David Sinzheim was born into a family of rabbis in Trier on 16 November 1745. His father, with whom he studied the Talmud, was a rabbi in Niedernai. By marriage, he became the brother-in-law of Cerf Beer, an influential thinker concerning the emancipation of the Jews in Alsace and who in 1786 created the yeshivah of Bischheim. David Sintzheim took the lead and became delegate of Alsace to the Constituent Assembly in 1789 so as to present his political ideas for the recognition of Jewish citizenship and to ensure the protection of the Jews in the time of disorder during the Revolution when they were targeted. Becoming Rabbi in Strasbourg in 1792, he was appointed president of the Great Sanhedrin in 1807 and became the Chief Rabbi of the Central Consistory of the Israelites in 1808.
Marie de Bruchard trans. Peter Hicks, March 2019