Jewish Morocco

Emily Benichou Gottreich is an Adjunct Professor in Global Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, U.S. She is also former President of the American Institute for Maghrib Studies (AIMS). She holds a PhD from Harvard University, U.S.

• IntroductionChapter One: MalikismLaw and Religion. Malikism as law of the land today, Jews in pre-Islamic Morocco, Islamic conquests, conversion, Jews under Islamic rule, adoption of Malikism and the development of legal plurality, Maimonides in Fez. Chapter Two: The Berber QuestionEthnicity. Amazigh rights movement in context of Arab spring, Rise of Berber dynasties (Almoravids, Almohads, Marinids), development of Berber Islam and Berber Judaism, language issues in Morocco, Goulmima carnival, Amazigh cultural movement, Berber Philo-Semitism and Pro-Israel stance todayChapter Three: Sharifism Power and Authority.Rise of the Moroccan State, Sa‘dis and ‘Alawis, Sharifism, Mystical movments (Sufism, zawiyas, and Sabbateanism), arrival and integration of the Sephardim, trade, diplomacy.Chapter Four: ColonialismCulture. Jews and the colonial project, mission civilisatrice, the Alliance Israélite Universelle, protégé system, migration and urbanization, the last mellahs, cultural dislocationChapter Five: IndependencePolitics.Anti-colonial movement, communists, the istiqlal party, wifaq, independence, zionism, emigration, Chapter Six: Moroccan Jews and Moroccan Judaism in the Post-Modern EraTime and Space. Jews in the era of Hassan II and Mohammed VI, les années du plomb, Avraham Sarfaty and Sion Assidon, pilgrimage, Peace Movement, Moroccan Jews abroad, Israeli Black Panthers, returnees, representations in novels and films, nostalgiaConclusion

Offers a dynamic, accessible and thought-stimulating book that will be a useful teaching tool while giving more seasoned historians an opportunity to consider the changes in Moroccan historiography … Jewish Morocco appears as a therapeutic history and an ongoing reconciliation that is also taking place in Morocco, with ongoing efforts to restore synagogues and celebrate this Moroccan heritage.