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Religion & Theology
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English (U.S.)
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Napoleon's Questions to Jewish Assembly of Notables

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We discussed Napoleon's questions to the Assembly of Notables, and we saw clearly the attitude of suspicion that lurked underneath them. For this assignment, take a look at the Assembly's answers to Napoleon (attached here as a pdf). As we saw, most of these questions were about whether Jewish law or French law would come first for the Jews. The answers here were drafted by a rabbi. Everything he wrote is correct, though there are a couple of places where the legal issues are a bit more complicated than he portrays them. For example, it is, indeed, a central principle of Jewish law that dina de-malkhuta dina, "The law of the country is the law," meaning that Jews are obligated to obey the laws of the government under which they live but not if those laws are discriminatory against Jews, or if they impinge on Jews' religious practices. Some of these responses are short and straightforward. Others sound like the delegates are trying to curry favor with the Emperor; but in others the Jews are clearly trying to defend themselves (delicately!) against what they feel are unfair accusations.
Identify one response where they appear to be currying favor, and one response where they are defending themselves. In each case, explain the answer's line of reasoning, citing the text itself to make your point as needed. Then explain why you think they answer the way they do.

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Napoleon Questions
One response where they appear to be carrying a favor is that they consider Frenchmen their brethren but not strangers. According to the answers to Napoleon, in the perspective of Jews, Frenchmen are not outsiders but rather brothers. The actual spirit of Moses' rule is compatible with this way of thinking about Frenchmen. When the Israelites established a sovereign nation, their law mandated that outsiders be treated as brothers. Their divine law mandates to adore them with the utmost tenderness for their well-being. "Love strangers," Jesus tells the Israelites, "since ye were outsiders in Egypt." "Moses imposes tolerance and compassion to strangers as a requirement mandated by God himself, not just as an admonition to promote societal morals. In addition, a religion whose core truisms are such—a system that deems it a responsibility to love the stranger—a system that encourages the observance of societal values logically requires that its adherents regard their fellow inhabitants as brothers.
In relation to the context where the Jews consider Frenchmen as their brethren, I think they respond this way because they have no choice given that they inhabit the same land. It will be challenging to consider individuals you live with in the same land as strangers, and for this reason, they have to embrace their egos and call them brothers instead of strangers. This is also contributed by the fact that the government and laws rule both the Jews and the Frenchmen. In addition, I think the Jews responde...
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