FrenchJewish Communities

By: Jamie Oliver, Grade 5 King David Victory ParkJohannesburg, South Africa.Teacher: Mrs Williams

FRANCE

The largest country in Western Europe. Paris is the capital of France and is known as the "city of romance".France is the largest wine producer in the world.

French Jews

France

Where do Jews live in France

There are 230 Jewish communities in France. About 60% live in Paris, the balance in Marseilles, Lyons, Toulouse, Nice.

Jewish history in France begins nearly two millennia ago, after the Romans conquered the area now known as Paris. In the early middle ages, France was a centre of Jewish learning, but persecution increased as the middle ages wore on. Since that time France has been an important center of Jewish life and Jewish scholarship.

French Jews

History of Jews in France

Despite physical hardship and anti-semitism, Jewish intellectual and spiritual life flourished, producing some of the most famous Jewish rabbis and thinkers, including Rashi and Rabenu Tam.

French Jews

History of Jews in France

Jews inFrance Today more than 600,000 Jews live in

France, 375,000 live in Paris.

Interesting Facts

Jewish life in France

From 2008 to 2010 there has been a dramatic increase in anti-semitic incidents, many coming in response to Israel's operations in the Gaza Strip and their continued conflict with the Palestinians.

Jewish life in France

On March 19, 2012, in one of the worst anti-semitic attacks, a gunman fired at children entering a Jewish school in the city of Toulouse, killing a teacher and his two children, aged three and six, as well as another child aged eight, and seriously injuring a seventeen year old student .

Interesting Facts

Jewish Synagogues in France

Jewish life in France

The street that best symbolises the Jewish community of Paris