Last week it was widely reported that the Grand Synagogue of Paris was closed on Shabbat immediately following the attacks on Charlie Hebdo and the Jewish community. In fact the synagogue was very much open with a packed crowd. Paul Goldenberg, SCN director, has sent word about this in the attached email.
The situation in Paris continues to be a study of contrasts. On the one hand, there is concern that anti-Semitism is at levels not seen since the 1930’s. On the other hand, European governments today repudiate anti-semitism, even if there is debate about whether they are doing enough to stop it or enough to secure the Jewish community that stands as a target.
The dynamics today are clearly different from the 1930s: the self interest the French government is aligned with the interests of the Jewish community as both are targets of Islamic fundamentalism in Paris, something that the attacks on both Jews and Charlie Hebdo made crystal clear.
The contrasts and concerns continue. The French government has mobilized thousands of troops to protect Jewish sites throughout the community and there is a spike in interest among in Aliyah and it is still a relatively small number, and there is still widespread concern about safety, and…
In the 19th Century in the wake of emancipation and enlightenment in France that extended full equality and rights to all citizens, the status of Jews became hotly debated. In what came to be known as “The Jewish Question,” public intellectuals asked, what status should Jews as a separate people have as free citizens of a liberal democracy? The debate was often derogatory…”what should we do with these Jews?”…that sort of thing. But the underlying question was nevertheless important: how does a free nation devoted to principles of equality and the common good, accommodate a separate people who want to retain their own identity and, in some ways, not become “fully” French so long as they are Jews? The question would lead to various answers, including a famous response by Karl Marx. It also became part of the story of the emergence of Zionism among secular European Jews in the late 19th Century.
A second Jewish Question may now be emerging, but for the Jews themselves: how do we live in a society in which appeals to anti-Semitism by others have salience and cause them to reign violence down upon us? To some in France it is to look to Israel as a refuge, to give up living as Jewish citizens of France. But for many people the answer remains what I believe it would be for many American Jews were such a tragedy to be visited upon us here: first to secure our own communities and then redouble our commitment to live in a land of freedom and opportunity, with a commitment to democratic values for all, that have sustained our nation for well over 200 years.
Thankfully we are not facing that choice today in St. Louis or anywhere in America, though arguably what we saw last April in Kansas City was a version of precisely that. In any case, we will continue to work closely with our partners overseas to make sure that our communities are free and secure — either to live as Jews in Paris as the vast majority are wanting to, or supported in seeking refuge in Israel.