By Esther Benbassa
Within the first English-language version of a basic, man made heritage of French Jewry from antiquity to the current, Esther Benbassa tells the interesting story of the social, fiscal, and cultural vicissitudes of a humans in diaspora. With verve and perception, she unearths the range of Jewish existence all through France's areas, whereas displaying how Jewish id has consistently redefined itself in a rustic recognized for either the Rights of guy and the Dreyfus affair. starting with past due antiquity, she charts the migrations of Jews into France and lines their fortunes during the making of the French state, the Revolution, the increase of contemporary anti-Semitism, and the present renewal of curiosity in Judaism.
As early because the fourth century, Jews inhabited Roman Gaul, and by way of the reign of Charlemagne, a few figured prominently at court docket. The conception of Jewish impression on France's rulers contributed to a conflict among church and monarchy that will culminate within the mass expulsion of Jews within the fourteenth century. The publication examines the re-entry of small numbers of Jews as New Christians within the Southwest and the emergence of a brand new French Jewish inhabitants with the country's acquisition of Alsace and Lorraine.
The saga of modernity comes subsequent, starting with the French Revolution and the granting of citizenship to French Jews. designated but quick-paced discussions of key episodes stick to: growth made towards social and political integration, the transferring social and demographic profiles of Jews within the 1800s, Jewish participation within the financial system and the humanities, the mass migrations from japanese Europe on the flip of the 20th century, the Dreyfus affair, persecution less than Vichy, the Holocaust, and the postwar arrival of North African Jews.
Reinterpreting such issues as assimilation, acculturation, and pluralism, Benbassa reveals that French Jews have built-in effectively with out continually risking lack of identification. released to nice acclaim in France, this e-book brings very important present concerns to undergo at the examine of Judaism mostly, whereas making for dramatic interpreting.