A Brief Introduction into Jewish Life in Germany
(Olaf Glöckner, PhD)
Germany’s Jewish population, which was very small after World War II and the Shoah, did surprisingly increase after the downfall of the Iron Curtain and German re-unification.
The number of registered members in Jewish communities rose constantly up from 28.000 in 1989 and reached a peak of 107.794 in 2006. Though, up from that year, the number of JC members has slightly, but constantly decreased. In 2015, it went below the mark of 100.000, and it is actually now by 93.695 (year 2020).
The huge increase from 1989 till 2006 was the result of a massive influx of Jews from the former Soviet Union who aimed for a new beginning in Central Europe (instead of Israel or the United States of America, the main destinations of this huge exodus from the former USSR). Though, the subsequent continuing, slight membership decrease since 2007 (year by year) which will probably continue in the coming years, has several reasons: rather restrictive regulations for Jewish immigration from the former USSR and its successor states to Germany since 2005; an extremely unfavourable average age of the group; finally also a certain number of community exits by rather young members who don’t feel attracted by the current JC offers and programs at all.
Building New Structures and a new Jewish Pluralism
In fact, for more than 20 years, the Jewish population in Germany has very much benefited from the surprising, massive influx of the former Soviet Jews and their children. The remarkable growth of the Jewish communities enabled them to build new internal structures, for example for an improved Jewish educational system (incl. kindergardens, Sunday schools, youth centres and others). More than 30 new synagogues have been built and opened across Germany since the 1990ies. Beyond this, a remarkable number of new Jewish museums, galleries, restaurants, cafés, theatres and associations has been established, also providing leeway for more interfaith and intercultural exchange with the non-Jewish surrounding
As a huge surprise appeared that in Germany of all, also three Rabbinical schools opened their doors up from the early 2000ies: the Abraham Geiger Kolleg for liberal rabbis, the Zacharias Frankel College for conservatives (both schools are associated with the University of Potsdam) and the Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminar for traditional-orthodox students at Berlin City (supported by the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation). The graduates of these three schools become rabbis at several places in Germany, Europe, and sometimes even beyond.
Jewish Communities and other structures
The initially mentioned 94.000 registered members in 2020 are distributed in 105 local communities under the roof of the Central Council of Jews in Germany (Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland) and another 27 communities under the roof of the Union of Progressive Jews in Germany (Union Progressiver Juden, UPJ). Religiously interested Jews can meet in 130 synagogues and prayer rooms across Germany (just to compare: before 1933, there were ca. 2800 Jewish houses of prayer).
It is estimated that ca. 100.000 Jews (i.e., ca. half of the Jewish population) are living in Germany without having any affiliation to a Jewish community.
Some of the Jewish communities are still in search for a lasting self-conception. During the the immigration of the Russian speaking Jews from the former Soviet Union along the 1990ies, a considerable transformation of many JC’s took shape. “German veterans” and Russian emigrants were looking for a certain way of getting-together but cultural conflicts appeared at not a few of the places. Cultural differences were rising as a distinct challenge for the communities, and the discussions and fights for appropriate community programs as well. By the end of the 1990ies, not a few of the local Jewish communities were mainly characterized as “Russian speaking” ones, and even a considerable number of Rabbis decided to learn the Russian language as soon as possible. At the same time, the educational structures of the JCs as well as the welfare sector have been intensively extended, including modern homes for elderly and “daily synagogues” for retirees.
Support from abroad
Towards the end of the 1990ies, it became clear that (Eastern European) Jews in a greater number are deliberately heading for Germany, as their country of the future. For the first time since World War II and the Shoah, parts of the global Jewish World began to accept this trend, and to support new beginnings. Thus, in 1998 the American Jewish Committee (AJC) opened up a local branch in Berlin City and became one of the most active transnational Jewish institutions in the Capital of re-unified Germany.
The moment when a new process of religious and cultural differentiation among the Jews in re-unified Germany began, quite different Jewish movements and associations from “outside” where ready to assist in the future JC’s community building. For example, among liberal Jews in Germany, the World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ) helped to establish a “Union of Progressive Jews” (Union progressiver Juden), in fact a second roof organization (aside the Central Council), strongly working in the tradition of German liberal Judaism of the late 19th and early 20th Century.
At the other end of the religious spectrum, the works of Chabad Lubawitsch and the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation are particularly notable. Chabad currently operates 13 centers of varying size across Germany. Its emissaries (shlichim) do not solicit contributions from the public, nor are they funded by governments. Chabad is mainly sustained by private donations, and it aspires to cooperate with the communities and the Central Council. Sometimes, Chabad Rabbis are even willing to officiate in UJC communities (in Berlin, Cologne and Munich).
In Berlin, Chabad established programs for almost all ages; among other institutions, it created a mother & child center, a kindergarten, an elementary school, a center for leisure activities, a circle of students and a computer center. Chabad activists also work on the streets, and visit sick people. In September 2007, Chabad opened in Berlin a Center for Family and Education which is the largest of its kind in Europe. It consists of a synagogue, a mikveh (a ritual purification bath), rooms for study and leisure time, a library, a computer lab, an event hall, a restaurant and a tourist shop. A yeshiva (rabbinical college) and a college for male teenagers are also attached to this center. The director, Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal, is from Brooklyn, New York, and he accepted the position of Rabbi in the United Jewish Community in Berlin.
Private donations and sponsorship also fuel the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation. This foundation has invested in yeshivot, schools, kindergartens and community centers in Eastern and Central Europe since the end of the Cold War. In Germany, Lauder Foundation employs about 50 people in Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Frankfurt and Würzburg. The Lauder Foundation has its main foothold in Berlin since 1996 when it founded a Midrasha (college for teachers). Later, it created a yeshiva (Beis Zion) (2000) and a Rabbinical Seminary (Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary). In Frankfurt/Main, LF established a Chovev Educational Center for Adults of Zionist-religious allegiance. In cooperation with the local UJC, the foundation also established a Morijah Elementary School in Cologne (the first Jewish elementary school after World War II), and, again in cooperation with the local Jewish Council, a Jewish kindergarten in Hamburg. It has also supported the creation of a learning center for the young in Würzburg and of a Torah Center in Leipzig – the first endeavor of this kind in the Eastern part of Germany.
The Lauder Yeshurun center in Berlin was a pilot project for community building in Berlin. It numbers about 30 young observant families interested in studying Judaism as a group. Most of the families live in the same quarter, close to the “Beis Zion” yeshiva. Yeshurun center has also close contacts and projects with sister communities in Zurich, Antwerp, London and Budapest.
Religious attitudes
Due to the extremely hostile Soviet regime’s politics against any religious institutions, and the lack of Jewish infrastructure in the former USSR, it was expected that many of the immigrants of the 1990ies wouldn’t be interested in Jewish religion (and/or JC membership) at all. However, a survey by Ben-Rafael, Sternberg and Glöckner (2011) offered four different attitudes among the interviewed Jews from the FSU.
Religious self-attribution among Jews in Germany (Ben-Rafael et al., 2011)
| (ultra-) Orthodox | Liberal | Traditional | Secular |
| 13,2% | 22,3% | 32,2% | 32,3% |
(“traditional” in this context and survey designates to people who adhere to some religious norms and feel connected with Jewish tradition, but do not consider themselves as religious)
Source: Ben-Rafael/Sternberg/Glöckner (2011)
The measured variation of different religious attitudes reveals a considerable (new) pluralism among German Jews in this respect. Orthodox and liberal communities (and networks) have stable groups of followers, including the conservative Masorti movement, and are on the rise.
At the same time a huge share of the respondents seems to be less interested in religion and is – instead – searching for Jewish cultural offers.
Roof organisations
Central Council of Jews in Germany (Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland)
Ca. 105 Jewish communities in Germany are organized under the roof of the Central Council of Jews in Germany (“Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland”), with nearly 100.000 registered members. The Central Council is, in fact, the most important political body of contemporary German Jewry.
http://www.zentralratdjuden.de/
Central Welfare Board of Jews in Germany (Zentralwohfahrtsstelle der Juden in Deutschland)
High-capacity and highly frequented Jewish Roof organization caring for Social work, Health Policy and Education
Union of Progressive Jews in Germany (Union Progressiver Juden in Deutschland, UPJ)
Liberal roof organization which is official part of the “World Union for Progressive Judaism”
The UPJ leads ca. 20 local Jewish communities in Germany with ca. 5.000 members
Union of Jewish Students in Germany
https://www.facebook.com/JSUDeutschland/
Active movements with local projects in Germany
Lauder Yeshurun Germany
http://lauderyeshurun.de/?lang=de
Chabad Lubawitsch Germany
ELES (Foundation for Jewish Students in Germany)
http://www.eles-studienwerk.de/
Rabbinical Schools
Abraham Geiger College (School for liberal Rabbis)
http://www.abraham-geiger-kolleg.de/
Zacharias Frankel College (School for Conservative Rabbis)
http://zacharias-frankel-college.de/
Rabbinerseminar zu Berlin (Lauder promoted School of Rabbis)
Media Outlets
Jüdische Allgemeine (leading jewish weekly in Germany, print and online)
http://www.juedische-allgemeine.de/
HaGalil
Highly frequented German-Jewish web portal
Evrejskaja Panorama
Monthly Paper especially for Russian speaking Jews in Germany (print and online)
http://evrejskaja-panorama.de/
Jewish Key figures in contemporary Germany
○ Josef Schuster, President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany
○ Prof Walter Homolka: Head of the Union of Progressive Jews in Germany and Director of the Abraham Geiger College
○ Rabbi Joshua Spinner: Head of Lauder Germany and Director of Rabbinical School Berlin
○ Rabbi Gesa Shira Ederberg: Head of Masorti Germany (Conservative)
○ Dr. Sandra Anusiewicz-Baer, program coordinator of the Zacharias Frankel College
○ Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal: Head of the Chabad Lubawitsch Center Berlin
○ Jalda Rebling, German female cantor and co-founder of the Jewish Renewal Movement
○ Lala Süsskind, Jewish Forum for Democracy and against Antisemitism, Berlin
○ Micha Brumlik: Board of Jewish Students Foundation ELES
○ Mrs. Charlotte Knobloch, Vice President EJC and Head of Jewish Community Munich
○ David Kauschke, editor in chief of the “Jüdische Allgemeine”
○ Micha Goldberg, editor-in-chief of the “Jevrejskaja Panorama”
Literature/References
○ Belkin, Dmitrij/Hensch, Lara/Lezzi, Eva (Hrsg.): Neues Judentum – altes Erinnern? Zeiträume des Gedenkens, Hentrich & Hentrich, Leipzig 2017
○ Ben-Rafael, Eliezer/Glöckner, Olaf/Sternberg, Yitzhak (2011): Jews and Jewish Education in Germany Today. London/Boston
○ Brenner, Michael: A History of Jews in Germany Since 1945: Politics, Culture, and Society. Indian University Press, 2018
○ Fireberg, Haim / Glöckner Olaf (eds.): Being Jewish in 21st Century Germany, De Gruyter, Berlin/Boston 2015
Research Interview – A Sample (Martik Kloke)
Links to Contemporary Jewry in Germany
JPR
https://www.jpr.org.uk/country/id.114
German-Info
https://www.germany.info/us-en/welcome/03-Jewish-Life-Germany
Jubilee Webpage „1700 Years of Jewish Life in Germany” (“2021jlid)
https://2021jlid.de/
