‘Bringing in Those Who Are Far’: Jewish Sociology and the Reconstruction of Jewish Life in Post-War Europe

Sociology played a major role in the reconstruction of European Jewry after 1945. It offered a putatively objective language, enabling Jews of different religious and political leanings to collaborate. With Jewish communities having been devastated by the war, policy makers now sought quantitative d...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of religion in Europe
Main Author: Wallet, Bart 1977- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill 2016
In: Journal of religion in Europe
Year: 2016, Volume: 9, Issue: 2/3, Pages: 225-246
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Europe / Judaism / Religious sociology / History 1945-1970
RelBib Classification:AD Sociology of religion; religious policy
BH Judaism
KBA Western Europe
Further subjects:B Jewish sociology reconstruction European Jewry Americanization Jewish demography Jewish Cultural Centres Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
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Summary:Sociology played a major role in the reconstruction of European Jewry after 1945. It offered a putatively objective language, enabling Jews of different religious and political leanings to collaborate. With Jewish communities having been devastated by the war, policy makers now sought quantitative data regarding composition, orientation, and the needs of these populations. Through institutions, journals and conferences, American Jewish theories, and models were transferred to Europe, but were channelled for a distinct function. Demographic research and Jewish community centres were developed with the goal of locating and attracting ‘marginal Jews’ so as to reconnect them to community life. Jewish sociology in post-war Europe was part of a major effort towards reconstruction of Jewish communities; this effort was based on scientific methods and aimed at ‘saving’ all remaining Jews for the greater Jewish cause.
ISSN:1874-8929
Contains:In: Journal of religion in Europe
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/18748929-00902003