In 1942, Rabbi Max Warschawski became the first student at Le Petit Séminaire Israélite de Limoges in Limoges, France, which was founded by Rabbi Abraham Deutsch and trained its students for both rabbinical ordination and academic degrees. In spite of the almost daily danger of arrest by the Gestapo, the P.S.I.L. functioned until the end of the war in the apartment of Abraham Deutsch zt”l, until his arrest, and the departure of some of the pupils, including Rabbi Max Warschawski zt”l who joined the Resistance movements.

In 1829, the Central Jewish Consistory in France replaced the yeshiva of Metz with a rabbinical school, intended to train religious leaders for the Jewish communities in France. After 1844 in order to be accepted to the Rabbinical School, prospective students had to obtain an academic degree which French students sit for at the end of the lycée (secondary school).

In France at that time there were only primary Jewish schools, and no lycée (secondary schools), and as a result the number of Rabbinical Students fell during years. Shortly before World War II, the Maïmonide School opened in Boulognel, at that time only Jewish secondary school in France. When the war broke out, the school was transferred close to Vichy, and moved temporarily to Paris until the armistice of 1940.

At the time of the German occupation, the rabbinical School moved to Clermont-Ferrand, and the Jewish preparatory schools that existed before the war were forced to close their doors. Only the ORT opened vocational schools. The consistory worried about this situation. The Rabbi of Limoges, Abraham Deutsch zt”l, encouraged by Leon Meiss, who after the war became the chairperson of the central consistory, had the courage to create the Petit Séminaire Israélite de Limoges (P.S.I.L.) secondary school for the 1942-43 school year. In 1942, Rabbi Max Warschawski became the first student at Le Petit Séminaire Israélite de Limoges in Limoges, France, which was founded by Rabbi Abraham Deutsch and trained its students for both rabbinical ordination and academic degrees. In spite of the almost daily danger of arrest by the Gestapo, the P.S.I.L. functioned until the end of the war in the apartment of Abraham Deutsch zt”l, until his arrest, and the departure of some of the pupils for who joined the Resistance movements.

Abraham Deutsch zt”l devoted himself to his “children”. Despite the war, the deportations and the arrest of Abraham Deutsch zt”l, some of the students passed the baccalaureate. Abraham Deutsch zt”l envisioned that the graduates of the P.S.I.L. would become the future religious leaders of France, replacing those who never returned from the deportations. The P.S.I.L. was the seedbed, whose graduates were responsible for creating new schools for the Jewish Community in France.

Today, we must testify our recognition with Chief Rabbi Abraham Deutsch, who knew to work even under the occupation for the future of the French Judaism.

Click here to watch a video presentation of Rabbi Max Warschawski (zt”l) speaking at the 1991 conference of the Société d’Histoire des Israélites d’Alsace et de Lorraine about the Yeshiva where he studied (Le Petit Séminaire Israélite de Limoges)

Recent Articles by Rabbi Max Warschawski (ztl)

• The Publications of Rabbi Max Warschawski zt"l - September 14th, 2005
• Rabbi Max Warschawski zt”l and the Petit Séminaire Israélite de Limoges - January 1st, 2001
• Rabbi Max Warschawski zt”l and Rabbi Abraham Deutsch zt"l - December 31st, 1992
• The childhood of Rabbi Max Warschawski zt”l - September 1st, 1935

Categories: Rabbi Max Warschawski zt?l
Tags: armistice, Bo, human rights, ISM, order, palestinians, rest, settlers