Paris Consistory Turns over Ancient Ashkenazi Synagogue to Algerian Jews

The Paris Consistory has turned over one of the most famous synagogues of this city, the synagogue in the Rue des Tournelles, in which the Ashkenazi rites have been practiced for more than 80 years, to a new Sephardic congregation composed of Algerian Jews who have settled in Paris. Rabbi Andre Chekroun, an Algerian, will be minister of the congregation.

Establishment of the Algerian congregation in Paris emphasized the extent of the movement of Jews from North Africa to France during the last decade. Alain de Rothschild, president of the Paris Consistory, estimated the number of these settlers in Paris in the tens of thousands and pledged that the Consistory would do all in its power to provide adequate religious facilities for them.