Before the arrival of President Nicolai Sarkozy at
tefillas Ne'iloh at one of Paris' main synagogues, and
at the French Rabbinate on Rue de la Victoire, the President
received the heads of the Consistoire at the Elysees Palace.
Servants opened the door of the car that brought the
president of the Consistoire, Jean Kahn, along with his
deputies, Yoel Mergui, Tzvi Amar and Charles Shulman, and
escorted them to the office of Sarkozy, who met with them for
40 minutes. Sword-bearing guards stood stiffly at the gates,
but it remained unclear whether they were posted to honor the
Consistoire heads or subsequent visitors.
Sarkozy is the first French President to receive the board of
the organization itself, which provides religious services
for the country's Jewish community. Following the meeting, a
Le Monde editorial griped that Sarkozy is altering the
policy in the secular country, which does not recognize
communal sectarianism, but instead is nurturing ties with the
Jews and Muslims.
They're not ready to forgive him for visiting a shul on Yom
Kippur. The newspaper's religious affairs writer, who for
years bashed Israel as Le Monde's Jerusalem
correspondent, described the Yom Kippur visit accompanied by
the Minister of Justice — an Arab woman who went up to
the ezras noshim — as a grotesque spectacle
unbecoming of his eminent post as head of the republic.
Former presidents from Mitterrand to Chirac also paid visits
to botei knesses, but only to mark tragic events like
terrorist attacks or the antisemitic murder of Ilan
Chalimi.
After the meeting, Tzvi Amar of Marseille said that among the
six issues raised for discussion the most important were
Jewish burial plots in non-Jewish cemeteries and maintenance
of botei knesses. The Consistoire asked the President
to allot the Jews independently operated cemeteries of their
own, like in other European countries.
French law forbids Jewish burial underground, instead
requiring burial in coffins placed in tiered cement
compartments rented for a fixed period of 50 years
(previously 90 years). At the end of this period the coffin
is taken out and burned.
"We explained to Sarkozy how important halachic burial is to
Jews and that a Jew cannot be disinterred, and certainly not
burned, Rachmono litzlan," said Jean Kahn. The
Rabbinate is requesting the state grant it the authority to
run Jewish plots rather than leaving them in the hands of non-
Jewish management.
The Consistoire also requested financial aid to maintain and
renovate botei knesses in various parts of the
country. They asked for monetary assistance from the state
without transgressing the constitutional law of separation of
state and religion. The Ministry of Culture has declared
certain botei knesses preserved sites and recognized
them as Jewish cultural sites that cannot be separated from
religion.
"We left very satisfied and we're confident he will assist
us," said Jean Kahn as he left the meeting.
