The Jews of France (ebook)

Argumento de The Jews of France (ebook)

In the first English-language edition of a general, synthetic history of French Jewry from antiquity to the present, Esther Benbassa tells the intriguing tale of the social, economic, and cultural vicissitudes of a people in diaspora. With verve and insight, she reveals the diversity of Jewish life throughout France's regions, while showing how Jewish identity has constantly redefined itself in a country known for both the Rights of Man and the Dreyfus affair. Beginning with late antiquity, she charts the migrations of Jews into France and traces their fortunes through the making of the French kingdom, the Revolution, the rise of modern anti-Semitism, and the current renewal of interest in Judaism.

As early as the fourth century, Jews inhabited Roman Gaul, and by the reign of Charlemagne, some figured prominently at court. The perception of Jewish influence on France's rulers contributed to a clash between church and monarchy that would culminate in the mass expulsion of Jews in the fourteenth century. The book examines the re-entry of small numbers of Jews as New Christians in the Southwest and the emergence of a new French Jewish population with the country's acquisition of Alsace and Lorraine.

The saga of modernity comes next, beginning with the French Revolution and the granting of citizenship to French Jews. Detailed yet quick-paced discussions of key episodes follow: progress made toward social and political integration, the shifting social and demographic profiles of Jews in the 1800s, Jewish participation in the economy and the arts, the mass migrations from Eastern Europe at the turn of the twentieth century, the Dreyfus affair, persecution under Vichy, the Holocaust, and the postwar arrival of North African Jews.

Reinterpreting such themes as assimilation, acculturation, and pluralism, Benbassa finds that French Jews have integrated successfully without always risking loss of identity. Published to great acclaim in France, this book brings important current issues to bear on the study of Judaism in general, while making for dramatic reading.

"Since studies on the history of Jewish groups in France have multiplied over the last years, a synthesis is in order. Here it is, and it is remarkable.... Esther Benbassa studies Jewish reality in France over the long run, noting the interactions observed between the history of the country and that of the Jews, as well as local developments.... Fueled by the most recent research, this synthesis is never reductionist: each period (especially the Middle Ages, which is discussed in several admirable chapters) is treated in fine detail."--L'Histoire

"An excellent overview of their history from ancient times to present . . . [and] a fresh interpretation of French-Jewish history. . . . [It] will inevitably shape future scholarship in the field. . . . [Benbassa] presents her account with considerable clarity and flair. . . . A first-rate survey."--Vicki Caron, Times Literary Supplement

"In the imaginary of its Jewish citizens, as well as in that of members of other diasporas, France functions as a paradigm: it represents liberty and the Rights of Man; in their memory it is also associated with the Dreyfus affair, Vichy, as well as with fits of xenophobia and anti-Semitism. This double image, an often confusing one, is reconstructed in the work of Esther Benbassa with clearness and distinction."--Libération0Translator's Note xi
Note to the French Edition xiii
Preface xv
Foreword, by Aron Rodrique xxi
Chapter 1. The Origins of the Jewish Presence in Gaul 3
During the Roman Conquest 3
Under the Franks 5
The Church and the Jews 5
The Carolingian "Golden Age" 7
Toward Royal Alliance 8
Ecclesiastical Reaction 9
Economy and Culture 11
Chapter 2. Nobles' Jews, Kings' Jews 13
In the Seigneuries 13
Kings' Jews 15
The Religious Zeal of Saint Louis 17
Between Church and Temporal Power is
Conditional Liberty 20
The Era of Crises 21
Another Return 22
North/South 24
Chapter 3. Jewish Life in the Middle Ages 26
Communal Space 26
Cultural Space 33
Chapter 4. The Jews of the South 41
The Comtat Venaissin and Avignon 41
New Christians and Jews. Spanish and Portuguese in France 47
Chapter 5. The Jews of the East and of Paris 58
Metz and Lorraine 58
Alsace 64
Paris 70
Chapter 6. On the Way to Emancipation 73
The Enlightenment and the Jews 73
A Policy of Emancipation? 79
Chapter 7. New Perspectives 84
The Terror 85
Under Napoleon 86
The Grand Sanhedrin 89
The Consistories 90
Internal Divisions 92
In a Secular State 94
Chapter 8. Entry into French Society 96
A Spectacular Integration 97
From Tradition to Integration 99
Paris. The Nerve Center 103
Socioeconomic Profile 106
Demography 110
Chapter 9. Advancement and Identity 114
Advancement through Education 114
In the Arts and Literature 115
In the Academy and State Administration 117
Alternative Paths 119
And Women 123
Integration and Jewishness 124
From Jew to Israelite 125
Modern Solidarity 128
Scholarship and the Perpetuation of Tradition 131
Chapter 10. Breaches in Franco-Judaism 134
Immigration 134
Anti-Semitism 137
The Affair 141
Zionism 146
Chapter 11. Between the Wars 148
Migration 148
Neighborhoods and Trades 149
Conception of Judaism 151
Revival of Anti-Semitism 153
Reexamining, Judaism 156
Youth Movements 157
Repositioning Zionism 159
The Nazi Peril 161
Chapter 12. The Dark Years 166
The War 166
From Citizen to Pariah 167
The Roundups 171
Public Opinion 174
The UGIF 175
The Resistance 177
Chapter 13. Recovery 179
The Influx of North African Jews 185
The New Face of French Jewry 189
Chronology 201
Notes 221
Bibliography 241
Index 271