Jerusalem Post du 8 décembre 2004

European leaders: 'There is certainly no reason to panic'

A comment by former Ashkenazi chief rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau that he sees no future for European Jewry drew mixed reactions from the Jewish communities of Western Europe.

"There is no future for European Jewry," Lau told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday following a two-month tour of the continent, spent visiting Jewish communities in Austria, Britain, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands.

"I see the end of the exile for European Jewry... Israel has to prepare itself for European aliya," Lau said.

Jewish community leaders within Europe are not so sure.

A mob of teens yelling "Croak, dirty Jew!" on the main pedestrian mall of Lille, in northern France, upset Rabbi Eliahou Dahan, but did not scare him into leaving France, he said.

Dahan admitted that "on one hand, we are clearly very concerned by the rise of anti-Semitism in France and Europe as a whole."

On the other hand, he went on, "we are witnessing phenomenal growth in terms of Jewish schools, kosher restaurants, and other aspects of Jewish religious and secular life, and a true resurgence of Jewish identity, stronger than before."

Dahan, speaking by telephone from Lille, painted a picture of a flourishing community and warned against getting carried away by exaggerations.

"Certainly, our ancestors and grandparents had much more difficult lives than we do today. Today we are better organized and equipped, more conscious. We have a young generation that asks questions," Dahan said.

Will that generation stay in Europe?

"Would I be allowed to say, unfortunately, yes," he said.

The spokesperson of the CRIF, representing France's 500,000-strong Jewish community, declined to comment. "Rabbi Lau is free to have his opinions," he said.

Earlier this year, however, the CRIF led Jewish organizations throughout the country in a broad rejection of similar statements made by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Others active in the community leadership were content rehashing cliches of loyalty to the republic and its values.

In the Netherlands, Ruben Vis, secretary-general of the NIK, the umbrella organization of Dutch Jewish communities, speculated on possible motives behind Lau's comments, noting that perhaps the strong Jewish identity of many Western European Jews makes them attractive candidates for aliya.

In some ways, this identity is only getting stronger.

Vis noted that graduates of Jewish schools are able to communicate in Hebrew and actively participate in the synagogue and Jewish life.

"There is a future for European Judaism, but a large part of European Jews do find it difficult to integrate Jewish religion into secular society and life," he said. "European Jews live in a tolerant and liberal society, in which it is very easy to drift away from Judaism. The Jews get less Jewish. So Rabbi Lau might think it would be best for Jews to live in Israel. I see his concern."
But Vis rejected notions of an impending threat to the Jewish community of the Netherlands, which, he argued, has not been affected by the latest cycle of violence in the country, in which mosques and churches were targeted following the murder of the controversial filmmaker Theo van Gogh.

"In daily life, people do not feel that there is an intrusion by Muslim extremism," he said.

In Belgium, the situation is somewhat more disquieting, having recently claimed the life of one of the kingdom's Jewish subjects. Last month, a 24-year old ultra-Orthodox father of three, Moshe Yitzhak Na'eh, was shot dead in Antwerp.

In Brussels, Rabbi Menahem Haddad brushed off questions regarding the community's situation.

"There is certainly no reason to panic. The [European] states are doing everything in their power to keep the Jewish community here," Haddad said.

Haddad stressed that anti-Semitism and violence against Jewish targets should not be used to rationalize calls for emigration to Israel.

"I don't want us to be chased out, or for Israel to be seen as a place to go simply for lack of better options," he said.

He also rejected the exclusive focus on the future of the Jewish community.

"Don't ask about the future of the Jews of Europe. Ask about the future of Europe itself. The Jews are part of the European nation, whatever its future will be," and however Islamic violence develops on the continent.

"The Jews are lucky," Haddad joked. "We can leave for Israel."

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