demonstration in 1990 when, after the desecration of the Jewish cemetery in Carpentras, the march was led by then President Mitterand. But this was followed immediately, in April, by elections in which the right-wing leader Jean-Marie Le Pen reached second place, while the socialist left was almost wiped out. Only the Jews now find themselves between the devil and the deep blue sea—between the traditional anti-Semitism of the right wing and the new anti-Semitism of the left and the Arab and Islamic sectors of the population. Jacques Chirac, heading a right-wing government, has promised to combat anti-Semitism. In fact, when other members of the government (the ministers of the interior, of justice, and of education) took action, results were soon seen. New legislation threatened anyone harming Jews or their property with punishment, though the courts do not always convict on the basis of complaints against anti-Semitic declarations or acts. The police participate in the protection of Jewish institutions. Incidents as serious as those of October 2000, September 2001, and April 2002 have not taken place for a while, and we hope that the anti-Semitic wave has died down. There has, however, been a constant deterioration in public discourse as far as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is concerned; anti-Israel initiatives and boycotts of Israeli goods and even academics are spreading, as are oral expressions of anti-Semitism. Thankfully, no lives have been lost, but nevertheless, the atmosphere is tense, as has also been noted by the French National Commission for Human Rights, which reports directly to the prime minister. The commission reported 193 anti-Semitic incidents in 2002, six times more than in 2001. It also pointed out public indifference to this dangerous trend. Anti-Semitism is becoming entrenched, in particular, in public schools, to the degree that Jewish students have been forced to leave some schools. Certain subjects, such as the Holocaust, the Dreyfus case, etc., are no longer taught in some schools, because attempts to teach them in class arouse violent reactions, and anti-Semitic slogans are treated as historical truth. The minister of education and his deputy, meeting the umbrella body of French Jews in February 2003, promised that steps would be taken to deal with this situation, which runs counter to the fundamental principles of secular and republican schools. During the war in Iraq, various accusations were leveled at the Jews; in one anti-war demonstration, Jewish youths were violently set upon. This is the atmosphere in which French Jews are living today... and there is no easy solution. True, the government and, in particular, the schools are taking action to combat anti-Semitism, and the government and the Jewish community are cooperating in these efforts. We are trying in our activities to maintain two basic policies: to protect the Jews of France, and to maintain our solidarity with the State of Israel; this dual goal is not easily achieved. On June 12, 2003, we held a mass demonstration which lasted twelve solid hours, with the participation of 50,000 people for long hours. Among the actions initiated was a trip to Israel by a large group of French journalists, and since their return there has been a noticeable improvement in reports of the situation in Israel. French Jewry finds itself in a delicate situation, for the country is in the throes of far-reaching social and economic changes, which undoubtedly have their effect on the Jews' situation. President Chirac's declaration, “Attacking a Jew is tantamount to attacking the Republic,” is surely highly significant in the difficult struggle still ahead.
Q - We have heard positive things today about the Jewish community in France. Yet how do we contend with the fact that so many children do not attend Jewish schools and students and young adults do not participate in Jewish frameworks? Above all, how do we cope with the number of mixed marriages, which is constantly rising? A - Over the past few years, the Jewish community in France has bolstered its formal education frameworks, but we are contending with some rather difficult problems. Today, many parents are knocking at the gates of Jewish schools in order to enroll their children. This development is largely due to concerns over personal or ethnic safety, as French Jews are fed up with the fear, insults, and tumult that their children put up with at non-Jewish public schools. However, the absorption of thousands, if not tens of thousands, of pupils into Jewish schools is a complex undertaking that entails training teachers, preparing curriculum, qualifying managerial staff, and purchasing or constructing buildings, classes, etc. None of these issues can be solved at a moment’s notice, for they require extensive resources: human, financial, etc. Despite the problems, we feel that progress is being made, even if it is somewhat slow and doesn’t answer all our urgent needs. The community indeed faces serious shortfalls in all that concerns the older age groups as well as the fields of informal education and student organizations, so that much remains to be done. Q - According to the currently-accepted numbers, which were confirmed in Dr. Erik Cohen’s survey, some 300,000 French Jews have vanished. How did Dr. Cohen construct the sample that he presented? And is the disappearance of these 300,000 Jews somehow connected to the fact that an appreciable portion of them were neither religious nor traditional? A - Dr. Cohen admits that the demographic issues that pertain to the French Jewish community are far from simple. On more than one occasion, there were long delays before certain communities handed over their membership lists. Despite the huge efforts made by the researchers, Dr. Cohen found that 10% to 20% of the people whose names appeared on the lists were no longer alive and that many families have moved. On account of these flaws, there was no choice but to construct a more reliable sample. The new sample was predicated on the number of children in Jewish schools that was released by the Jewish education system, which is widely considered to be [deemed] a highly accurate source of information. Approximately 26% of the subjects had children in Jewish schools and the amount of children between the ages of 3 and 18 in both the general population at large and within the Jewish community is verifiable. Without going into the details, this sample enabled Dr. Cohen to reach the aforementioned conclusion that there are a grand total of 500,000 Jews in all of France. Incidentally, another survey, which utilized entirely different methods, produced remarkably similar results. Hence, we may conclude that the above-mentioned number is an accurate reflection of the population of France’s Jewish community at the time the samples were taken. Q - Dr. Cohen’s lecture betrays a somewhat optimistic picture. If the situation is so good, why does the intermarriage rate continue to mount? A - Dr. Cohen contends that his presentation did not necessarily paint an optimistic or rosy picture and that quite a few problems were mentioned. One such problem is the fact that French Jews often have no idea of what is actually going on within the community. To wit: during his personal discussions that Dr. Cohen held while preparing the survey in 1987-8, he noticed that quite a few members were under the impression that there were a total of 6,000 students in France’s Jewish education network, whereas the actual number was no less than 16,000. These sorts of incidents are quite prevalent and are indicative of a deep-rooted problem. Unless the community publishes accurate figures, the solutions it devises may not correspond to the actual needs in the field. Q - In reference to the end of Mr. Musicant’s presentation, the French Jews that have made aliyah since the 1990s asked tough questions about whether they should continue living in France, and ultimately decided to move to Israel. In other words, even back then they placed an exclamation mark and not a question mark. Where can the question marks lead for those who decide to stay in France? A – This is indeed a serious question. In the aforementioned survey, some 20% of the subjects reported that they experienced some form of anti-Semitism over the past five years. In other words, 100,000 Jews were victim to physical or verbal acts of anti-Semitism during the said period. Even if people adapt to and cope with the status quo, these problems invariably give rise to serious doubts, as an estimated 10% to 30% of France’s Jews are deliberating over whether to leave the country. Q - What else can be said about the organized activities of Jewish youth and students in France and the extent of their contribution, if any, to the public discourse on Zionism and Israel? A - As noted, it is imperative that the Jewish community in France engage in some serious soul searching. This process must lead to practical measures that are to be implemented as soon as possible in the most problematic sectors. First and foremost, the community must figure out how to markedly improve the informal education networks that it provides for its students and young adults. Q - If we translate the percentage of those who are thinking about making aliyah in the near future into raw numbers, we will arrive at a figure of about 30,000 potential olim. Furthermore, other Jews are also considering aliyah, but have yet to make up their minds. Together this constitutes a most serious aliyah movement. Don’t these developments obligate the authorities in Israel and the Jewish organizations in France to cooperate so that we can maximize the impressive potential of these olim and point them towards clear and desirable goals? A - This idea should be warmly accepted. There is no denying that the potential arrival of perhaps tens of thousands of French Jews demands that we establish a joint body and bolster the coordination between Israel and the Jewish community in France.
The fact that anti-Semitism is not always evident, or that it has not been in evidence in a particular country for 10 to 15 years or more, does not imply that it does not exist there; indeed, anti-Semitism never really disappears—it just alters its mode of operation. This is also true of France. On the other hand, even if there are anti-Semitic outbreaks, as have been seen in the past three years, that does not make France an anti-Semitic country. Neither should the French government be accused: [President Katzav] was sure that the authorities, from the French president down, are seriously concerned about the phenomenon of anti-Semitism and are working to uproot it. It is impressive that 75 percent of French Jews have visited Israel at least once; he congratulated the communities for this and was proud of it—after all, in the United States, only one third of the Jews have been to Israel. Answering journalists' questions, the president asserted that as far as peace and the Palestinians are concerned, Israel has been honest and its hands are clean. Everybody remembers the Balfour Declaration, which recognized the right of the Jewish people to a national home. That was quite modest compared with the State of Israel's current willingness to agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state. But what has the reaction been?—cruel acts of terror and the terrorist organizations' declarations of their intention to destroy Israel. One cannot prevent an Israeli public figure from publishing his views in some newspaper or other, whether here or abroad, for even if he does nothing more than issue a declaration, it can be published later. The crucial question is whether what he has said is true or not. Sheikh Yassin could have been targeted again immediately after he survived one attack, but that was not done, for he was clearly surrounded by people and another attempt to kill him might have hurt innocent bystanders. In other words, ethical considerations are indeed being brought into play in this struggle, and there are many cases in which such considerations are uppermost. When a Palestinian comes and murders an infant girl in her bed, is that a war for freedom?! That is only terror, an act of monstrous cruelty. We have come a long way since the Oslo agreements, Camp David and Sharon's declarations and acceptance of the “roadmap”; do we have a partner on the other side?! Going back to the Jews of France, the president lauded the community's vibrant Jewish life and expressed his regret that Jewish children are not admitted to Jewish schools for lack of space. Such a situation is inconceivable, it is the national duty of every Jewish body and of the government of Israel to prevent such things happening, that a Jewish child should wish to study in a Jewish school and be denied admittance. We know of incidents and processes that have taken place in France and had an impact on the Jewish national movement: the French Revolution, the Dreyfus trial; and, on another level, an educational network—the Alliance — with great achievements, which has been working for many generations to fortify Jewish consciousness. (A small example is the correspondence, more than 100 years ago, between the Jewish community in a small Iranian town and the Alliance headquarters in Paris.) The importance of this organization in Jewish education is immeasurable. The president expressed his hope to visit France in the coming year. In his view, it was still too early to evaluate the various changes taking place in contemporary France, both in the Jewish community and in the Muslim-Arab community, and their influence on French government and society. He concluded by wishing his audience a happy new year.
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