AZARIA Origin of surname

Sfax 

Arabic: صفاقس‎‎ 

Sfax is the second largest city in Tunisia after Tunis the capital. It is a port situated on the coast midway between the capital and the Libyan border. Lying on the crossroads of the north-south and east- west trade routes, Sfax had both geographic and economic importance.

21st Century

The Bet El synagogue of Sfax was still used by a small number of elderly Jews in the early years of this century, so there were prayer books and torah scrolls inside. Three incidents of vandalism occurred in the synagogue during the current decade, in August 2010, April 2012 and April 2014. Photographs from this last attack show prayer books scattered on the floor. Local newspaper reports claim that the vandals were teenagers from the local high school. A sad finale to the Jewish community of Sfax.

Early Jewish Settlement

The first evidence of Jews in Sfax was found in the Cairo Geniza, in records dating from  the year 1064.  The document mentions a Jew from Sfax named Salama ben Moshe ben Yitzhak who wanted to buy a house in Sicily, and sent a letter to his family in Sfax asking them to move to  join him in Sicily. At the time Jews were engaged in textile trading, importing from Egypt and Syria.

The later period of Moslem anti-Jewish decrees throughout the Maghreb forced the Jews to choose between Islam and death, so no further evidence of Jewish settlement is found until the 18th century.

 A book of religious responsa written by Rabbi Halfon Moshe Hacohen  refers to the first group of Jews who were asked by rich Moslems to settle in Sfax. Their objective was to benefit from the work of skilled gold and silversmiths of Djerba. The Jewish craftsmen agreed to come on condition  that they would be given autonomy to organize their religious community life.  The city governor gave permission to four Jewish families from to settle in Sfax,  Berebi Gavriel, Azaria, Idan and Khiat. They were later joined by a ritual slaughterer (shohet) and a prayer leader ( shliah tzibur).  This group formed the core of the growing Jewish community in Sfax in the 18th century.

19th Century

The Jewish traveler Benjamin the second (Israel Joseph Benjamin) visited Sfax during his voyage to North Africa, and mentions 150 Jewish families living in the town at this time.  The population included Jewish merchants from Girona and Livorno  who maintained business connections with Tunis, Malta and Italy.

In 1861 there were 1,300 Jews in Sfax. France's invasion of Tunisia evoked little resistance in much of the country. Among those areas where Arab  opposition to the French turned to violence were the two southern ports of Gabes and Sfax.  The Christian and Jewish residents were forced to flee their homes and find refuge in the European ships anchored in the port. Some of the Jews fled south to Tripoli in Libya. On their return after the rebellion, when the French took control, the Jews found their homes and businesses had been plundered and destroyed.  To make matters worse, the Moslems attempted to  take over the businesses in the Jewish market in order to control the city's economy. Prior to the rebellion there had been a formal separation between the Jewish and Moslem sections in the market, but this arrangement was no longer honored by the Kadi. In 1867 the Jewish community had no choice but to ask for the intervention of the Tunisian representative of Alliance to try to persuade the local Moslem governor to reverse the situation.

 With the establishment of  the protectorate in 1881 , French city regulations were applied to Sfax and the local population was required to pay for the damage to property that had been vandalised during the rebellion. The Jewish community suffered considerable losses and was unable to pay the fines, so the rabbi asked for help from the community in Tunis. Despite pressure from Jewish institutions in  both Tunisia and France , the French authorities refused to co-operate.

French rule eventually resulted in the development and modernization of Sfax. The community was  influenced by both traditional and modern ways of life. At the turn of the century the life of the Jews of Sfax was described by the researcher Nahum Shlouschz (1872-1966). Those who lived in the old walled city conducted a traditional Jewish life with no European influence whatsoever, since their religious leaders came from Djerba and the schools were based entirely on Torah study. On the other hand the Jews who lived in the  newer French  section of the city owned more spacious shops, and adopted European dress and manners.

20th Century; 1900-1945 (end of WW II)

During the period from the beginning of French rule until the Second World War the Jewish community of Sfax  grew from 2,722 in 1909 to 3,466 in 1936. In the decade 1921-1931 there was a slight decrease in the Jewish population, which may be explained by internal migration from Sfax to Tunis, as well as the fact that some Jews received French citizenship and were not included in community records. French rule led to economic development and the opening of many places of employment for the Jews. The oil  and cereal industry was to a large extent controlled by Jewish owners, and many Jews were involved in trade.

Community institutions included several charitable organizations, 11 synagogues, many of which were named after the rabbis who founded them, a religious court of law and the seat of the chief rabbi.  Rabbi Raphael Hai Hacohen served as Chief Rabbi at the turn of the century  followed by Rav Hai Azaria, and then his son  Rav Yaakov Azaria who passed away in 1929. After this the Chief Rabbi was Akiva Abitbul, who served until 1950. 

Jewish schools included traditional torah learning in the synagogues for boys, as well as the modern Alliance schools for boys and girls which were established in 1905. The French  educational authorities also  set up a school for the general public.

Zionist activity in Sfax was initiated in 1913 by the Lovers of Zion organization. When the  Tunisian branch of the Zionist Federation was established in Tunis, the Sfax community refused to join, possibly because of a desire to maintain their own identity.  Other Zionist organizations sprang up, including "Herzliyya" ( ostensibly a youth movement) and a newspaper which became the most important Zionist paper in North Africa ;"Le Reveil Juif" (the Jewish Awakening). The study of modern Hebrew began in 1926 with a teacher from Israel whose role was educational activity in the Jewish Scouts movement.  He remained for  only a year because of conflict with the community committee. In the 1930s the outstanding Hebrew teacher was Shimon Barda , a community member. The year 1931 saw the establishment of a branch of Beitar (the revisionist youth movement) in Sfax.  Cultural activities of Beitar included a musical band,  and a theatre which produced plays in Hebrew.

After the Nazi party took over Germany in 1933, the Jewish community of Sfax followed that of Tunis in a boycott of German goods. When a German merchant arrived in Sfax  in 1933 as he had done in previous years, the Jews refused to buy from him.  Several Jewish doctors who escaped from Europe during the 1930s settled in Sfax.

With the fall of France to Germany in 1940, the Vichy government took control of Tunisia, with the same anti-Jewish policies as the mainland French authorities. But during the period from 1940 – November 1942 studies continued in the Alliance school.  Things changed when the German army entered the town on November 8th . The Germans appointed one of the Jewish doctors, Dr. Sperber, to represent the community as he spoke German.  The Jews were ordered to supply 100 forced laborers  to unload military vehicles and build shelters. The community asked the poorer men to work for  a daily wage of 100 franc . This demonstrated the differences in economic status within Sfax.  Later the Germans sent orders to imprison all men of working age and ability, but when the community leader warned of risks of epidemics, the idea was disregarded. 

In addition to laborers, the Germans demanded heavy fines of 35 million francs, taking 60 Jewish hostages to ensure payment. The occupiers also confiscated Jewish property such as cars, radios and jewellery. They also imposed a curfew at certain hours.  As a result of the anti-Jewish actions, as well as the bombing attacks by the Allied forces, many Jews escaped to the surrounding Arab villages, to the orchards or anywhere they could shelter from the bombing.  Sfax was liberated on April 10th 1943, some time before the liberation of the rest of the country, as the Allied forces had landed in the port of Sfax. The Jewish community celebrated Passover that year together with 10 Jewish soldiers who served in the British army. Many synagogues were  among the buildings destroyed by Allied bombing during the 6 months of German occupation.

1945-1956

The war had such a detrimental effect on the economy that it was almost impossible to recover. Those Jews who had been sent to forced labor were greatly disappointed with the attitude of the French towards the Jews, and this influenced the younger generation to join  the Zionist groups, and consider Aliyah.  When the first certificates  for Tunisia were issued  by the British, the various organizations were asked to propose candidates for Aliyah. Only five were selected from Sfax, and  these were the only Jews from the town who received certificates and made Aliyah before the state was established in 1948. Others tried to go illegally (Aliyah Bet).  In 1947 the Youth of Zion movement organized a group of Aliyah Bet immigrants from all North Africa, including 120 candidates from Sfax, via camps in Algeria.

After 1948 the Jewish population of Sfax  decreased from 4,223 in 1946 to  3,168 in 1956, th year that Tunisia gainedindependence. From this time there was a growing exodus of Jews to Israel from Sfax in particular and Tunisia in general, so that by 1976 the Jewish community was reduced to 205 persons.