This town and commune in the Bourgogne région, the Yonne département, of which it is a sous-préfecture has a population of 28,000. First capital of the Senones, a Gallic tribe, and later a Roman metropolis, Sens was the stronghold of the Holy League during the early 16th century. Jews, among Sens' inhabitants as early as the sixth century, resided in rues de la Juiverie, rue de la Petite-Juiverie, and rue de la Synagogue, and had two cemeteries. In the ninth century, Anségise (Archbishop and Viscount of Sens and Primate of Gaul) expelled the Jews from Sens, probably under the pretext that they were in secret communication with the Normans. In 1146 Louis VII permitted them to return. Pope Innocent III complained to Philip Augustus in 1208 that the Jews had built a synagogue at Sens that surpassed the neighboring church and that they prayed in it so loudly that they disturbed the Christian worshipers. The magnificent synagogue, with its beautiful paintings representing Hebrew ceremonies, was torn down in 1750 to make room for a salt-warehouse. In 1963, the community grouped into a single association with Jews from thee département of Yonne that is now some 35 family. Services are celebrated according to Sephardic ritual, in places belonging to the City of Sens, rue de Grande Juiverie. ABRAHAM LAYANI, who was the founding President, the rabbi, the teacher, and the leader of the community left in July 1993. In Sens, in the 13th century, lived the Talmudists Isaac Ben SALOMON, Eliezer, Bassinet, Nathan, Halévi Ben YEHOUDA, and the prestigious Talmudist Simson Ben ABRAHAM (nicknamed the prince de Sens), whose authority stretched over all northern France. Several publications relating to the past of this community exist in the Archives of Yonne. For a visit, contact: MR LE GD RABBIN ABBA SAMOUN, Tél. 03-25-73-52-87. Synagogue Abraham Layani and Centre Communautaire are at 14, rue de la Grande Juiverie (another entrance on Rue Nonat-Fillemin) - 89100 SENS, Tél 03-86-95-16-65. Of interest are the Medieval Jewish quarter - Rues de la Petite et de la Grande Juiverie - Rue de l'ancienne Synagogue. To visit, contact: MR PAUL CHARBIT - 4, rue Paul Claudel - SENS. [January 2008]
Carré au Cimetière Municipal: Rue de Bellenave - 89100 SENS [January 2008]
Cimetière des Conches: 89000 AUXERRE [January 2008]
Cemetery in Saint-Pregts: Sold for Philippe IV by the bailiff of Sens in 1309. Located between the main street and the quarter of Tau. In a Yonne document (1212), it was recorded: "Don gives Mathilda, countess of Nevers, the schools of Auxerre, in the place of the graveyard of Jews, near the home of the Frères-Prêcheurs." In the Catalogue of the Treasury of Charters: After the expulsion of the Jews, the sale of their graveyard in Sens and the home there annexed brought 400 pounds to the tax office. [January 2008]
Cemetery in Rue de la Parcheminerie passed into the possession of the Celestine monks in 1336. On rue de la Parcheminerie in rue Saint-Mary, Notre-Dame, street of Pelletiière and sometimes street des Célestins. The Order of Célestins was founded in Sens in 1336; the ground that was their poultry-yard had acted as graveyard for Jews. [January 2008]