Talk:Napoleon and the Jews
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[edit] Temple of Solomon
There is a mildly relavant famous quotation from Napoleon, "If I governed a nation of Jews, I should reestablish the Temple of Solomon." I'm not sure of the exact context, but I believe he was explaining his opposition to the extreme anti-Catholocism of the French Republic and proposing rapprochement with the Catholic Church, but still the quotation is probably well enough known that we might want to mention it here, giving context. If I have understood the context, it also indicates Napoleon as someone who simply found religion useful. -- Jmabel | Talk 23:34, Nov 30, 2004 (UTC)
Good point. And a good quote. I modified the article to add that spin, setting up the already existing quote to better express his motivations. --Goodoldpolonius2 03:12, 1 Dec 2004 (UTC)
[edit] Jewish state in Palestine letter
OK, I know you Americans are very keen on Israel and that it's not so true of the French, but still. Comparing the French and English versions of this article, I see that here more than half of it is a letter saying that Napoleon wanted to create a Jewish state in Palestine and the French article doesn't even mention it but is even larger. This leads me to several conclusions:
- The historical importance is grossly overstated here and understated there. As I'm working on the English wikipedia, I'm going to make a summary followed by a link to the full text.
- There is much more to say about Napoleon and the Jews than there is here, so I'm going to translate a lot of the French article into here.
- I found myself some more work and my productivity at the office will further decrease because of that d*** f*****g wikipedia.
Jules LT 15:49, 14 September 2005 (UTC)
- Jules, I don't think that the difference is being keen on Israel, I think it has to do with the size of the block quote from the letter, which is, as you say, disproportionate to its importance, but simply the full text. Napoleon was much more important for his role in Jewish emancipation than he was for proposing a Jewish state. Feel free to adjust and expand, I look forward to reading it. You may want to look at the Jewish emancipation, Haskalah, and Jewish political movements articles to make sure they match your views, since they have related material. --Goodoldpolonius2 18:00, 14 September 2005 (UTC)
This article and History of the Jews in France seem to carry different stories on the same topic: one says that Napoleon liked the Jews, the other that he disliked them. Could somebody knowledgeable about it do something coherent? David.Monniaux 17:48, 19 September 2005 (UTC)
- I did some additional research, and attempted to bring the two articles in sync, somewhere in between the tone of the first and second. --Goodoldpolonius2 22:13, 19 September 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Berel Wein
This edit removed:
Historian Berel Wein in Triumph of Survival states that Napoleon was primarily interested in seeing the Jews assimilate, rather than prosper as a separate community: "Napoleon's outward tolerance and fairness toward Jews was actually based upon his grand plan to have them disappear entirely by means of total assimilation, intermarriage, and conversion."
I'm inclined to restore, but the citation is vague (no edition, no page). The relevance seems clear, assuming the quotation is accurate, and I would not object to someone else restoring, even without better citation. -- Jmabel | Talk 03:47, 12 December 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Alsace
With reference to the Alsatian Jews, the following was cut anonymously and without comment: "He declared it dangerous to allow so large a preponderance of the Jews, who constituted a state within a state, in a part of the French empire bordering upon the territories of its enemies. A week later, however, he had reached a milder view, and in the same assembly declared against any persecution of them." I hesitate to readd it without a source. Does someone have one? - Jmabel | Talk 04:01, 3 August 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Neutrality
I am not positive that this article is written from a neutral standpoint. The article hints that Napoleon was a fair and well-to-do man. In reality, many of his decrees limited the power of the nation as a whole, including Jews. I do not think this article is neutral. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.199.230.233 (talk) 00:51, 29 March 2007 (UTC).
