Napoleon had initially won allegiance of the…

Napoleon had initially won allegiance of the Jews when in 1797 he saved Jews in Ancona, Italy from eradication.

He had officially chosen two High Priests of the Jewish Nation and seven councilors to the High Priests.

He has in no way acted against the Jews until he passes a series of three decrees, one of which is christened the Infamous Decree, in the early nineteenth century.

Some authors, such as Franz Kobler, attribute Napoleon’s change in attitude to Napoleon’s new attachment to France and his newfound desire to protect the interests of the French people.

When he was the hero of the Jews, he was still is an “ardent patriot” of his home island of Corsica.

Jewish moneylenders are accused of usury in Alsace, France as well as of abusing other rights given to them in their emancipation in 1791 under Louis XVI.

Napoleon sides with popular French opinion, though it is not completely accurate; the Jews are not the sole perpetrators, and not all Jews are perpetrators.

Napoleon had issued an imperial decree in 1806 that suspended payment of debts owed to Jewish moneylenders for one year to warn against usury to the supposedly degenerate Jewish population and called a conference with Jewish leaders.

On July 26, 1806, Napoleon convenes the Assembly of Jewish Notables from all over the French Empire and the Kingdom of Italy to clarify relations between the state and the Jews.

The conference brings together one hundred and twelve deputies from all parts of the French empire.

Although the assembly is to be held on the Sabbath (some claim this is a loyalty test), they choose to attend rather than risk the wrath of the Emperor.

At the assembly, led by the financier Abraham Furtado and Joseph David Sinzheim, chief rabbi of Strasbourg, the delegates are confronted with a questionnaire on polygamy, usury, loyalty, and intermarriage.

Pleased with their answers, Napoleon decides to reestablish the Sanhedrin under his careful direction, with representatives from all congregations.