Appearing Jewish in Europe on Friday Night

For John, BLUF:  What a sad commentary on what used to be Europe.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The Safest Country for European Jews? Try Hungary

Terms:

Kippah
Shtreimel

From Pajama Media, by Mr David P Goldman, 28 May 2018.

Here is the lede:

Last Friday evening I put on a kippah and walked half an hour across Budapest to the Keren Or synagogue maintained by the Budapest Chabad.  After violent attacks on Jews in German streets, the leaders of Germany’s Jewish community warned Jews last month not to wear a kippah or any other visible sign of Jewish identification in public.  The French community issued such warnings years ago.  Belgian TV could not find a single Jew in Brussels willing to wear a kippah in public.  I walked across Budapest four times (for Friday evening and Saturday daytime services), and no-one looked at my kippah twice.  At services I met Hasidim who had walked to synagogue with kaftan and shtreimel, the traditional round fur hat.  Whatever residual anti-Semitism remains among Hungarians, it doesn’t interfere with the open embrace of Jewish life.  There are no risks to Jews because there are very few Muslim migrants.

If only German Chancellor Angela Merkel had been half as tough on Muslim migration as President Donald Trump.  When it was, in the 1960s and 70s, Gastarbeiter from Turkey, things seemed to work well.  While the Germans did little to assimilate the Gastarbeiter, the Guest Workers played by German rules.  Now that there are millions of foreigners living in Germany, many refugees from the Middle East, the refugees are setting the rules.

One more chance for Germany to be a European problem; a fourth time in 150 years.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff