PALLIÈRE, AIMÉ°

PALLIÈRE, AIMÉ° (1875–1949), French writer and theologian. Born into a devout Catholic family, as an adolescent Pallière intended to take holy orders but instead his spiritual odyssey led him first into the Salvation Army and eventually as the result of a chance visit to the Lyons synagogue on the Day of Atonement – toward Judaism. Although he wished to become a Jew, he was persuaded by the Liberal Italian rabbi, E. Benamozegh\>\> , who became his spiritual mentor, to settle for the status of a Noachide, without full conversion to Judaism. Nevertheless, he lived the life of an ardent and ascetic Jew. Although he recognized only Orthodox Judaism as authentic, Pallière became a spiritual guide to the Paris Liberal (i.e., Reform) synagogue and the French Reform movement. He was much sought after as a lecturer and was for some time president of the World Union of Jewish Youth. He edited its periodical Chalom and also contributed to Foi et Réveil. Toward the end of his life, Pallière drew closer to the religion of his birth. Among his published works the best known is the autobiographical Le Sanctuaire Inconnu (1926; The Unknown Sanctuary, 1928). He also wrote Bergson et le Judaïsme (1932); L'Ame Juive et Dieu (n.d.); Le Voile Soulevé (1936); and some of his sermons were published. In 1914 he edited Benamozegh's Israël et l' Humanité. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: E. Fleg, in: A. Pallière, The Unknown Sanctuary (1928); Le Rayon (Jan. 1950). (Colette Sirat)