Troyes is a town and commune, the préfecture (capital) of the northeastern Aube département in France and is located on the Seine river with a population of 61,000. Existing since the Roman era, through the centuries Troyes gained great importance as a medieval centre of commerce and the first town taken by Joan of Arc on her march to Reims. Troyes is home to the Lacoste company production headquarters, one of the most popular brands in the Western World. Troyes is the home town of the famous RASHI, one of the greatest commentators of the Bible and the Talmud. Troyes contained a Jewish population as early as the tenth century as noted in a responsum addressed to the community of Troyes about the year 1000. Another sent to the same community by Joseph ben Samuel Bonfils of Limoges in the early part of the eleventh century shows that at that time the Jews of Troyes with the sanction of the counts of Champagne, who regarded them as an important source of revenue, owned vineyards and other real estate. At the end of the twelfth century and at the beginning of the thirteenth, the counts of Champagne and the King of France entered into an agreement by which the contracting parties bound themselves to surrender to each other all Jews who should quit the domains of the one and settle in the territories of the other. In 1204 all rights over the Jews who settled in Ervy were waived by the Seigneur d'Ervy in favor of Countess Blanche of Troyes. In 1222 Thibaud, Count of Champagne, acknowledged the receipt for 160 livres given by the Jews of the city to Jacob, "Master of the Jews of Troyes." In March 1288, the Jewish inhabitants of Troyes were accused of a ritual murder. On April 24 of the same year, the tribunal of the Inquisition condemned thirteen Jews to the stake, whose names, according to the elegy of Jacob ben Judah on the auto da fé, were as follows: Isaac Châtelain, with his wife, two sons, and daughter-in-law, Samson Ḳadmon, Solomon or Salamin ben Vivant, Baruch d'Avirey or Baruch Ṭob 'Elem (Bonfils), Simeon of Châtillon, Jonah or "le Beau Colon," Isaac Cohen, Ḥayyim of Brinon (département of Yonne) or "le Maître de Brinon," and Ḥayyim of Chaource (département of Aube). In 1298, Vivant of Troyes was one of the Jews subsidized by the treasury as an administrator for the Jews of France. The Jewish revenues from the bailiwick of Troyes indicate that at this time the Jews were very numerous; for in 1301 their total income amounted to 1,000 livres. Prosperity reigned among them; and the lords of the country and the ecclesiastical dignitaries applied to them for assistance when financially embarrassed. The Jews were expelled from Troyes in 1306, but returned in great numbers in 1315. The "Document sur les Juifs du Barrois" contains the names of some who settled at Troyes during the years 1321 to 1323: Maistre Deuaye, Bonjuyf son of Bonjuyf, Bonne Vie and Domim his son, Terine, and Haquinet. In 1379, the family of Isaac Lyon of Troyes obtained as a special favor permission to reside in Burgundy. Toward the close of the fourteenth century Abraham of Treves, son of Mattithiah, and Johanan of Treves lived at Troyes. The 1905 Jewish community was about forty families. The modern community, founded by Jewry native to Alsace-Lorraine, numbers 150 families today. A synagogue and a community center were built in 1960. Services are celebrated according to Sephardic ritual. 80% of the members of the community now are originally from North Africa, while no more than 10% of Alsatian Jews remain. Another 10% of the faithful are originally from Central Europe. The Synagogue "RASHI " is installed in a quarter rich in history, old Troyes, in an environment reminiscent of Champagne area and inside a building with wooden sections dating the 14th century. These were rationally emphasized since 1982. The synagogue was officially dedicated on November 8th, 1987. The community of Troy installed four plaques to RASHI and the Jewry of Champagne région in the Middle Ages, with the help of Roger Berg. Synagogue and Centre Communautaire: 5, rue Brunneval - 10000 TROYES. [January 2008]
Cimetière Municipal: Jewish Section