Astruc, Elie-Aristide

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ASTRUC, ELIE-ARISTIDE

ASTRUC, ELIE-ARISTIDE (1831–1905), French rabbi and author. Astruc was born in Bordeaux and studied at the rabbinical college of Metz. He became assistant to the chief rabbi of Paris in 1857, chief rabbi of Belgium in 1866–79, and rabbi of Bayonne in 1887–91. He took part in the Rabbinical Synod of Leipzig in 1869. Astruc was a founder of the *Alliance Israélite Universelle. A successful writer, Astruc often shows originality and independence in his treatment of Jewish themes. His main works are Histoire abrégée des juifs et de leurs croyances (1869; 18802), a collection of sermons Entretiens sur le judaïsme (1879), and Origines et causes historiques de l'anti-sémitisme (1884). He also composed Olelot Eliyahu (1865), a French metrical translation of the piyyutim of the Sephardi rite.

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Astruc, Elie-Aristide

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