Paris, France — Amid rising levels of antisemitism, Jews likely do not have more than a decade in France before they will have to leave, Sarcelles Chabad Rabbi Yaacov Bitton told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday, but emphasized that he and his family would stay to serve the community until the end.Bitton, who heads the Beth Loubavitch de Sarcelles, said that while he hoped that the Jewish community would continue for many years in France, his personal feeling was that Jews had “no more than 10 years in France.”The rabbi compared the French Jewish community to the Tabernacle, the mobile temple used by the Jewish people for hundreds of years before the Jerusalem Temple. When the children of Israel wandered the desert post-exodus, the Tabernacle would be erected regardless of how long the Jewish host stopped to rest – be it for weeks, days, or even hours. Like with the Tabernacle, the Jewish people had to continue to bring light into the world, and that mission didn’t cease because they thought that they might soon continue to wander.
Rising antisemitism had recently caused many French Jews to continue their wandering elsewhere. Bitton recalled that physical confrontations and antisemitic attacks had begun in the city of Sarcelles during the First and Second Intifadas, and exploded further during the 2014 Protective Edge operation against Hamas in Gaza. Jewish businesses were burned and storefront windows were broken.The October 7 Massacre saw a spike in incidents of violence, but fewer than expected, said Bitton. The city and police had done a lot to protect the Jews throughout the years, but the security situation remained tense since the Hamas pogrom, and Jews were increasingly uncomfortable in an area that had once been heavily Jewish.
Jewish children were increasingly transferring into Chabad education from public schools. Bitton said some children had complained that their peers had been pressuring them to convert to Islam. Bitton recalled a particular parent who transferred his child a month ago after they had been told in the playground “I don’t want to play with you because you’re a Jew.”Many of the area’s 15,000 Jews had grown wary of working with Muslims and Arabs after seeing how many had responded to the October 7 massacre and the subsequent war with Hamas on social media.“There are many good Arabs and Muslims that want to live together” with Jews, Bitton emphasized.
The rabbi also attributed antisemitism to rising far-left-wing political groups, which were influencing how French groups lived and interacted together.The area had once been heavily populated by Algerian, Tunisian, and Moroccan Jews.
More and more Jews leave every year
Many of the Jews had left the nearby Garges-les-Gonesse, and every year more of the Jews were leaving Sarcelles for nearby towns or Israel. Bitton’s son Shalom estimated that each year 30 families were making aliyah – immigrating to Israel. The junior Bitton said that the Chabad helped those who made the life-changing decision.The October 7 massacre hadn’t necessarily resulted in greater aliyah, said Bitton’s son, though French Jews deeply felt for what was unfolding in the Holy Land. There had been an increase in aliyah in 2014, and an even more dramatic spike in 2015 following the November terrorist attacks. He added that he thought that many more people would make aliyah in the future.International Fellowship of Christians and Jews chairman Bishop Paul Lanier, who had visited France that week to survey the situation for Jews in the country ahead of an aliyah flight organized by the charity, asked the Bitton family if they would consider making aliyah, and if immigration to Israel was part of their theological worldview.Shalom said that theologically the role of aliyot was not settled but could be seen as steps to progress toward redemption. Ultimately, only the Messiah could bring about full redemption and the end of Jewish exile with a true final aliyah. For some, the holiness of the land of Israel requires a higher degree of embodiment of a Torah-guided lifestyle. Aliyah is a personal decision, said Shalom, and he and his father said that they would continue to support those who made that decision. The Lubavicher Rebbe had advised that community leaders not make aliyah and stay to guide their Diaspora communities.“When there is a storm at sea the last person to leave the ship is the captain,” said the senior Bitton. “The same is with our shlichut [emissary mission].”The younger Bitton said that as long as there were Jews in Sarcelles, Chabad would be there too.“We’ll be here as long as we’re needed,” said Shalom.Even amidst the storm swells of antisemitism, the Bitton family continues to draw the Jews that remained closer to Jewish identity and the Torah. They were building bigger facilities to accommodate greater involvement in the Chabad, such as the 650 children that joined them for summer camp programming. Shalom said that programming extended throughout the year, with youth trips abroad and educational opportunities at the synagogue.While the Chabad would remain for the turbulent decade, Bitton said that he and the community prayed for the success of the IDF in the current conflict and for the welfare of the citizens of Israel.