The existence of 12 research units and institutes on the European continent, dealing with studies of contemporary Jewish life in Europe and the spread of such research to 14 countries, including several in East Europe, was reported here at the Second Scholars Conference on Jewish Life in Contemporary Europe.
These developments were reported by Dr. Moshe Davis, director of the Institute of Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University, a sponsor of the conference. The Center National Des Hautes Etudes Juives of Brussels was co-sponsor.
In reporting on advances since the first conference in 1962, Dr. Davis stressed the “welcome discovery” of young scholars coming from various universities throughout Europe who are anxious to prepare for careers in the field of research and teaching of contemporary Jewish studies.
Prof. R. Bachi of the Hebrew University said a general desire to coordinate Jewish demographic studies in the various countries, to assure the comparability of the findings, was one of the basic interests of the conference. He said the Institute at the Hebrew University, which has taken much of the initiative leading to the various studies, considers it important to advocate comparability. The eventual goal, he said, was a global synthesis of the democratic situation and prospects of the Jews in the contemporary world.
Prof. S. Herman of the of the Hebrew University said the goal of interlocking of research and training was a major theme of the conference. He said particular emphasis had been placed on the need to train research personnel who combined an intimate understanding of Jewish life with professional and scientific skills.
Dr. Max Gottschalk, president of the National Center for Higher Jewish Studies, stressed the need for a system of cooperative activity among scholars. The scholars agreed to work on a plan for such a continuing relationship by regular reports and communications to be correlated as part of the global research projects of the Institute in Jerusalem.
Rabbi Benjamin Kahn, national director of Hillel Foundations, discussed the problems of Jewish students in the United States. The conference held a session jointly with the Standing Conference of European Jewish Community Services. Representative figures of Jewish communities in Europe took part, including those of Brussels, Liege, Antwerp, London, Birmingham, Paris, Metz, Toulouse, Rome, Milan and Geneva.
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