Lettre Pastorale Addressé par le Consistoire Central des Israélites de France aux Consistoires des Circonscriptions.

A ‘Pastoral Letter’ from the Central Consistory of France upon the death of Louis XVIII, the French monarch who sat on the throne after the ouster of Napoleon. In this letter, Chief Rabbis Abram Vita de Cologna and Emanuel Deutz express regret for the loss of the king “whose return among us was the salvation of France. As “gratitude is a religious duty for Jews, we will feel the loss of the magnanimous Prince who placed the faith of our fathers under his royal protection” - referring to Louis’ authorization of state-salaried rabbis. This letter decrees that each provincial Consistoire is to hold a memorial service. The service is to include a reading of this Lettre Pastorale and end with the prayer for Louis’ brother, the new king Charles X, whose words to the Consistoire upon accession were “reassuring and full of benevolence.”