source: swissinfo (this study dates back to September 2010).
by Jessica Dacey, swissinfo.ch
The most significant study of Judaism in Switzerland in 50 years has revealed a community in a state of major flux.
Many Jews no longer identify themselves with the rules of traditional orthodox communities and instead are joining more liberal groups, resulting in a pluralistic community.
The study, Swiss Judaism in Transition, was carried out as part of a Swiss National Research Programme review of the national religious landscape.
Researchers at Basel University’s institute for Jewish studies focused their work on the communities of Geneva, Basel and Zurich, which are home to around 70 per cent of the faithful.
They found a community in “complete upheaval”. Social change in recent decades has had a profound impact on the religious life of Jews.
While in the 1950s Switzerland only had orthodox communities, the “culture of openness” of the 1960s had resulted in a desire for more personal freedom and a tension between the demands of modern society and religious norms.
Now, of the estimated 18,000 Jews in Switzerland, 75 per cent belong to around 25 Jewish communities ranging from liberal to ultra-orthodox.
“It is an important study because it is the first scientific study of Jewish people in Switzerland since the Second World War,” Yves Kugelmann, editor-in-chief of the Jewish review, Tachles, told swissinfo.ch.
“What’s important to note is that the change in the Jewish community is a change happening in parallel with the whole of society. So the positive thing is Jewish people are very well integrated and emancipated. It is no longer like a ghetto in a society.”
Wedding bells
Mixed marriages between Jews and non-Jews are at the crux of the change, now accounting for over half of all marriages.
The study notes that “on the one hand this rapprochement towards non-Jewish society is a sign of complete integration”. But on the other it threatens Jewish traditions, since according to religious law, only children born from Jewish mothers are considered to be Jewish.
The study found that orthodox communities and their rabbis had reacted to mixed marriages by marginalising the non-Jewish members of these families. As a result those involved often decided to break away from a group.
From the 1970s new communities and groups sprung up that were more open to integrating non-Jewish members of mixed families.
Such communities were also boosted by changes such as the declining interest in making financial contributions or in spending time in community activities. Many believers also questioned the authority of rabbis, who were increasingly seen as outdated.
Reformist communities moved towards equality, doing away with the separation of men and women during religious services.
It is a trend that has been happening around the world. In the United States, the majority of communities are either reform or conservative, rarely orthodox.
Consequently, orthodox communities see the openness in society as a danger and have been distancing themselves.
In recent years privately funded Jewish schools have been opening that put a greater emphasis on religious teaching. However this leaves some without enough skills to get a job, and ultra-orthodox families are commonly reliant on private or state funds, the study shows.
“There is a certain pluralisation and polarisation,” Daniel Gerson of the research team told swissinfo.ch.
Categories: Europe, Judaism, Switzerland