Grand Sanhedrin

[4] Napoleon instructed the prefects to select prominent rabbis and lay people, including representatives from the old provinces of France, the Left Bank of the Rhine, and Italian Jews.

[2] The assembly was led by Rabbi Joseph David Sinzheim of Strasbourg, who later became the chairman (Nasi) of the Grand Sanhedrin.The twelve questions presented were:[5] At one of the meetings of the Notables, Commissioner Count Louis-Mathieu Molé expressed the satisfaction of the emperor with their answers, and announced that the emperor, requiring a pledge of strict adherence to these principles, had resolved to call together a "great sanhedrin" which should convert the answers into decisions and make them the basis of the future status of the Jews, create a new organisation, and condemn all false interpretations of their religious laws.

The Assembly of Notables, which was to continue its sessions, was to elect the members of the sanhedrin, and notify the several communities of Europe of its meeting, "that they may send deputies worthy of communicating with you and able to give to the government additional information."

The Assembly of Notables was to appoint also a committee of nine, whose duty it would be to prepare the work of the sanhedrin and devise a plan for the future organisation of the Jews in France and Italy (see Consistoire).

But the deputies were greatly disappointed when the president, after having answered them in Hebrew, invited them to be silent listeners instead of taking part in the debates as the proclamation of the Notables had caused them to expect.

At the eighth meeting, on March 9, Hildesheimer, deputy from Frankfurt-am-Main, and Asser of Amsterdam delivered addresses, to which the president responded in Hebrew expressing great hopes for the future.