6 Walter Jacob

NAPOLEON AND THE JEWS

What did Napoleon know about Jews and what were his motivations in dealing with Jews - not by decree, but through an Assembly and then a Sanhedrin?

Napoleon(1769-1821) had no contact with Jews while growing up in Corsica which had no Jewish population. He may have read a bit about Jews during his years of military study. Napoleon’s initial contact came through his Italian campaign of 1796 during which he issued proclamations indicating that new freedoms would be granted while old customs and religious ways respected. Nothing in this dealt specifically with the Jewish population, but his destruction of the ghetto walls of Ancona soon became widely known and was celebrated by Jews . The Jews of Ancona sent a delegation of thanks and they were warmly received with the statement“you are free men.” The freedom enjoyed by the Jews of Ancona , Venice, Verona, and Padua did not endure as the territories were returned to Austria after a brief period. Then the Jewish communities suffered as they had rejoiced in their liberation. Yet the Jewish population continued to celebrate Napoleon, so after the Peace of Amiens(1802), the French Jew Elia Halévy, composed a Hebrew synagogue hymn to praise Napoleon.

May 1798 found Napoleon on his expedition to Egypt and Palestine . The Jewish population of both lands was small, but Napoleon sought to make use of their Messianic longing, especially in his march through Palestine with proclamations that hinted at the promise of a restoration of the ancient Jewish kingdom once he had conquered the land. The seventeenth century Puritan Revolution in England had emphasized the Restoration of the Jews to their ancient land and through it brought about their readmission to England in 1640 under Cromwell. The French Revolution revitalized the spirit of millenianism, which may also have played a role." We should, of