813 
J 1 
9. Are the mode of choofing the rabbis, and thp fyftem 
of punifliment, regulated by the Jewifii laws, or are they 
only rendered facred by cuftoui ? 
10. Were the Jews forbidden by their laws to take 
ofury of their brethren ? Are they permitted or forbidden 
to do this of ft rangers? 
11. Are thofe things proclaimed which are forbidden 
to the laws by their law ? 
On the 4th of February, 1807, a fcleft committee of 
nine members of the fanhedrim met at the hotel of M. 
Mole, one of the French commiffioners, to verify the 
powers of the members, both rabbis and laics. They 
chol'e a najjy, or prince of the fanhedrim, in the perfon of 
David Sintzheim, a rabbi of Strafburgh, and of the de¬ 
partment.of the Lower Rhine; an ' dbethdfn, or father, of 
the rabbis; and a xaxam, or wife man. They appoint¬ 
ed three fcribes, .and a number of fupplementaty rabbis 
and laics, called notables, to fill vacant places. The pre- 
iident was Abraham Furtado, a French Jew of the de¬ 
partment of Gironde. 
To give every folemnity to the opening of the grand 
fanhedrim, prayers and ceremonies for the occafion were 
performed. The Jews having ’aflembled in the lyna- 
gogue, the fanhedrim remained on the outfide, chaunting 
the 19th verfe of Pfalm cxviii. “Open to us the gates 
of righteoufrvefs; we will go in to them, and we will 
praife the Lord.” The reader replied by the following 
verfe: “This is the gate of the Lord, into which the 
righteous fliall enter.” The fanhedrim then, advancing 
into the fyna'gogue, feated. themfelves together, and the 
reader chaunled the 24th} 26th, and 29th, verfes of the 
Lime Pfalm. They turned themfelves towards the ark, 
where the rolls of the Pentateuch, or the books of the 
law, are depolited; and, colleding themfelves in filence 
for a few minutes, the doors of the ark were opened ; 
they recited the prayer which confefles the unity of the 
Deity. An appointed rabbi then laid his hand on the 
Pentateuch, and delivered a prayer adapted to the occa¬ 
fion, followed by the ufual ones for the fovereign and im¬ 
perial family, and the prefervation of the armies, vidtory, 
and peace. 
The fanhedrim now departed, to meet at their hall; 
where they adopted fixteen regulations, of which the fol¬ 
lowing are the moil remarkable : When two delegated 
commiflioners, drawn out of the committee of nine, fliall 
fubmit a fubjedf for’the decifion of the grand fanhedrim, 
its deliberation fliall be adjourned for eight days ; during 
this interval, every member of the .grand fanhedrim may 
prefent his obfervations, written and flgned by hinifelf, 
to the committee of nine, who will make report thereon, 
to the commiflioners of liis majelty, and afterwards to 
the grand fanhedrim, on the eighth dayafter this laffc 
report, it fliall be immediately proceeded with, by nomi¬ 
nal appeal, (appel nominal. J There flail never be any difcitf- 
fions in the grand fanhedrim. 
This appel nominal is explained by the next regulation : 
Every member is called on by name, and anfwers Yes, or 
No. One of the fecfbtaries notes down the affirmative 
votes; and the other tlpe negatives. The two notes are 
then prefented to the chief, who counts them, and pro¬ 
claims the decision of'the grand fanhedrim by the abfo- 
lute majority of voices. 
In the hall of the grand fanhedrim the afl'embly is to 
form a femicircle. The members ffiall be placed accord¬ 
ing to their ages ; the eldeft fliall be feated on the left of 
the chief, and fo of the reft. This femicircle was the cul- 
tom of antiquity ; and thus formerly the fanhedrim was 
formed, and its members placed. 
On the 9th of February, 1807, was held their firft meet¬ 
ing. The minifter of the interior had appointed the chief 
of the fanhedrim, and the other officers. The rabbi 
Sintzheim, the chief of the fanhedrim, had compofed an 
exhortation,' which was read in French by one of the 
committee of nine. Of this addrefs the following are 
extrads: 
Vql. X. No. 721. 
t w. v 
“Doctors of the Law, and Sages of Ifrael : The holy 
ark, beaten by ages of ftcrm, at length ceafes to be agi¬ 
tated., The elect of the Lord conjured the tempeft, and 
the ark has entered into its haven. O, Ifrael, dry'thy 
tears; thy God has looked on thee, and, touched by thy 
mifery, he has renewed his alliance. Thanks be render¬ 
ed to the hero, ever to be renowned, who chains the hu¬ 
man paflions while he confounds the pride of nations 
He elevates the’ humble, he humiliates the haughty;'a 
fenfible image of the Divinity, wbicfli pleafes itfelf by 
confounding the vanity of men. Minifter of eternal juf- 
tice, all mankind are equal before him; their rights arc 
eternal. 
“ Contemplating this fupreme council, my imagina¬ 
tion bounds backwards over thoufandS of ages. I am 
borne away to the sera of its inftitution, and my heart 
beats with a certain emotion, which, doubtlefs, you par¬ 
ticipate with me! . 1 
“ Dodors and Sages of Ifrael! Broken as ye are by the 
long attrition of the moft cruel intolerance, who of us has 
hoped to fee fo llrange a miracle fucceed to inch long, 
and to fo many, troubles. 
“ Confident in the mercy of the God of Ifrael, we fliall 
render ourfelves worthy of the powerful protection of our 
fovereign, and of the confidence of all our co-religionifts, 
(co-religionaires,) who have their eyes conftantly fixed 011 us, 
“ I humble myfelf before God, I humble myfelf before 
man, when I confider the vaft weight impoled on me. 
The particular favour of the Thrice Holy can alone carry 
me to the clofe of my career. Pure intentions, reditude 
of heart, and the defire of performing good, can alone 
render us agreeable to God, and the hero who has broken 
our chains.” 
Before we enter into an account of the dodrinal fub- 
jects agitated in this convocation, it is necelfary to notice 
fome parts of the preamble to their decrees. It is well 
known that the children of Ifrael, in the du<| pdfoftii- 
ance of their rites and ceremonies, have found an uncon¬ 
querable difficulty to preferve them, and at the fame time 
to mingle with their Chriftian fellow-lubjeds. Their po¬ 
litical fituation, therefore,* has-always been at variance 
with their religious difpofitions. How are they to con¬ 
ciliate the, irreconcilable ? This difficulty, after having 
exifted nearly two thoufand years, the Parifian fanhe- 
drim has not confidered as fuch. By the fimple princi¬ 
ple, that part of the laws of Mofes are a political inftitu¬ 
tion, they get rid of their ritual, which, like a rock, di¬ 
vided them from Chriftians; and, by confenting to ac¬ 
knowledge “that the fupreme law is the law of the ftate 
in which they refide,” they annihilate, by this convenient 
invention, whatever they think proper. But it is the 
creed of the Jew that his laws are imprefcriptible, and 
impoffible to alter, fince the Pentateuch was the infpira,- 
tion of the Divinity by his fervant Mofes. This belief 
is grounded on this precept, Deut. xvii. 11. “Thou 
fhalt not depart from the thing which they fliall tell thee, 
right or left.” 
We are informed by this preamble: That their dogmas 
may be conciliated with the civil laws under which they 
live, and do not feparate the Jew from the fociety of other 
men: That the divine law, the precious inheritance of 
their anceftors, contains religious ordinances and politi¬ 
cal ordinances: .That religious ordinances are, from their 
nature, abfolute, and independent of circumftances and 
times. That political ordinances are riot; that their go¬ 
vernment was deiigqed for the Ifraeliles in Paleftine, when 
they had their kings, their pontiff, and their magiftrates. 
Thele laws ceafe when the people ceafe to be a nation. 
An afl'embly of the uoftors of the law can alone deter¬ 
mine'What may be rejefted ; and, if former fanjiedrims 
have not affumed'this power, it was becaufe political cir- 
cumftatices were not favourable to them ! 
“ In virtue of the right with which a fanhedrim jnvefts 
a convocation of the dodors of the age; they have the 
power to decree, according to the prefent urgencies, what 
9 X oblervance 
