Union Libérale Israélite de France

About

The Union Libérale Israélite de France, abbreviated ULIF and commonly known as the rue Copernic synagogue, is a Reform Jewish congregation in the sixteenth arrondissement of Paris and the oldest Reform synagogue in the country. It was inaugurated on the first of December 1907 and continues today as a leading voice of liberal Judaism in France.

The synagogue was founded by Rabbi Louis Germain Lévy, trained at the Séminaire Israélite de France. The community first gathered in a converted painter's studio at 24 rue Copernic, rented in 1907 and purchased in 1921, before a purpose-built Art Deco sanctuary was constructed on the site between 1923 and 1924 to designs by the architect Marcel Lemarié.

The congregation has endured the tragic intrusions of antisemitic violence. On the night of the second to third of October 1941, during the German occupation, a bomb planted by the Mouvement Social Révolutionnaire damaged the building, which was repaired only after the Liberation. On the third of October 1980, on the eve of Simchat Torah, a motorcycle bomb detonated outside the synagogue, killing four passers-by.

Under successive rabbis including Louis Germain Lévy, André Chalom Zaoui and Daniel Farhi, the congregation has developed a Reform tradition adapted to French Jewish life, with services in Hebrew and French and equal participation of women and men. In 2019 the ULIF announced its merger with the Mouvement Juif Libéral de France into the new association Judaïsme en Mouvement.

History

Rabbi Louis Germain Lévy founded the congregation in 1907, first meeting in a converted painter's studio at 24 rue Copernic that the community rented that year and purchased in 1921. Between 1923 and 1924 the congregation built a new sanctuary in Art Deco style, designed by the architect Marcel Lemarié, keeping the original oratory as a hall for Kiddush. The synagogue has twice suffered antisemitic violence: a bomb damaged the building on the night of 2 to 3 October 1941 under the German occupation, and on 3 October 1980, on the eve of Simchat Torah, a bomb hidden in a motorcycle exploded outside the synagogue and killed four passers-by in the street. In 2019 the congregation joined with the Mouvement Juif Libéral de France to form Judaïsme en Mouvement, and Copernic continues today as one of its constituent synagogues.

Significance

As the founding congregation of Reform Judaism in France, the Union Libérale Israélite de France carries a double inheritance: a century of liturgical and communal life within French Judaism, and the memory of violence endured simply for gathering to pray. Today, joined with the Mouvement Juif Libéral de France within Judaïsme en Mouvement, the community continues the liberal Jewish tradition its founders began, with services conducted in Hebrew and French and full participation of women and men alike.

Architecture

Art Deco synagogue architecture, designed by Marcel Lemarié