INTRODUCTION
The Sanhedrin of 1807, which he assembled, provided a foundation for modern Jewish life. The Emperor who controlled much of Europe leveled ghetto walls, created a new Jewish communal structure and published decrees both positive and negative.
Although Napoleon was soon defeated, he had moved the emancipation of European Jews from pamplets, debates and halting legal steps to action. Full civil rights for Jews in the hundreds of jurisdictions which dotted Central Europe came slowly or not at all in eastern Europe , but the process had begun.
These beginnings with their economic opportunities and the accompanying social and political changes meant that Jewish life had to adapt. Virtually over night the century old semi-autonomous Jewish religious community disappeared and had to be replaced. Jewish life was forced to change, but the traditional leadership moved slowly which led to the creation of Liberal Judaism, Jewish nationalism, and the secular Jewish community.
These drastic changes, as well as others, continue to the engage Jewish historians. The essays in this volume will deal primarily with the halakhic implications of this revolution. My essay provides the general background, the motivation for Napoleons Sanhedrin, and a halkahic analysis of the answers to the specific questions which the Emperor posed to the preliminary“Great Assembly” which were ratified by the Sanhedrin.