American Jewry has long been an exception in the diaspora: relatively untouched by the murderous expressions of antisemitism, sufficiently integrated to identify with the ideals of the majority (as Jean-Claude Milner recently analyzed in our magazine), American Jews could look upon their European cousins with a compassionate gaze, as well as with the self-assurance of one who is certain of belonging to the privileged part of the family. But at a time when antisemitism has become commonplace and tolerated in the United States, can the carefree attitude of the American Jew survive? The text by Daniel Solomon, a doctoral student in history and K.‘s first English translator, which we are publishing this week, offers a striking account of this question. Recounting the context in which an antisemitism riot broke out on the Berkeley campus, and the way in which the administration abandoned its Jewish students, he wonders about the end of a golden age, and discovers a feeling that had hitherto seemed peculiar to European Jews: loneliness.
What explains the stagnation of Franco-Judaism, the persistent impression of its languor? Nearly two months ago, Gabriel Abensour delivered an uncompromising diagnosis that was bound to provoke a reaction. This week, David Haziza responds to Abensour’s diagnosis, tackling this thorny issue in his own way. Haziza unhesitatingly endorses Abensour’s central observation – that representative institutions have long been responsible for weakening the vital forces of Franco-Judaism. He does, however, wish to introduce one important nuance: in his view, this weakening is not primarily due to a colonial contempt that has prevented French Judaism from seizing the cultural and intellectual resources of Sephardic Jewry but more fundamentally, to a denial of the heritage of Kabbalistic mysticism. In short, Franco-Judaism is withering away because it has tried too hard to modernize itself, identifying itself, in Hermann Cohen’s words, with a “religion of reason”. Neither the Ashkenazi roots of Eastern Europe, nor those of the Sephardic world, can irrigate current practices and reflections.
Finally, we publish the second part of Liam Hoare’s investigation into Austria’s strategy for combating antisemitism, conceived as part of our series in partnership with DILCRAH. After exploring how Austria intends to come to terms with its Nazi past and secure the future of its Jewish community, this week Liam Hoare dives into the current turmoil. With the threat of a far-right victory looming over the forthcoming elections, and the coronavirus epidemic and the war in Gaza increasing the number of manifestations of antisemitism, the struggle promises to be a long one.
