Selwyn Ilan Troen - Jewish Centers and Peripheries: Europe Between America and Israel Fifty Years After World War II

Edited by S. llan Troen

Europe between America
and Israel Fifty Years After
World War II

First published 1999 by Transaction Publishers

Published 2017 by Routledge

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711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA

Copyright 1999 by Taylor & Francis

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Notice:

Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

Preparation of this book for publication was made possible in part through the Milken Library of Jewish Public Affairs of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, funded by the Milken Family Foundation.

Managing Editor: Mark Ami-El

Typesetting: Andrea S. Arbel, Jerusalem

Library of Congress Catalog Number: 98-6107

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Jewish centers and peripheries : Europe between America and Israel fifty years after World War II / edited by S. Ilan Troen.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 1-56000-373-1 (alk. paper)

1. JewsEuropeHistory20th century. 2. Holocaust survivorsEuropeHistory. 3. JewsEuropeIntellectual lifeForecasting. 4. Israel andthediaspora. 5. EuropeEthnic relations. I. Troen, S. Ilan (Selwyn Ilan), 1940-

DS135.E83J47 1998

940.04924dc21

98-6107

CIP

ISBN 13: 978-1-56000-373-1 (hbk)

S. Ilan Troen

Yosef Gorny

Gabriel Sheffer

Ralph I. Goldman

Leon Volovici

Rashid Kaplanov

Mikhail Krutikov

Gza Komorczy

Sonia Misak

Morton H. Narrowe

Jean-Jacques Wahl

Marlena Schmool

Israel Finestein

Alan Mittleman

David Patterson

Barry A. Kosmin

David dayman

Avi Beker

E. Zev Sufott

Daniel J. Elazar

This volume is the product of a collaboration between individuals from Europe, Israel and the United States interested in understanding the condition and the prospects of European Jewry at the end of the twentieth century. They share the sense that they are witnessing a significant turning point in the contemporary Jewish experience. They came together to become a community of scholars, professionals and lay leaders in order to share and analyze the fruits of their experience and their research. The catalyst in providing the opportunity for this encounter was a seminar held in August 1995 at Yarnton Manor under the auspices of the Oxford Center for Hebrew and Jewish Studies. Other individuals were later asked to contribute their thoughts to the volume which is presented here.

It required time, the involvement of many individuals and the support of numerous organizations to address the issues raised at Yarnton Manor. The idea for the seminar began with a series of conversations between Yosef Gorny of Tel Aviv University and myself at Yarnton Manor in the summer of 1993. In the following summer, I met at the same locale with David daym an, the Israeli Director of the American Jewish Congress, and Ernest Stock, a distinguished scholar of the modern Jewish communal experience with extensive professional experience in the European Jewish community. Both offered valuable advice and contributed to a detailed plan for the projected seminar. During the Fall of 1994, the process of selecting the participants and organizing the seminar began in earnest. This was possible because of a very generous grant from the Marc Rich Foundation which was secured through the good offices of the Oxford Centre. Further necessary support was provided through Avi Beker, the Israeli Director of the World Jewish Congress. Two principals of the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies were essential throughout the process of preparing the seminar President Emeritus David Patterson and his successor, Philip Alexander. They contributed ideas, secured financial support and provided moral encouragement.

Lay leaders, largely from the British Jewish community, were also present at the seminar and events related to it. In particular, the participation of Elizabeth and Sidney Corob and of Felix Posen considerably enhanced our deliberations.

The Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture provided an essential grant to assist with preparing the manuscript for publication. I am very grateful to Jack J. Spitzer and Jerry Hochbaum of the Memorial Foundation for their appreciation of the value of this endeavor. Other costs were borne by the Lopin Charitable Trust of New York through the understanding and generous assistance of Ellen Blair.

It is with pleasure that I acknowledge the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs for agreeing to include this volume within its own distinguished series on diaspora Jewry. Daniel Elazar, President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, provided both the necessary technical assistance and good offices as well as wise counsel deriving from his own rich experience with the subject matter. It was hoped that he would participate in the original seminar but circumstances did not permit this. Nevertheless, he followed the project with keen interest and provided the auspices under which the project could be successfully completed. It is fitting that this volume conclude with his observations.

Two other individuals assisted in different ways during the final stages of this project. David Ruderman, Director of the Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, provided me during the academic year 1996-97 with an exceptionally creative and supportive environment where I could finally place together the many parts of this volume. Mark Ami-El of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, with expertise and professionalism, ensured that this process proceed efficiently and that a readable and consistent text would be offered the reader.

Finally, I would like to thank Irving Louis Horowitz, President Emeritus of Transaction, for immediately perceiving the significance of the issues that engaged us and for providing the venue to present our work to a wider audience.

Following established custom, the author or editor of a book may single out for public recognition those who are involved with the volumes creation, theme or purpose. I do that here by paying tribute to individuals I have come to know and appreciate over the years.

Their commitment to the rejuvenation of European Jewry within the context of a vital, world Jewish community has been manifest in numerous instances of private and public endeavor as well as personal philanthropy. It is for these reasons that the book is dedicated to Sidney and Elizabeth Corob of London and to Jack and Charlotte Spitzer of Seattle, Washington.