Les Juifs, ont-ils du cœur?

Résumé du livre

Preceded by an essay by Henri Meschonnic, "Entre nature et histoire: Les Juifs" (pp. 5-29), in which he deals with arguments in support of Jewish emancipation during the French Revolution, as well as with the antisemitic discourse which followed, exemplified by French intellectuals such as Jean Giraudoux and Georges Bernanos. Cohen traces the perception of the Jews in French society from the Middle Ages to the Revolution, and analyzes the main ideas supporting their emancipation, especially the essay by Abbé Grégoire (1788) on the physical, moral, and political "regeneration" of the Jews. Enlightenment philosophy accepted the Jews on condition that they abandon their beliefs and particularities. Examines the moral "defects" attributed to Jews (especially usury), and the physical "degeneracy" which emancipation was supposed to eradicate. Mentions constant attacks against the Talmud, seen as an embodiment of Jewish "degeneration". Concludes that the generous ideas of the French Revolution tended, actually, to erase the Jews as a nation and to replace their religion, but at the same time created the civic premises for their survival.