The Jewish Community of Tangier

Tangier

In Arabic: طنجة

Also known as Tangiers, Tanja. Known in antiquity as Tingis.

A Moroccan port city located at the entrance to the Straits of Gibralter.

The site that would become known as Tangier was inhabited first by the Phoenicians, and then by the Carthaginians. A number of historians believe that a Jewish community existed in Tingis, and archeologists have found ceramic objects with menorah stamps. Joseph Ha-Kohen mentions that the Jews were wiped out by the Almohads from Tangier to Mahdia around the year 1148.

Many refugees arrived in Tangier after the expulsion from Spain in 1492 and began establishing themselves in the city. For example, the Rote family maintained a commercial house in the town around 1535. In 1541, when the town was ruled by the Portuguese, small numbers from the communities of Azemmour and Safi settled there. The community, however, eventually came under attack by the Inquisition, which outlawed Jews from living in the city.

The Portuguese ceded Tangier to England in 1661, which brought another wave of Jews and Muslims to the city, particularly from the neighboring towns of Larache and Ksar El-Kabir. Additionally, a small number of Jews arrived from the Netherlands. In 1675 tensions boiled over between the Moroccan-born Jews and those born abroad who later arrived in Tangier. A cherem (excommunication) order was subsequently issued against the latter by the rabbis of Tetuan, who had jurisdiction over the Jewish community in Tangier. In 1677 the Jews were expelled from the town, and did not return until 1680.

Although the Jewish community of Tangier was generally poor, there were a number of notable figures that lived in the city. Solomon Pariente was the principal adviser and interpreter to four successive governors. Samuel de Paz, a British diplomat, lived in Tangier and Jacob Falcon, the leader of the Tetuan community, and the Falcon family, played an important role in building relationships between the English and the Muslims. Additionally, the Jews living in the town engaged in extensive trade. However, when the English abandoned Tangier in 1684, this trade came to an end. Because of the economic decline, most of the Jews left the town.

In 1725 a Jewish merchant, Abraham Benamor of Meknes, organized a new community of about 150 people. The community appointed Rabbi Judah Hadida, the first dayan (rabbinical court judge) of Tangier, as its leader in 1744. Moses Maman of Meknes, the sultan's treasurer, encouraged a number of important Jewish merchants of Tetuan, and particularly of Sale-Rabat, to send representatives to settle in Tangiers, where they would be exempt from certain taxes.

When Christians were excluded from Tetuan in 1772, a number of European consuls established their consulates in Tangier. They were followed there by their Jewish interpreters whose roles afforded them certain privileges. The majority of the community, however, lived in poverty. It was led by the dayan, Rabbi Aaron Toledano, who was succeeded by his son Rabbi Moses Toledano, and later his grandson, Rabbi Abraham Toledano.

As opposed to their European brethren, Moroccan Jews experienced little to no government-sponsored violence against them. This changed with the ascension of Sultan Mulay Yazid to the throne. Though Muslims were also massacred during this brief reign of terror, since many court Jews owed their positions to the previous sultan, and Mulay Yazid wanted to rid himself of people on whom the previous sultan depended, they were particularly vulnerable. A number of prominent court Jews were executed, including Jacob Attal who was executed in Tangier in 1783. Jewish residences were pillaged, people were killed, and women were raped.

The Jewish community of Tangier grew rapidly during the first half of the 19th century. There were fewer than 800 Jews living in Tangier in 1808; in 1835 that number had grown to 2,000. The community, however, was still poor, in spite of the presence of the Nahon family who were successful wax traders, Joseph Chriqui of Mogador, who had a great deal of influence within the community, and the Abensur, Sicsu, Anzancot, and Benchimol families, who were supported by the European powers to whom they rendered important services.

Though the Franco-Moroccan War of 1844 was difficult for the Jewish community, there were nonetheless some bright spots. That year, in commemoration of its escape during the French bombardment of Tangier, the Jewish community of Tangier celebrated a special Purim known as Purim de las Bombas ("Purim of the Bombs."). By 1856 the situation of the 2,600 Jews in Tangier was still difficult, but there was a definite improvement with the arrival of a new group of Jews from Tetuan. By 1867 the community had increased to 3,500 people, and it was headed by the learned dayan Rabbi Mordecai Bengio. A larger and more prosperous middle class financed the establishment of the French school Alliance Israelite Universelle in 1869.

A number of Moroccan Jews participated in the Moroccan press, whose sole center was in Tangier. These included Ben-Ayon, editor of the first newspaper in Tangier, Levy Cohen, founder and editor of the second newspaper, "Le Reveil du Maroc," Phinehas Assayay, Abraham Pimienta, and Isaac Laredo. Other newspapers appeared after 1886. This press, which was published in English, Spanish, French, and Arabic, called for the Europeanization of Morocco and supported the committee of the Jewish community. Jewish authors and poets, especially those who wrote in Spanish, also flourished in Tangier. The Jewish middle class founded hospitals and numerous welfare institutions. The Jewish intelligentsia, namely the historian Jose Benoliel, the kabbalist Sanuel Toldedano, and the last leader of the community, Abraham Laredo, brought about the revival of a distinctively Jewish culture. Zionism was also a major part of this revival.

In 1923 Tangier was declared an international zone under the joint administration of France, Spain, and Britain. At that time there were over 10,000 Jews living in the city, though many had emigrated to South America or settled in Casablanca.

Beginning in 1939, many Jews from Eastern Europe sought refuge in Tangier, and the community worked to help them settle there. A number of these refugees eventually established themselves permanently in Tangier.

Approximately 12,000 Jews lived in the international zone of Tangier in 1948, and by 1950 approximately 2,000 Spanish Moroccan Jews joined them, bringing the community to a total of about 15,000 people in 1951. After Morocco gained independence in 1956, several Jews, including Solomon M. Pinto, attempted to preserve the community of 17,000. A powerful movement towards emigration had, however, already been set in motion. Jews from Tangier helped build a new Jewish community in Madrid, while others settled in Geneva, Canada, or the United States. A few hundred also emigrated to Israel.

With the combination of the establishment of the State of Israel, Moroccan independence, and the annexation of Tangier by Morocco in 1956, the Jewish population fell. By 1968 the number of Jews in Tangier had falled to about 4,000. Before the annexation, the Jewish community had three representatives on the Tangier legislative council, and the head of the rabbinical court was the officially recognized representative of the community.

In spite of the population decline, during the 1950s and 1960s the Alliance Israelite Universelle and the Otzar HaTorah maintained schools in Tangier. A vocational school was supported by the Joint Distribution Committee. Additionally, the community supported a rabbinical seminary and several social welfare institutions.

There were only about 250 Jews left in Tangier in 1970.