Yuri Sosinsky-Semikhat: European Jews get itchy feet

In recent years, the media are writing increasingly more about the deteriorating situation of the Jewish communities in Western Europe. Current concerns about the increasing anti-Semitism in various forms have led to an increase of relocation intents among European Jews. However, many politicians and public figures continue to express their determination to defend the economic, cultural and religious interests of the diaspora. Another question is whether it will be possible to preserve the influence of former Jewish communities in modern Europe. The largest Jewish community in Western Europe resides in France, with 483,000 people. Paris alone has dozens of synagogues, kosher restaurants and a number of cultural organizations of the adherents of Judaism. However, it has not always been the case. Only 30-40 years ago one could hardly find a single restaurant with Jewish cuisine in France. Today, Paris is home to approximately 350,000 Jews. Marseille 70,000, Lyon 25,000, Strasbourg 16,000, Toulouse 23,000, and Nice 20,000. The community organization is a well-developed structure that began to form in the era of Napoleon Bonaparte. The interests of the Jews are represented by Consistory religious institutions, as well as a number of public organizations and foundations. The largest of them is the United Jewish Community Foundation. In France over the past half century the community suffered a series of shocks associated with bursts of anti-semitism, caused both by events in the Middle East and internal factors. Many analysts link the growth of hostility towards Jews in the 1940-50s with Charles de Gaulle, who carried out an anti-Israeli policy.