Napoleon, Bordeaux and the Beth Din: Kosher Certification in Paris

Some of the kosher wine made in Bordeaux is produced under the eye of a rabbinical court in Paris. The Beth Din de Paris supervises kosher food across the French capital and the surrounding Île-de-France region, and at harvest time its supervisors travel a long way from the city. This article opens the European part of our series on the people behind the symbols on your shopping.

Who is behind the Beth Din de Paris?

The Beth Din de Paris is the rabbinical court of the Consistoire de Paris Île-de-France, known formally as the Association Consistoriale Israélite de Paris (ACIP). It works under the Grand Rabbin de Paris, the city’s chief rabbi.

The consistorial system it belongs to has a long history. It was created by a decree of Napoleon on 17 March 1808. In 1905, when church and state were separated in France, the consistories lost their public-law status.

How big is it?

Figures for the Paris network have been reported at different times. In 2007 the Beth Din supervised 60 butchers, 180 restaurants and 50 caterers. By 2010 the French news site Slate.fr counted about 220 restaurants, around 60 pâtisseries and around 60 butchers, double the number of ten years earlier.

That network serves a smaller strictly observant public than you might expect. In 2010 Rabbi Elkiess, head of the kashrut service, estimated that only 10 to 15 per cent of French Jews keep strictly kosher.

From the vineyard to the glass

Wine is where the Beth Din’s work is most visible outside Paris. For the 2007 harvest, at least 50 of its mashgichim were placed in French wineries, mostly in Bordeaux and the south of the country. During that harvest, sukkot were built beside the wineries, with vine leaves used as schach. For kosher shoppers, it means a bottle from a Bordeaux château can carry the same Paris guarantee as the meat from a local butcher.

Who pays for supervision?

In an interview published on the Consistoire’s website, Joël Mergui, speaking as president of the Consistoire, explained that certification is funded mainly by a levy on meat of €1.66 per kilo. About 60 per cent of that levy covers the supervision of shechita. Smaller levies apply to wine and other products.

What the Paris guarantee covers

The Consistoire’s product list sets a clear rule for the most sensitive categories. These must always carry the guarantee of the Beth Din de Paris:

• Meat and charcuterie: always with the Beth Din guarantee.
• Wine and grape juice: always with the Beth Din guarantee.
• Cheese: all cheeses, without exception.

Within the list, dairy products are marked (L), and parev products made on dairy equipment are marked (EL).

How to check a product

The Consistoire publishes the Liste des Produits Sélectionnés, a free guide that has been produced for more than 50 years. The current edition dates from July 2025 and covers 2025–26.

• Read the list itself on consistoire.org. It is meant for private family use, so we link to it rather than reproduce it.
• Look for the guarantee on meat, charcuterie, wine, grape juice and cheese, where the list says it must always appear.
• Check the codes (L) and (EL) if you keep dairy and meat apart at home.

Three things you might not know

1. The consistorial system behind the Beth Din de Paris dates from a decree signed by Napoleon in 1808.
2. In 2007, sukkot roofed with vine leaves stood beside French wineries while the Beth Din’s supervisors worked the harvest.
3. The number of kosher restaurants in the Paris network roughly doubled in the decade to 2010.

On The Kosher Shop, every food seller tells us which kashrut authority supervises their products, and we check the certificate before their shop opens. Next in this series: Machsike Hadass, the Orthodox Jewish community of Antwerp.

Sources: Consistoire de Paris: Liste des Produits Sélectionnés 2025–2026; Wikipedia: Israelite Central Consistory of France; RCE, 2007; Slate.fr, 2010; Consistoire: interview with Joël Mergui. Figures are as reported at the time by each source.