Towards the Future: Religious, Educational, and Cultural Reconstruction

Abstract

This chapter assesses how the Jews of France, Belgium, and the Netherlands dealt with the unprecedented religious, educational, and cultural needs of their diverse constituents. The sharp increase in the number of alienated and unaffiliated Jews was a source of deep concern to rabbis and religious educators. In response, Orthodox institutions initiated liturgical changes that they hoped would make religious services more attractive. Liberal Judaism also made new inroads. Many young Jews had lived through the war years without any access to Jewish learning or Jewish communal life. In addressing the needs of this ‘lost’ generation, local Jewish educators not only had to develop innovative pedagogical techniques, such as informal classes, public lectures and discussion groups, and the use of radio, television, and film but also had to find ways of reintegrating young people into Jewish and general society. Thanks to funds received from the Claims Conference in the early 1950s and with the assistance of teachers and curricula supplied by American and Israeli agencies, Jewish pedagogues, rabbis, and administrators in western Europe not only formulated creative strategies to educate children, but also set about training new administrators, spiritual leaders, and schoolteachers.