‘A real and virtual community’

As student rabbi Tom Kucera has noted, EuroJews as a ‘virtual community’ resembles the mobile tabernacle of the Israelites in the wilderness. When the participants come together, EuroJews is ‘realized’ as a fully functioning community. In the meantime, the virtual space of the website (http://www.eurojews.org) attracts and holds together the membership, whilst email is used for publicity and communication.

‘Young’

Many synagogues do not cater well for their ‘young adults’. Indeed the time between Bar Mitzvah and Chuppah does not fit well into a community focused predominantly on the life-cycle. Nevertheless it is an extremely important time in the formation of Jewish identity, when young people are maturing, becoming independent and making choices about how they are going to live their lives. By concentrating on the 18-30 age-group, whilst being inclusive of all those who wish to participate, EuroJews is offering a way for young Jewish adults to identify with their religion and a community in which they can flourish.

‘European’

The events to date have been truly continental, and have even extended beyond the bounds of Europe. They have taken place in Hungary, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and now Denmark, with a musical event in England. In the next eighteen months plans are in place for weekends in Germany, Poland and France. Participants have come from these countries as well as Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland, Slovakia, Belarus, Russia, the Ukraine, Israel, the USA, Canada and South America. We even have contacts in Serbia and Romania, where no progressive communities have been established.

‘Progressive’

One of the core aims of EuroJews is to work with the local progressive communities that are emerging in Europe. Each event has been hosted by a World Union of Progressive Judaism synagogue, and indeed EuroJews itself is affiliated with the European Region of WUPJ. Efforts are made to support the existing work of the communities, and a EuroJews weekend can offer a great opportunity to attract extra local members of any age.