Consistoire central israélite

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Detail in the synagogue on Rue Notre-Dame-de-Nazareth , Paris

The Consistoire central israélite (German consistory ) was the organization of the Jewish denomination created by Napoleon in 1808 in what was then France , i.e. including parts of Germany and Italy . The period of the consistories as a semi-public institution ended in 1905 with the law on the separation of church and state in France . Since then, the Israelite Central Consistory and the subordinate regional consistories have existed as purely private-law organs for voluntary administrative cooperation between the individual Jewish communities, organized according to consistorial districts, which usually include several departments.

Establishment of the consistories

During the French Revolution , the existing internal structures of the Jewish communities were abolished. The reforms introduced by Napoleon were welcomed by a large part of the Jewish community leaders, in the hope that in this way Judaism in France would receive a status similar to that of the Catholic Church in the Concordat of 1801 and the Protestants in the " organic articles " of 1802 . Napoleon himself endeavored to have a means of controlling the Jewish community and at the same time to integrate the Jews as citizens ( Citoyens ) into French society. The statutes of the consistory came into force on March 17, 1808 by imperial decree.

organization

Central consistory and regional consistory

The decree established the establishment of a central or national consistory in Paris , which was at the head of 13 regional consistories ( consistoires régionaux , also known as consistoires départementaux ), which in turn should control the local communities ( communautés juives ). For every department with a Jewish population of at least 2,000 people, a Consistoire was set up. If the Jewish population was below 2000, a Consistoire for several departments was established.

In 1808 there were 13 regional consistories:

occupation

In the central consistory there were three grands rabbins ( Grand Rabbis ) and two lay people, in the regional consistory one grand rabbin and four lay people. They were elected by 25 notables who had to be appointed by the parishioners and confirmed by the local prefects . All appointments were subject to government approval. Every Jewish head of a family had to pay taxes to the consistory. The motto of the central consistory "Religion and Fatherland" emphasized the importance of assimilation .

Leading members of the Consistoire in the 19th century were the politician Adolphe Crémieux , who was elected President of the organization in 1843, and the orientalist Jules Oppert .

tasks

The consistories, which were given semi-state status, were supposed to regulate the internal affairs of the Jewish religious community based on the Protestant model . The consistory had to administer the cult, to encourage the Jews to exercise useful professions and to name the Jewish recruits to the authorities. The Consistoire central is the sponsor of the central rabbi training center Séminaire israélite de France .

Reforms

The existence of the consistory was threatened from the beginning by serious financial difficulties. Since taxes were often not paid, the state tax office decided in 1816 to collect them.

In 1831, King Louis-Philippe allowed the rabbis and community officials to pay the state's wages.

In the 1840s the voting rights for the consistories were expanded. The principle of notability was retained, but the number of notables increased significantly. After the revolution of 1848 , every male Jew over 25 years of age was declared notable and therefore entitled to vote . During the Second Empire , this democratization was partially reversed. The central consistory restricted the number of people entitled to vote, especially in the election of rabbis . The training of rabbis now became a central task for the consistory.

The rabbinical seminary in Metz , founded in 1829, was initially a traditional yeshiva . When the seminary moved to Paris in 1859, efforts to modernize increased.

historical development

Influence on the regulations in German states

The reorganization of the Jewish religious community under Napoleon had a significant influence on events and regulations in the German states, similar to in other areas (e.g. civil code ). The Kingdom of Westphalia , ruled by Napoleon's brother, followed the French model as early as December 1808 (declared under the Jewish community of Kassel ).

See also:

After the fall of Napoleon, the consistorial system was retained in the municipalities of Westphalia , Belgium and Luxembourg .

Further regional consistories

Another three consistories were created in 1810 through the conquest of central Italy: Consistoire Florence , Consistoire Livorno and Consistoire Rome .

In 1845 a superordinate consistory was founded in Algiers and regional consistories in Oran and Constantine . In 1867 these Algerian consistories were attached to metropolitan France.

In 1846 the Consistoire Bayonne was created and in 1857 the Consistoire Lyon .

After the defeat in the Franco-Prussian War and the loss of Alsace and parts of Lorraine , part of the population, including many Jews, emigrated to France from the newly created empire of Alsace-Lorraine . Therefore, in 1872 new consistories were created in Lille and Vesoul .

Reorganization in the 20th century

The Consistoire Central remained the only state-recognized representative of the Jews in France until the introduction of the law on the separation of church and state in 1905. The Jewish communities had to in 1905 as associations ( associations ) constitute and make do without government subsidies. The umbrella organization of most associations which was Union des associations culturelles de France et d'Algérie founded. The groups of Orthodox Judaism which had not submitted to the consistorial system before 1905 did not join this union either. The elected governing body of the Union is still called Consistoire , which is why the false impression of continuity arises.

The abolition of the consistorial system in France enabled additional associations of national importance to emerge. The fund social juif unifié was founded in 1950 , from which the AUJF ( Appel unifié des juifs de France ) emerged in 1968 . There is also the CRIF ( Conseil Représentatif des Institutions Juives de France ), an organization representing the interests of all Jewish associations in France.

Alsace-Lorraine and the Alsace-Moselle area

There was a special development in Alsace-Lorraine, where the French institutions were retained even after the German annexation in 1871. Since Alsace-Lorraine, whose territory is now occupied by the departments of Bas-Rhin , Haut-Rhin and Moselle , did not belong to France in 1905, the secularism laws do not apply here, but the Droit local en Alsace et en Moselle , which in relation to the status of the Religious communities and many other legal relationships encompassed French law up to 1871 and German legislation in the years thereafter up to 1918. The Jewish communities there still form a consistorial district for each department, each with its own consistory. The three Israelite consistories are differentiated as consistoires concordataires from the private law consistory in the rest of France and are not subject to the central consistory under private law today.

List of presidents of the Consistoire central israélite

Abraham Vita de Cologna

literature

  • Cilli Kasper-Holtkotte: Jewish cult in Napoleonic times. Structure and organization of the consistorial districts Krefeld, Koblenz / Bonn, Trier and Mainz (= Aschkenas. Supplement 2). Böhlau, Cologne et al. 1997, ISBN 3-205-98687-3 .
  • Encyclopedia Judaica . Vol. 5 pp. 907-912.
  • Jewish Lexicon . Vol. III. Berlin 1929, p. 850.
  • Jeffrey House: Consistoire central israélite. In: Dan Diner (Ed.): Encyclopedia of Jewish History and Culture (EJGK). Volume 2: Co-Ha. Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2012, ISBN 978-3-476-02502-9 , pp. 35-39.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Fund social juif unifié