CJL

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CJL (an abbreviation for Communaute Juive Liberale) is a Jewish community led by the rabbi Pauline Bebe, the first and only female rabbi in France. The community belongs to the Reform movement. The CJL is part of the World Union for Progressive Judaism which gathers 2,000 communities around the world.

Although Reform Judaism is dominant within worldwide Judaism, it is still underdeveloped in France. The CJL and a few other Reform communities are not accepted within the very conservative Consistoire. The Consistoire was founded in 1808 at the time of the French Revolution, when the Jews of France were granted civil rights under the direction of Napoleon, whose goal was to make mainstream Frenchmen out of Jews.

The CJL gathers more than 200 families and benefits from a warm atmosphere. It also has a cultural organization called NITSA. The CJL's home is in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, but is soon to move into its new home, La Maison du Judaisme, in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, in 2006.