"I would rather go to Israel than to the synagogue" : A qualitative study of eight young Jewish women in Sweden and their relationship to their Jewish heritage

This is a qualitative interview study that examines the life of young Jewish women in Sweden. The purpose of this essay is to investigate what parts of the Jewish tradition that the young women has chosen to maintain in their lives as well as to investigate the relationship between the Jewish girls and their non-Jewish environment. Material was collected with the help ofeighth semi-structured interviews and used to further be discussed and analyzed alongside previous research and chosen theoretical aspects. According to the result, a Jewish community in terms of family, friends or assemblies is crucial for the Jews’ ability to maintain their culture. In their very own community, the young women celebrate several Jewish holidays and create a strong bond to Israel. The religious aspect of Judaism has none or very little impact on the girls’ lives. This can be explained by their secularized environment and the fact the Judaism is more than just a religion. It is an ethnic group that shares history where the young women see themselves as a part of this collective. Furthermore, their relationship with their non-Jewish surroundings turns out to be quite uncomplicated even though they all have experienced antisemitism to a varying degree. The conclusion from this study is that even though the girls are not religious at all and despite their concerns related to being Jewish, the young women are very proud of their heritage and want to pass it on to future generations