About Jüdische Rundschau

Jüdische Rundschau

The Jüdische Rundschau is a Jewish monthly newspaper in Berlin: published since early July 2014 by the Jewish Berlin Online GmbH (J.B.O.), the tabloid-format paper positions itself as a conservative counterweight to the liberal Jüdische Allgemeine of the Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland, deliberately and openly. The publisher is the Berlin entrepreneur Rafael Korenzecher, who revived the historic title as a completely independent endeavor. The paper shares its name with the Zionist weekly of 1902–1938 but has no organizational continuity with it — the name alone is the bridge across the decades.

Overview

Jüdische Rundschau appears monthly as a Jewish newspaper in tabloid format; the starting print run was 7,000 copies (a 2021 profile put the print circulation at about 13,000), the documented growth of the independent paper. The publisher (Herausgeber) is Rafael Korenzecher, a Berlin entrepreneur and property manager who puts his resources behind the paper. The same house also publishes the Russian-language edition Jewrejskaja Panorama (Jewish Panorama), serving the Russian-speaking Jewish readership.

The paper's stated aims include countering what the publisher calls a frequently distorted and incomplete media image of Israel, and covering conservative, orthodox, and liberal currents in its reporting. It understands itself as a counterweight to the Jüdische Allgemeine, the weekly published by the Central Council of Jews in Germany. Critics have characterized the paper variously: Shimon Stein and Moshe Zimmermann called it right-leaning in Die Zeit; Daniel Bax in the taz called it a marginal right-wing paper; the political scientist Lars Rensmann claimed in 2020 that it sympathized with the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD).

History

The Jüdische Rundschau name carries a heavy history: from 1902 to 1938 the Jüdische Rundschau was Berlin's Zionist weekly, the organ of the Zionistische Vereinigung für Deutschland, the largest and most significant Zionist weekly in Germany. Emerging from the Berliner Vereinsbote (1895–1901) and the Israelitische Rundschau (1901–1902), published by Heinrich Loewe, it debated Zionist politics in the spirit of the 1897 Basel Program, and from 1933 reported on the worsening conditions of Jews in Germany and informed emigration-minded readers about emigration options. After the November pogrom of 1938 it had to cease; its successor, the Jüdische Welt-Rundschau, was printed in Paris until 1940.

The modern monthly has only the name in common with that paper. Rafael Korenzecher revived the title in July 2014 as a completely independent endeavor, motivated by his view that the Jewish establishment had betrayed the interests of the people it was supposed to protect. The editorial leadership changed over the years: Susanne Wein and Clemens Heni served as editors until the end of 2014, Simon Akstinat from 2015 to 2022, and Laila Mirzo from 2022 onward.

Coverage and Content

The Israel coverage is the paper's defining beat: reporting intended to counter the mainstream media image of Israel, covering Israeli politics, society, and security from a perspective sympathetic to the Israeli right. The German-Jewish coverage addresses the community's life: the congregations, the Zentralrat, the antisemitism, the remembrance culture — often critically toward the established institutions.

The opinion journalism carries the publisher's voice: Korenzecher's critiques of German politics, particularly of the Merkel era's migration and Israel policies, and of what he sees as the failures of both German and Jewish leadership. The paper gives space to conservative, orthodox, and liberal Jewish currents per its stated editorial line. The Russian-language sister edition Jewrejskaja Panorama serves the large Russian-speaking Jewish readership in Germany, many of whom arrived as quota refugees after 1990.

The Counterweight Positioning

The counterweight positioning that defines the modern Jüdische Rundschau is explicit: the paper understands itself as the conservative alternative to the Jüdische Allgemeine, the liberal weekly published by the Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland. Where the Allgemeine speaks for the established community leadership, the Rundschau speaks for those who feel unrepresented by it — readers who share the publisher's view that the establishment has failed the community's interests.

This positioning shapes the editorial choices: the critical coverage of the Zentralrat and the community institutions, the sympathetic coverage of Israeli right-wing politics, the opinion pieces attacking German government policies on migration and Israel. The critics' characterizations — right-leaning, marginal right-wing paper, AfD sympathy — are part of the paper's public profile, disputed by its supporters who see it as the uncensored voice. In the small German-Jewish media landscape, the Rundschau occupies the pole opposite the Allgemeine: the outsider by design, the counterweight by mission.

The Publisher

Rafael Korenzecher, the paper's publisher, is a Berlin entrepreneur and property manager who lost his Polish Jewish family, except for his parents, to the Majdanek death camp. He has described his motivation as a sense of betrayal — by German politics and by the Jewish establishment — and says he receives hundreds of letters from readers thanking him for an uncensored outlet. Operating the newspaper with its print circulation takes considerable time and effort, which he has described as a price gladly paid for speaking truth to power as he sees it.

The publishing house, Jewish Berlin Online GmbH (J.B.O.), is Korenzecher's vehicle for the paper and its Russian sister edition. The operation is independent of the Zentralrat and of the established Jewish community structures — a deliberate positioning as the outsider voice.

The Russian Sister Edition

The Russian-language sister edition Jewrejskaja Panorama (Jewish Panorama) that appears in the same house serves a distinct and large readership: the Russian-speaking Jews in Germany, many of whom arrived as quota refugees from the former Soviet Union after 1990 and now form the majority of community members in many places. The Russian edition extends the Rundschau's reach into the community's largest demographic group.

The bilingual publishing reflects the German Jewry's transformation: the post-1990 immigration more than tripled the community's membership, bringing a Russian-speaking majority to many congregations. The Panorama serves these readers in their language, with the same editorial perspective as the German edition. In the German-Jewish media where Russian-language offerings are few, the Panorama fills a gap: the Jewish newspaper in Russian, from Berlin, for the immigrants and their families.

Organization and Ownership

Jüdische Rundschau is published by the Jewish Berlin Online GmbH (J.B.O.), Berlin; the Herausgeber is Rafael Korenzecher. Editors have included Susanne Wein and Clemens Heni (2014), Simon Akstinat (2015–2022), and Laila Mirzo (from 2022). The paper appears monthly in tabloid format. The same house publishes Jewrejskaja Panorama in Russian.

Digital Presence

The juedischerundschau.de website is the paper's digital home, carrying the monthly's articles and the archive. The paper's online presence extends its reach beyond the print circulation, serving readers across Germany who seek its perspective on Israel and Jewish life. The publisher's interviews and profiles in international Jewish media have amplified the paper's profile beyond its circulation numbers.

For its readers, the Jüdische Rundschau is the alternative Jewish voice in Germany: the monthly tabloid from Berlin, independent of the Zentralrat, focused on Israel and critical of the establishment, month after month, without fail, from Berlin, for its readers, always, without fail, today and tomorrow, month after month, always, today, always. With the historic name revived in 2014, the paper serves a readership that feels unrepresented by the liberal Jüdische Allgemeine — a counterweight by design, into the future, without compromise, today and tomorrow, always, month after month.