There are some 20-25 synagogues in Paris. This one is referred to as the “Grande Synagogue”. It dates from 1874 and was built on a place where previously stood a mansion for some time occupied by one of Napoleon’s brothers, Louis, married to Hortense, the daughter of Josephine de Beauharnais, parents to the future Napoleon III.
(Josephine had
previously rented another mansion in the same street and this is where the then
General Bonaparte went to see her, got married, bought the house and where they
lived together for some four years 1796-1800 – with exceptions for long
campaigns in Italy, Egypt… . When Bonaparte became First Consul, the couple
moved to greater premises. When they lived here it was almost countryside. The
building and the narrow entrance / garden disappeared in 1858, as part of the
town-planning. The street got its name, rue de la Victoire, in 1797, when General Bonaparte returned from his Italian campaign.)
But, this
post was supposed to be about the “Grande Synagogue”, the largest one in France;
it can seat some 1800 people. It was built with financial support of the Rothschild
family. It serves as a setting for all kinds of official ceremonies and it’s
also the official seat of the Chief Rabbi of France and this is where he is
formally introduced.
It was
during Napoleon’s reign that the Judaism, together with Roman Catholicism and
Lutheran and Calvinist Protestantism, became official religions of France, until
1905, when State and Churches were separated.
The
building, which as most other major religious edifices in Paris is owned
by the City, suffered of course, although not as much as its community, from events during WWII
and was completely renovated as late as 1967.
As we can
see, the decoration of the Synagogue is beautiful, but, different to many other
religions, of course no images, symbols can be seen. As I have understood, what
is important are the Torah, the prayer….
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