Proclamation of the Alliance Israélite Universelle

Israelites! If, scattered over the whole surface of the earth and intermingled with all nations, you remain attached to the old religion of your ancestors, however weak be the bond that unites you therewith:

If you do not deny your religion, if you do not hide your worship, if you do not blush at being Israelites;

If you abhor the prejudices still entertained against us; the reproaches raised against us; the slanders, continually repeated, the lies, perpetually renewed; the injustice done us; the persecutions, which are either tolerated or excused;

If you hold, that the oldest and most simple of spiritual religions ought to maintain its place, fulfil its mission, proclaim its right, and manifest its vitality amid the new theories that agitate modern society;

If you believe, that the sublime idea and the vigorous worship of the One and Indivisible God, of which we are the oldest heirs and persistent defenders, ought to be guarded against the insinuations of doubt or indifference;

If you maintain, that religious liberty, this life of the soul, is nowhere better guarded, for the common good of all, than in those countries in which the Jews enjoy it fully and without any restriction whatsoever;

If you believe, that the creed, inherited from his ancestors, is for every one a sacred patrimony, that our firesides and our consciences are inviolable sanctuaries, which ought not to be invaded again as they lately have been;

If you hold, that unity is strength: that, although we are members of various nations, we may still be one nationality in sentiments, hopes and expectations;

If you think, that by legal means, by the invincible power of right and reason—without exciting any trouble, without frightening any power, without raising the indignation of any party, except that of ignorance, bigotry and fanaticism—you would obtain much and impart much by your zealous and intelligent action;

If you agree, that a large number of your co-religionists, still under the yoke of the sufferings, proscriptions and insults of twenty centuries, could regain their dignity as human beings, their rights as citizens;

If you believe, that those who are blind, ought to be enlightened, and not forsaken; and that those who are afflicted, ought to be assisted, and not merely pitied; that we should defend those who are calumniated, and not look on with silent compassion: that we ought to give material aid to those who are persecuted, and not simply cry and lament at their persecution;

If you hold, that the resources, hitherto isolated; the good intentions, one detached from the other, the aspirations, started without any definite object—could be united for higher purposes, so that the united action may be felt all over the globe;

If you hold, that it would be an honor to your religion, a lesson to the nations, a progress of humanity, a triumph of truth and reason, to see concentrated all the forces of Judaism, though small in number, but great by the innate love for the common good;

If you hold, that the influence, which the principles of 1789 exercise all over the world, is paramount; that the law taught by these principles is a law of justice, that it is desirable that this spirit may pervade all nations and that the example of religious liberty is an absolute power;

If you hold all these points to be true and correct then, Israelites of the whole world, come listen to our appeal and grant us your aid and your assistance. The work is a great and blissful one. We are establishing the Alliance Israélite Universelle!

Translator unknown.