Napoleon Bonaparte’s Impact on Jewish History

French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte played a pivotal role in the emancipation of Europe’s Jews. He also set the stage for how Jews understand their own identity today by convening the Grand Sanhedrin and directing it to divide Jewish identity into two components - the religious and the national - and to discard the national in favor of loyalty to the French nation.

Big Ideas

1. France was the first European country to grant Jews full citizenship.
2. Napoleon convened the Grand Sanhedrin in order to codify laws regarding Jewish participation in French society.
3. Napoleon’s inquiries allowed Jews in France to consider how they wanted to participate in larger society.

Essential Questions

1. Should minority populations in a country integrate into the larger society of that country?
2. Is it possible to balance the responsibilities of being a Jew and the responsibilities of being a citizen of a non-Jewish country?
3. Is citizenship of a country a right or something that needs to be earned?