“The definitive study of the state of Jewish life and culture in reunified Germany.”—Sander Gilman, Weidenfeld Professor of European Comparative Literature, St. Anne’s College

"Peck's book takes a frank look at the diversity of Jewish experience in Germany sixty years after the end of the Holocaust and paints a lively picture of contrasts, conflicts, and cultures that shape a contemporary Germany seeking cosmopolitan status."—Karen Remmler, coeditor of Contemporary Jewish Writing in Germany: An Anthology

"This book offers an extraordinarily rich and multifaceted view of the complexities involved in sustaining a Jewish existence in post-Shoah, postunification Germany. ... an extremely important book that presents a uniquely rich portrait of Jewish life in today's Germany in all its facets."—Thomas A. Kovach, University of Arizona

Germany today boasts the fastest growing population of Jews in Europe. The streets of Berlin abound with signs of a revival of Jewish culture, ranging from bagel shops to the sight of worshipers leaving synagogue on Saturday. With the new energy infused by Jewish immigration from Russia and changes in immigration and naturalization laws in general, Jeffrey Peck argues that we must now begin considering how Jews live in Germany rather than merely asking why they would choose to do so.
   
In Being Jewish in the New Germany, Peck explores the diversity of contemporary Jewish life and the complex struggles within the community—and among Germans in general—over history, responsibility, culture, and identity. He provides a glimpse of an emerging, if conflicted, multicultural country and examines how the development of the European Community, globalization, and the post–9/11 political climate play out in this context. With sensitive, yet critical insight into the nation’s political and social life, chapters explore issues such as the shifting ethnic/national makeup of the population, changes in political leadership, and American, Israeli, and European Jewish relations with the growing Jewish population in Germany. 

Jeffrey Peck is a professor in communication, culture, and technology at Georgetown University and a senior fellow in residence at the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies.