Editing Napoleon and the Jews (section)

==Napoleon's legacy==
Napoleon had more influence on the Jews in Europe than detailed in his decrees. By breaking up the feudal castes of mid-Europe and introducing the equality of the French Revolution, he achieved more for Jewish emancipation than had been accomplished during the three preceding centuries. As part of recognising the Jewish community, he established a national [[Consistory (Judaism)|Israelite Consistory]] in France. It was intended to serve as a centralising authority for Jewish religious and community life. Napoleon implemented several other regional consistories throughout the French Empire, as well, with the Israelite Consistory serving as the lead consistory; it had the responsibility of overseeing the various regional consistories. The regional consistories, in turn, oversaw the economic and religious aspects of Jewish life. The regional consistories consisted of a five-individual board, usually occupied by one (or in some cases two) rabbi, and the rest lay individuals who lived in the districts over which the consistory maintained jurisdiction. The Israelite Consistory in France consisted of three rabbis and two lay individuals. In charge of the Israelite Consistory (and the consistory system in general) was a 25-member board. The members of the board, all Jews, were appointed by the prefect, thus allowing the French government to regulate the system of consistories and, in turn, various aspects of Jewish life.<ref name=":03"/> Similarly he established the {{Interlanguage link|Royal Westphalian Consistory of the Israelites|he|3=הקונסיסטוריה היהודית של וסטפליה}}. This served as a model for other German states until after the fall of Napoleon. Napoleon permanently improved the condition of the Jews in the Prussian [[Upper Rhenish Circle|Rhine provinces]] by his rule of this area.

[[Heinrich Heine]] and [[Ludwig Börne]] both recorded their sense of obligation to Napoleon's principles of action.<ref name="NAPOLEON BONAPARTE">{{cite web |last1=Jacobs |first1=Joseph |title=NAPOLEON BONAPARTE |url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11320-napoleon-bonaparte |website=JewishEncyclopedia |publisher=Funk & Wagnalls |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190104050814/http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11320-napoleon-bonaparte |access-date=20 July 2020|archive-date=4 January 2019 }}</ref> German Jews in particular have historically regarded Napoleon as the major forerunner of Jewish emancipation in Germany. When the government required Jews to select surnames according to the mainstream model, some are said to have taken the name of ''Schöntheil,'' a translation of "Bonaparte."<ref name="NAPOLEON BONAPARTE"/> In the Jewish ghettos, legends about Napoleon's actions emerged.<ref name="NAPOLEON BONAPARTE"/> Twentieth-century Italian author [[Primo Levi]] wrote that Italian Jews often chose ''Napoleone'' and ''Bonaparte'' as their [[given name]] to recognise their historic liberator.{{citation needed|date=September 2016}}