Israel for Jewish Education and Jewish Education for Israel

Publication Date: January 2005

Publisher: Jewish Communal Service Association of North America

Author(s): Allan D. Hoffmann

Research Area: Culture and religion

Keywords: Jewish Continuity; Diaspora Relations; Jewish Identification

Type: Report

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

The issues facing the Jewish people today are unprecedented. Barely three generations ago, Jews throughout the world, most of whom were new immigrants, whether in the United States, Europe, South America, the Soviet Union, or Australia, struggled for basic economic and sometimes physical security. These external threats, certainly in the first half of the 20th century, but even later as well, prevented the Jewish community from truly confronting modernity and its impact on Jewish life. Today, although Jews throughout the world have achieved the basic economic and physical security they once lacked, an entirely new set of threats has emerged.