Joseph Blumenthal: Integration and Identity in Nineteenth-Century France

Joseph Blumenthal, born in Bavaria c. 1795, emigrated to France in the 1820s and took a post as a teacher of Jewish studies in Wissembourg, Alsace. Like many other young men seeking professional and financial advancement he moved on to Paris, there giving up his teaching career and establishing a successful commercial business. In Paris,however, his life becomes more than just another successful immigrant story.

After arriving in Paris, Joseph Blumenthal began to pursue a number of “extracurricular,” non-business related activities. He was a member of the National Guard during the revolution of 1848, serving with distinction. At the same time, he became involved in religious affairs, becoming a founder of the Société de l’Etude Talmudique, also known as the Chevra Shas. This group formed the nucleus of the more Orthodox segment of the community. Starting in the 1850s, he began to engage in a variety of fund-raising and institution-building activities in Palestine. His focus on education, housing, and health care closely paralleled the program undertaken by the French Rothschilds during that period. In pursuing his projects, JB not only engaged in fund-raising in France, but also traveled to Palestine on at least four occasions.

This paper will piece together the varied strands of Joseph Blumenthal’s life, correct some of the misinformation that has entered the literature, and evaluate the impact of his activities on both French Jewry and the “Old Yishuv.”