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Gelooft u het getuigenis van God, zijn Zoon en zijn dienaren? God openbaart Zich als de Heilige, die de zonden niet kan verdragen en deze veroordeelt. De meeste mensen vrezen God echter niet. Hun denken en doen is gericht op het voldoen aan hun begeerten. Door deze aardse, vleselijke gezindheid is de mens onheilig en […]
In de Heilige Schrift hebben wij meerdere voorbeelden vna mensen met geloof, Abraham daarbij de voornaamste. Onze persoonlijke ervaringen en innerlijk gevoelen moeten ons leiden en bewust maken van de essentiële waarden en geloofspunten, zodat wij dan ook zullen kunnen getuigen van gods aanwezigheid in ons leven en in de wereld.
Strijdt om in te gaan door de enge poort, want velen, zeg Ik u,zullen trachten in te gaan, doch het niet kunnen.”(Lukas 13:24, NBG’51) In Lukas 13:23 lezen we hoe iemand Jezus vraagt: Heer, zijn er maar weinigen die worden gered? En zijn antwoord is: “Doe alle moeite om door de smalle deur naar binnen […]
In de Europese universiteiten vindt me de theologie als wetenschapsgebied in directe verbinding met concrete godsdienstige praktijken. Niet alleen in die zin dat die praktijken voorwerp van onderzoek kunnen zijn, maar zo dat de afgestudeerde theoloog bekwaam en geschikt zou zijn om in die praktijken een professionele leidinggevende rol te vervullen. Als die praktijken uit […]
Every generation has to undergo some turnovers on one or the other factor. What is to considered to be normal at one time in another generation can be “not done”. The last few years it seems like we are living in a society which wants to overcorrect itself. It wants to break with previous passages […]
Jeff Carreira notes that the world reveals itself to us in a stream of sensation. Man has to face a lot of things in his life; Growing up we always go from one (unexpected) situation onto another, always bringing new and other facts and facets. All the time we are confronted with lots of imprints, made […]
Gelooft u het getuigenis van God, zijn Zoon en zijn dienaren? God beloofde de Verlosser te zijn van wie geloven. In Genesis maakte Hij al duidelijk dat de mens betrokken is bij de tot standkoming van zijn verlossing: “En Ik zal vijandschap zetten tussen u en de vrouw, en tussen uw zaad en haar zaad; […]
Heeft de wetenschap al ooit kunnnen bewijzen dat God niet bestaat? In welke mate wil men alle moderne wetenschappelijke inzichten in de strijd gooien en/of zijn gezond verstand gebruiken en getuigenissen in de omgeving opnemen en deze met de Woorden uit de Heilige Schrift vergelijken?
In certain religious groups there are people who say one may not read philosophers their work. Many philosophers their thought have influenced lots of people. We always should remember that their thoughts are best read in context. In the context of the lives that they lived, the times that they lived in, and the history […]
All human beings are created in the image of God. This makes that we are or should be, all accepting the other as being allowed to be here by God and to be co-images of God and ourselves. The Divine Creator, Jehovah, the God above all gods, did not create more than one race. Of […]
NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo delivered the state of the state address. In the past year, New York state has been one of the hardest hit areas in the world by the coronavirus pandemic. More than 1.13 million New Yorkers have been infected by the virus and at least 39,600 have died, while thousands across the […]
Originally posted on SoundEagle 🦅ೋღஜஇ:
Misquotation Pandemic and Disinformation Polemic: Mind Pollution by Viral Falsity Notes: Hovering with a mouse cursor over a hyperlinked text or image in this post will bring up a tooltip showing descriptive information or instruction. Click or touch an image to enlarge or comment on it. As the third decade of…
Originally posted on I'm not sorry for these opinions:
Yesterday’s events in the United States Capitol shocked the world. So called “patriots”, incited to violence by the President, invading the Capitol building in a bid to reverse the result of November’s democratic election, is a reminder to us all of the fragility of democracy…
China and Russia had a big laugh yesterday when they heard the news of the rebellion taking place in a country which so likes to tell others how to have a just and democratic system. They and several other countries will use the incident to suggest America is in decline. And perhaps they have good […]
Yesterday we in Europe came something to see for which we have been afraid for the last few years. Europe saw a violent insurgency and attempt to overthrow the legitimately elected government of the United States In case Donald Trump would be right that the election was stolen, for surer, than it would have been […]
Lots of people had hoped a major time for 2020. It turned out totally different. For some the year 2020 brought a time of isolation and reflection. For others it brought a nightmare or a huge amount of work in very chaotic situations. Many families were confronted with the tragic loss of family members and/or […]
In the third quarter of 2020 millions of eyes were expectantly hoping that the dangerous years of the 45th President of the United States of America would come to an end. Pulling off a “remarkable turnaround”, Trump managed to attract “conservative Cuban-American voters and other Latino groups” at a rate that swung the result his […]
Overzicht van onze ecclesia werking voor 2020
“1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, And lay up my commandments with thee; 2 So as to incline thine ear unto wisdom, And apply thy heart to understanding; 3 Yea, if thou cry after discernment, And lift up thy voice for understanding; 4 If thou seek her as silver, And search for […]
Today’s thought “God, who gives us the victory through …” (March 2) I pondered why the above saying rather suddenly occurs in that very moving and oft quoted 1 Corinthians 15. Parts of this chapter are often read at funerals; it contains a powerful testimony to the certainty of resurrection and that “in Christ shall […]
From our writings more than 100 years ago. The London Standing Committee This body came into existence in December, 1915, during the course of the Great War. With the threat of enforced Military Service impending, the Clapham Ecclesia deemed it prudent to form a Committee composed of London Brethren to watch the situation, and to […]
Today’s thought “Those who fear him” (February 27) Psalm 103, 1 Cor 12-13 The phrase “those who fear him”, meaning, who fear God, occurs three times in our Psalm reading today. The sense of ‘fear’ is – to be in heartfelt awe of what God must be. This is a Psalm that should reach deep into […]
In our article on the Sunday Observance we mentioned already that for many the Sunday is a time of leisure and as such most people being free it would be a good day to gather for a service to Break the Bread and to bring glory to God. But it also could be a good […]
From our archive: writings from a century ago Burial and Mourning Customs Professional mourners are still a feature of Palestine life; just as they were in the Lord’s day (2 Sam. i. 17-27; Joel ii. 12, 13; Luke viii. 52). But we cannot imagine Christ approving of such; rather can we hear him exclaiming: “Why […]
Today, though our Brotherhood is convinced we do not explicitly come together on Sunday to have a service or Breaking of bread, we still do offer such service in places where most people are free on Sunday. But we are convinced and also offer our services on other days and as such, the Belgian ecclesia […]
In certain Christian denominations, people are seriously thinking they are eating God when they go to communion to receive the Eucharist. They do not only believe God incarnated some two thousend years ago, but think he still does it daily, by transforming Himself in bread and wine, so that believers can receive God literally in […]
From our 1st quarter of the 20th-century writings The reason given by Paul for “prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks”….”for kings and for all that are in authority” (1 Tim. ii. 1, 2) is, that “we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty” (verse 2). Evidently, because the Brotherhood invariably […]
Na de reeks over de opmerkingen van de Jehovah’s getuigen zullen wij met de tweede reeks voorleggen wat de Christadelphians zo uniek maakt in het Christendom.
Is het waar dat men kan sterven door gebrek aan kennis? En welke kennis is er zo belangrijk voor het leven dat het gebonden is aan leven en dood?
In het leven zal het er op aan komen wat a als waarheid wil aannemen of wil verwerpen als onbelangrijk en niet relevant.
Het mag dan wel een mooie gedachte zijn om een kerk te houden en te prediken, maar hoe men het draait of keert vraagt zoiets heel wat geld. En dat geld ligt niet zo maar voor het rapen. Maar iedereen moet beseffen dat elkeen op een of andere manier een steentje kan bijdragen.
Jezus heeft de autoriteit van God gekregen om te spreken en te handelen in Zijn Naam. Vervolgens heeft Jezus zijn volgelingen verzocht hem en Gods Werken kenbaar te maken in de wereld. Daarom proberen de Broeders in Christus ook zo veel mogelijk mensen te bereiken om het Goede Nieuws van het Koninkrijk kenbaar te maken.
Mogelijk hebben Jehovah’s Getuigen een totaal verkeerd beeld van de leerstellingen van de Broeders in Christus of Christadelphians door dat zij en hun Wachttorengenootschap onze lectuur onvoldoende kennen doordat ze het ook niet lezen en onvoldoende praten met onze leden over onze inzichten. Als laatste in de reeks “Het Wachttorengenootschap over Christadelphians” bekijken wij het komende Koninkrijk en onze visie daarop.
Bible prophecies do not deal only with the ancient past. They also accurately foretell events that are taking place in our day. But at the moment we focus at numerous prophecies preserved in the Hebrew Scriptures (commonly called the Old Testament) which long before the man was born told about events which would happen in his time and around him, his betrayal, humiliation, torture, execution, death, and burial. From those writings of the Old and New Testament nobody should have doubts who that man is who is called Immanuel, the son of man and Messiah, born out of the root of Jess in the tribe of king David.
In Scripture, all things are directed towards a man who was a servant of servants, in whom people should come to have faith. First we saw the connection with Eve and her seed, and in this article you may see the connection with Abraham.
Already in the Old Testament we find the focus on a son of man who is called the son of God, who shall be the most pure set apart (holy) servant of God who was been told about in the Garden of Eden, to be the one bruised.
Many Old Testament writers wrote about the prophet to come, about whom is spoke in the book of Moses and who shall be the special “Seed of a woman” given by God and who will bruise Satan’s head whilst his heel would be bruised with nails on the wooden stake.
Jewish and Christian literature since the time of Yeshua or Jeshua have pointed to Genesis 3:15 as the first reference to the Messiah in the Torah. Genesis 3:15 NHEBJE I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his […]
After the horrible experience, having seen how their beloved master had died on the stake, the apostles had retreated themselves. The women who had watched the impalement from some distance got the courage to see if they could not give their friend a proper burial before the high holy day. “30 Therefore, when he had […]
All the time when the by Jesus chosen disciples followed him, they had several times doubts concerning his position and were convinced he was going to save them from the Roman oppressors. They were willing to see in Jesus that promised Massiah/Moshiach or Messiah (the anointed or christou / kristos / Christ), but thought him […]
We have come to the point where the people in Jerusalem had seen that the man of flesh and blood, Jeshua ben Josef, also known as the son of man and son of God, came to his death at the wood of execution. When Jesus walked around preaching about his heavenly Father and times to […]
Matthew 27:62-66 – Guards Seal the Tomb Against an Imposter MT27:62 On the next day – after Preparation – the religious hierarchy and Pharisees assembled together before Pilate, MT27:63 saying, “Lord, we remember that plotter[1] said when he was alive, ‘After three days I will be raised up.’ MT27:64 So, command that the grave be […]
Matthew 27:57-61 – Jesus’ Body Given to Joseph of Arimathea || Mark 15:42-47; Luke 23:50-55; John 19:38-42 MT27:57 Now as evening was approaching a rich man[1] named Joseph of Arimathea,[2] himself a disciple of Jesus, MT27:58 approached Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate gave the command[3] to release [the corpse]. MT27:59 Receiving […]
Answers Concerning Prophecies and things future #25 Called My Son Out of Egypt “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called My Son out of Egypt ” (Hos. xi. 1). The latter portion of this verse is applied in Matthew ii. 15 to the journey of the infant Jesus into Egypt. Hosea […]
Answers Concerning Prophecies and things future #24 One of a City, Two of a Family The text in which these words occur reads thus: “I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion” (Jer. iii. 14). The context shows the message was addressed, not […]
Continuing using some of our brethren’s writings from the past to give some answers to questions posed by our readers, and to show some ideas of how was thought by certain brothers in the past. We want to remind you that those writings do not always present the general thought of today. Answers Concerning Prophecies […]
Answers Concerning Prophecies and things future #23 Elijah Before Christ There is nothing in the Bible that leads us to expect that Elijah will be on the earth before Christ. All that appears evident is that Elijah will have a preliminary work in connection with Israel. In a similar way, John the Baptist, although the […]
Answers Concerning Prophecies and things future #22 Wounded in the House of My Friends “2 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause […]
First of all to come to a good relationship with some one, one has to talk with that person and has to listen to what that person has to tell. God talks to the people by the way of His Word, presented to mankind by the many Bible translations, so that most people can read […]
The One Who created everything and Who gave His Word, did all He did with a purpose and out of love. The Bible teaches us that “God is love.” (1 John 4:8) Everything God does is motivated by love. Out of love created man in His image also with the intention to have a good relationship […]
In the previous writings we saw that the Divine Creator gave His Word to the world so that people could come to know Him. The Bible is a gift from God. It gives us information that we can’t find anywhere else. For example, it tells us that God created the heavens, the earth, and the […]
It is never too late to start the good habit of regularly reading the Bible, a Book of hope and comfort.
At the beginning of the new schoolyear there is a good reason from now on to invest each day in meeting with God.
The man who loved the Law of the Elohim (Ps 119:97) and was known by God to be a righteous man, blessed and praised his Bo’re and was willing to do everything that Hashem wished him to do. Those wanting to fall under the promises made to Abraham should be people following in the footsteps of Abraham, having the Faith in the same God as Him.
We are given God’s Word in the Torah, to have a light of guidance and to have some good instructions to build up our lives and to help others to grow and join us on the path to the Elohim Hashem Jehovah.
After a respected Jew was falsely accused of stealing the royal curtains from the governor’s palace, the entire Jewish community of Prague was in mortal danger. But after miraculous intervention, the real culprit confessed to the crime, sparing the Jews of the city.
Is it possible to fulfil one’s obligation for Hanukah with electric light bulbs since it does not contain oil or a wick and is not reminiscent of the Menorah lighting in the Bet Hamikdash whatsoever.
Originally posted on Netzarim Emunah:
The Days of Chanukah- Days of Faith As opposed to the other holidays and festivals which were already existent since Hashem gave the Torah to the Jewish nation, the holidays of Purim and Chanukah were brought about through two wicked men, Haman and Antiochus. Maran Rabbeinu Ovadia Yosef zt”l writes…
A video giving an introduction to the Jewish holiday of Purim, talking about all of the great traditions of one of the most fun holidays in the Jewish calendar.
De Joodse gemeenschap in België en Nederland kan niet ontsnappen aan het coronavirus, maar is er zich wel bewust van dat er een hele kleine groep is die het moeilijk heeft met de beperkende maatregelen, terwijl de meerderheid zich wel aan alle veiligheidsmaatregelen houdt, en er zelfs gebruik van maakt om te reflecteren over de avondklok ten tijde van Moshe in Egypte.
17 Tevet (1728) – Shearith Israel, the first New York synagogue, erects its first building in Lower Manhattan. In 1654 in New Amsterdam a group of Spanish and Portuguese Jews who fled the Inquisition and others who arrived from Dutch Brazil formed a meeting group. As oldest Jewish congregation in the United States they held […]
Originally posted on common or garden theologian:
Artist Illustration of Dragon entering the Martian atmosphere before landing (2015). Original from Official SpaceX photos. Millions of years ago Mars had a magnetic field and an atmosphere, but both are long since gone, so it is not presently inhabitable. Genesis 2:5-9 (ESV) When no?bush of the field[a]?was…
Passing of Maimonides (1204) Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, Talmudist, Halachist, physician, philosopher and communal leader, known in the Jewish world by the acronym “Rambam” and to the world at large as “Maimonides”, passed away in Egypt on the 20th of Tevet in 1204 (4965). On his gravestone were inscribed the words, “From Moses to Moses, […]
Originally posted on Kim in de pen blogt:
In een poging om de rellen van de afgelopen week te verklaren maakte criminoloog Ferwerda een onderscheid tussen ‘echte’ relschoppers en ‘de mannen die eigenlijk niet wilden dat het ontspoorde maar uit sensatie kwamen kijken’. Hij noemde die groep ‘brave huisvaders’: ‘De groep brave huisvaders, zoals ik…
Originally posted on Vlierbloesem:
Nederland heeft niet als enige land een probleem met het vaccinatie programma. De aanpak van de vaccinatie wordt veel besproken. Beschikbaarheid van vaccins wijzigt ook voortdurend. De Europese Unie heeft laboratoria geholpen snel onderzoek te doen naar vaccins tegen de nieuwe Corona virus mutaties, door vooraf te betalen voor de nog…
Terwijl de wereld op hol lijkt te slagen, kunnen wij enkel hopen en oproepen dat er genoeg mensen met gezond verstand zich aan de beperkende maar noodzakelijke coronamaatregelen zullen blijven houden.
Internet gebruik en vergiffenis op de Sabbath Groot probleem in de Joodse gemeenschap over internet verbindingen voor virtuele diensten is dat een groot deel van hen geen computer gebruikt net als dat zij die dit wel hebben, deze zeker niet gebruiken op de Sabbath of sjabbos. De sjabbes is voor velen ‘heilig’, zodat zij zich […]
Het coronavirus heeft ook haar weerslag voor vele geloofsgemeenschappen. Zij die zich aan de Ene Ware God willen opdragen hebben nu soms het gevoelen dat zij hun God te kort doen doordat zij niet meer het gebod van samenkomst en gezamenlijk gebed kunnen volbrengen. Zij voelen zich ver van hun thuishaven dat onbereikbaar lijkt geworden.
Volgens de Bijbel is de mens geschapen naar het beeld van God. Allah schiep de aarde en alles erop en eromheen. In plaats van dankbaar te zijn voor wat de mens van hun Schepper ontving, twijfelden ze aan Zijn autoriteit en wilden ze net zoveel kennis en macht hebben als Hij. Daarom aten ze van […]
According to Scriptures man was created in the image of God. Allah created earth and everything on it and around it. Instead of being thankful for what man received from their Creator, they doubted His authority and wanted to have as much knowledge and power like He has. Therefore they ate from the Tree of […]
The intention of this site was to be able to find answers to some serious questions and to know what others thought about it. But there were no answers from others and silence continued to form the fog.
Bedoeling van deze site was op enkele ernstige vragen antwoorden te kunnen vinden en te weten hoe anderen er over dachten. Maar antwoorden van anderen bleven uit en stilte bleef de mist vormen.
In this world we shall become even more confronted by people, be them politicians or church-leaders who would love to tell us than matters or different than we see it. Many of them will give the lie to make sure they would be more popular and receive more power. We must know that we shall […]
In which way can the Bible be a book to trust?
At the beginning of our contemporary age a son of man was hailed, by some triumphantly praised as a king entering Jerusalem, by others regarded as a dangerous person undermining their power. About 2 000 years later it are still religious leaders who do not want people to come to know that Nazarene man or to accept him as the son of God and future King of this world.
Jesus told his disciples that he will return only once and that when he does, after a time of great tribulation, it will be visible to everyone and be followed by immediate and dire consequences for those unprepared and for those who were adversaries of God.
The disciples expected that Christ would “come” as King, with a royal presence, and to remove the Romans and thrown down the corrupt temple, all at the same time and soon! It was a disappointment for them it turned not out that way, but they came to understand we could have an even much better future because of what Jesus had done. Though they also became convinced of the necessity to be prepared for the time that Jesus would return and that each believer could add by his effort of preaching, to bring the time closer.
All Christians are commissioned and obligated to be evangelizers wherever they are, in that they preach the good news to all sorts of men.
my kop draai nog in die rondte ek kan nie die omvang van wat gebeur het beskryf nie as ek my joernaal oopmaak en my pen optel slaan die woorde toe ek wil vir nou eers net hier bly hier in die Hande van die Wonderwerker 26 Desember 2020 ek het haar drie-en-twintig dae laas […]
dag 1 tot 4 Ons het saam besluit dat ons eers sal wag. Vir niemand sal sê dat die paneel die aand van 20 Oktober oor ons lot sal beslis nie. Dis eers later dat ek besef hoe betekenisvol die datum is… 20-10-2020 Woensdag-oggend een minuut oor agt sê die suster vir my ons oorplanting […]
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This club of writers was initiated by Marcus Ampe founder of Lifestyle magazine Stepping Toes
Dr. Miller looking at Jews in France
About the Author Dr. Yvette Alt Miller
Yvette Alt Miller earned her B.A. at Harvard University. She completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Jewish Studies at Oxford University, and has a Ph.D. In International Relations from the London School of Economics. She lives with her family in Chicago, and has lectured internationally on Jewish topics. Her book Angels at the table: a Practical Guide to Celebrating Shabbat takes readers through the rituals of Shabbat and more, explaining the full beautiful spectrum of Jewish traditions with warmth and humor. It has been praised as “life-changing”, a modern classic, and used in classes and discussion groups around the world.
Jews and France: 11 Interesting Facts
As France headed to the polls, Dr. Miller presented some fascinating points about Jews and France through the ages on Aish.com
As France went to the polls in the first round of its presidential election, France’s 500,000-strong Jewish community was in the spotlight: two front-runners, Marine Le Pen and Jean Luc Melenchon, having been accused of making high-profile anti-Semitic comments.
Long before France’s unpredictable election, Jews have been making history in France. Here are 11 interesting facts about Jews and France through the ages.
Greatest Jewish Scholar
Rashi, acronym of Rabbi Shlomo Yitzḥaqi (born 1040, Troyes, Champagne—died July 13, 1105, Troyes), renowned medieval French commentator on the Bible and the Talmud (the authoritative Jewish compendium of law, lore, and commentary).
A modern translation of Rashi’s commentary on the Chumash, published by Artscroll
Rashi, as the great Medieval Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki is known, is the most widely consulted Jewish rabbi of all time. His commentaries on the Bible and Talmud are considered crucial to understanding these Jewish texts. Rashi’s explanations help us understand the Torah and at times, a knowledge of French can help us understand Rashi.
Monument in memory of Rashi in Troyes, France
That’s because this greatest of Jewish scholars had humble beginnings. Rashi lived in the northern French town of Troyes from 1040 to 1105. Out of a total population of 10,000, Troyes was also home to about 100 Jewish families. Jews travelled from far and wide to consult Rashi. Many of these visiting Jews lodged with nearby Christian families.
Troyes centre ville – capital of the department of Aube in north-central France
Rashi’s sons-in-law and grandsons – who continued to live in northern France – became rabbis of nearly his towering stature, penning additional commentaries on the Torah and leading European Jewry. Their scholarship continues to define Jewish life to this day.
Talmud on Trial
In the year 1239, Paris was witness to a very strange trial; the Talmud was accused of insulting Christianity.
The Talmud was defended by the Chief Rabbi of Paris, Rabbi Yechiel ben Joseph, though there were restrictions on what Rabbi Yechiel could say. Leading the charge against the Talmud was Nicholas Donin, a Jewish convert to Christianity who seemingly harbored an intense hatred of his fellow Jews or, possibly, a desire to impress his new Christian co-religionists. He was encouraged to make fun of the Talmud, quoting its text out of context and distorting its meaning. Presiding over the trial was none other than the Queen Mother of France, Blanche of Castille, and several Archbishops.
After hearing the “evidence”, the Talmud was found guilty and condemned as “dangerous to Christianity”. Volumes of the Talmud were confiscated. In 1242, 24 cartloads of hand-written tractates of the Talmud, representing countless thousands of hours of work, were brought to a public square in central Paris and burned.
Medieval Crusades
In 1095, Pope Urban II called for a holy Crusade to conquer Jerusalem and wrest it from Muslim rule. (The temptation to launch a crusade might have been closer to home. Historians note that the harvest of 1095 was particularly bad in northern Europe; calling for a crusade was a way to distract the population and encourage them to plunder wealth in other lands.)
France’s Jews were periodically expelled during this intense period of Jew-hatred, as well. In 1182, and again regularly in the 13th Century, Jews were forced to leave French cities, only to be let in again a few years later. In 1306, a more organized expulsion was decreed by France’s King Philip. Short of money after war with Flanders, King Philip decided to force French Jews to flee, and compound their property.
The decree was handed down on July 21, 1306, which was Tisha B’Av, the Jewish day of mourning on which we mourn the destruction of both the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem, as well as other calamitous events in Jewish history. The following day, July 22, 1306, 100,000 Jews were arrested. France’s Jews were ordered to leave the country within one month or face death. French Jews were allowed to leave only 12 sous (cents) apiece. Their property was confiscated, auctioned off, and all proceeds reverted to the French crown.
(King Philip’s decree was reversed by his son King Louis, but Jews continued to be banned from France and were ordered to leave in 1322 and 1394 again, before returning slowly over the subsequent years.)
French Chocolate’s Jewish Origins
Following the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492, and the introduction of the Inquisition into Portugal in 1536, some Jews fled to the French town of Bayonne, near the Spanish-French border. There, they used their contacts with Jewish traders in the New World to import materials and know-how to process cocoa, a New World product which was just starting to take Europe by storm.
Dark Chocolate with Espelette pepper.
Bayonne Jews adapted cocoa recipes to European tastes, creating sweet versions of chocolate and using additives like milk, butter and nuts. Jews built the Bayonne area into a chocolate center, but their very success undid them: once local Christians learned how to make chocolates too, they petitioned local authorities to ban Jews from the chocolate industry.
Jews were only permitted to resume making chocolate in 1767 when a court annulled the decree. In 2013, the town of Bayonne formally recognized the contribution of Jews to the region’s famed chocolates. “Since we are the inheritors of the Jews’ savoir faire”, explained Jean-Michel Barate, head of Bayonne’s Chocolate Academy, “it was our duty to thank them….” and to right the historical wrong of overlooking the fact that it was Jewish refugees who created sweet chocolate confections as we know them today.
Equality
Palais des Papes – Avignon in south-eastern France in the department of Vaucluse on the left bank of the Rhône river
Although Jews were banned from France for many years after the 14th Century, by the 1700s about 40,000 Jews lived in France, particularly in Bordeaux and Avignon, which never formally expelled their Jewish inhabitants.
These 40,000 Jews became the first Jews in European history to gain full and equal rights with the French Revolution. The decision wasn’t easy: France’s new rulers deliberated for over two years about whether they should extend their new regime’s ideal of “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” to Jews. When they did, in 1791, it was seemingly with some regret: “The Jews” explained a leading revolutionary, “conscious of the error of their ways, have felt the need for a fatherland; we have offered them ours.”
Napoleon’s “Sanhedrin”
Seeking to assure himself that Jews were indeed “Frenchmen”, Napoleon decided to invite Jews from throughout France to participate in what Napoleon called, with much pomp, a “National Assembly of Notables”. Napoleon deliberately scheduled the Assembly for a Saturday; the “notables” he invited turned up despite the assembly’s scheduling on Shabbat, and voted yes or no to a series of questions Napoleon had devised to ascertain whether Jews could indeed be French. The “notables” were asked whether Jews could engage in manual labor, whether they could marry Christian women, whether Jews would help defend France, etc.
Cover page to siddur used at the Grand Sanhedrin of Napoleon, 1807.
Not satisfied with his Assembly, Napoleon sent word to the governors of France to elect Jewish representatives to a new group, which Napoleon grandly named the Sanhedrin, the ancient Jewish court that governed Jewish conduct for hundreds of years. Like the Sanhedrin of old, this new “Sanhedrin” contained 71 members, was governed by a leader (picked by Napoleon) whom he gave the traditional Hebrew title Nasi, or “prince”, and was meant to issue new decrees for the Jewish people.
Napoleon’s “Sanhedrin” met in Paris with great pomp, and the puppets making up this group did indeed go along with many of Napoleon’s requested declarations. They declared that Jews serving in the French army were free of Jewish mitzvot, or commandments, and (echoing long-held prejudice against Jews, who’d long been forced into the money-lending business by European rulers) declared money-lending illegal for Jews. Even the stooges on Napoleon’s “Sanhedrin” drew the line at some of the Emperor’s requests, refusing to countenance mixed marriages, for instance.
Despite the assurances of this “Sanhedrin”, Napoleon went on to issue a host of infamous Jewish decrees, restricting Jewish rights to live in certain parts of France, suspending repayment of debts to Jews for ten years, and limiting Jews’ rights to go into some areas of business.
Official Names
Another legacy of Napoleon’s rule was an official list of approved names that could be given to babies born in France. Most of these were Christian saints’ names, though a number of Jewish names were included on the list, as well.
The list was abolished in 1993, though even in recent years French authorities have banned some names. In 2016, for instance, a French judge ruled against two parents who wanted to name their newborn Mohamed Merah, after the terrorist who murdered a rabbi and three children outside of a Jewish school in the French city of Toulouse in 2012.
The Dreyfus Affair
Throughout Dreyfus’ trial, French Catholic authorities continued to stir up Jew-hatred. The intense bitterness made many in France conclude there was little future for Jews in France. Emile Zola, the non-Jewish great French author, wrote in 1896 “For some years I have been following with increasing surprise and disgust the campaign which some people are trying to carry on in France against the Jews. This seems to me monstrous….” Two years later, Zola wrote his famous open letter, beginning with J’accuse, or “I accuse”, directed against French President France Felix Faure, complaining about irregularities in Dreyfus’ trial. Zola was prosecuted and found guilty of libel and fled to England for a year to avoid imprisonment.
Another observer came to a similar conclusion during Dreyfus’ trial, realizing that Jews faced an uncertain future in France. Theodore Herzl was a young reporter for the Viennese newspaper the Neue Freie Presse, and he covered Dreyfus’ trial in Paris. He later wrote that the chants of “Death to Jews” shook him to the core, and helped him realize that only a Jewish state could provide security and safety for the world’s Jews. In 1897, Herzl organized a Zionist Congress in Zurich, where he called for the reestablishment of a Jewish country.
France and the Holocaust
With World War II looming, France became a destination for desperate Jewish refugees fleeing Germany and Eastern Europe. From a Jewish population of about 80,000 in 1900, by 1939 France’s Jewish population had swelled to 300,000 as Jews fled to France for safety.
Tragically, that safety proved illusory. After Germany invaded France, it divided the country into a northern, “occupied” zone, and a southern “free” zone which was allied with Nazi Germany. Both areas of France willingly participated in the deportation of Jews from France; in the nominally independent southern part of France, it was French policemen and authorities who helped implement Hitler’s so-called “final solution to the Jewish ‘problem’”. Over 70,000 French Jews were sent to concentration camps; only about 2,500 survived.
After the War, France’s devastated Jewish community was revived by an influx of Jews from former French colonies in North Africa. In the 1950s and 1960s nearly a quarter of a million Sephardi Jews moved to France from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.
Resurgent Anti-Semitism
In recent years, tragically, the call “Death to Jews!” has once more rung out in the streets of Paris and elsewhere in France.
A string of horrific attacks has targeted Jews throughout France. In 2006, Ilan Halimi, a young Jewish man living in Paris, was lured into a trap by local Muslim hoodlums; he was tortured for a month in a public housing project in Paris before being murdered; it later emerged that his ordeal was an open secret in the neighborhood, but no one intervened. His mother later had Ilan buried in Israel, fearful, she explained, that if he was buried in France his grave would be desecrated by anti-Semites.
In 2012, in the central French city of Toulouse, a terrorist shot three children and a rabbi at point-blank range in front of a Jewish school. In 2014, a mob rampaging through the streets of Sarcelles, a Paris suburb, chanted “Death to Jews!”, burned Jewish-owned businesses, and surrounded a synagogue, baying for the murder of those Jews inside. For hours, scores of Jewish families cowered inside, fearing for their lives, until police finally managed to disperse the mob late that night. In 2015, terrorists murdered four hostages in a kosher synagogue in Paris. In 2017, two Jewish brothers were forced off the road in a heavily Muslim neighborhood near Paris and attacked by passers by; one of the brothers’ thumb was sawn off in the attack.
In fact, the number of anti-Jewish hate crimes is going up. In 2014, there were 423 reported hate crimes against Jews in France. In 2015, there were 851 reported anti-Jewish hate crimes.
In the face of rising hatred, more and more Jews are fleeing France. One 2016 poll found that fully 43% of French Jews are considering moving to the Jewish state. In 2014, a record-breaking 6,658 Jews moved to Israel from France. (By way of comparison, only 1,923 French Jews had moved to Israel in 2010, when the number of anti-Semitic crimes was lower.) In 2015, 7,469 French Jews moved to Israel.
France in Israel
Beach promenade of Netanya (Hebrew: נְתַנְיָה, lit., “gift of God”; Arabic: نتانيا) a city in the Northern Central District of Israel, and the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain.
As more French Jews move to the Jewish state, parts of Israel are gaining a distinctly French accent. In 2015, the Times of Israel noted that the Israeli seaside city of Netanya calls itself the “Israeli Riviera” and that in recent years, it has indeed come to resemble the famed French Riviera: “walking along its main pedestrian boulevard, one would be hard-pressed to tell it apart from its twin city of Nice” in France. French restaurants, French style – and French Jews – have given parts of Israel a very French feel.
One recent immigrant from France explained that the rising anti-Semitism in France sparked her family’s desire to move to Israel: “Here we get the feeling that we can protect ourselves. There we have the impression that we are on our own and if, God forbid, something happens we will have to manage.”
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Preceding articles
Kindertransport
Apocalyptic Extremism: No Longer a Laughing Matter
Seeds from the world creating division and separation from God
What to do in the Face of Global Anti-semitism
The Rise of Anti-Seminism
If you’re going to be a hater, make sure you’ve done your homework.
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Additional reading
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Further reading
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