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Synagogue de la Rue Marmol at Tlemcen, Algeria

Description

The Synagogue:

Its construction must have been after the French conquest of the city in 1830. Prior to that date, there were only 5 synagogues in Tlemcen,[1b] and this was not one of them.[2] The construction date of the synagogue may seem surprising since Tlemcen’s urbanization was inherited from the pre-colonial era. Indeed, 70% of Algeria’s pre-colonial buildings are in Tlemcen.[3]

Under the Vichy regime during World War 2, Tlemcen was one of four cities that established its own private secondary schooling system when Jewish youngsters were barred from the public school system.[4] The synagogue served as a schooling place, albeit for a short period of time since it collapsed in 1941.[5]

Tlemcen:

Nicknamed “Jerusalem of the West”[6] and located in Western Algeria, Tlemcen was a center of Algerian Jewish life.[7]

It is likely that Jews have lived in Tlemcen since the 10th century since Jews from Tlemcen were in exile and transferred by Buluggīn ibn Zīrī to Ashir after a revolt in 971-972. Also, correspondence between Jewish scholars in Tlemcen and a yeshiva, of geonim (Talmudic masters)[8], in Iraq suggest that there was a significant community there during the 10th and 11th centuries. The first period of Jewish life in Tlemcen came to an end with the Almohad conquest of the town in 1146. A literary commentary from the time mentions Tlemcen as a destruction of the Almohads. 

Jews began to settle again in Tlemcen in 1248 when the city became the capital of the Berber Zayyanid (also known as ʿAbd al-Wadid) dynasty. Except for occasional strife, Jews lived peacefully. Amidst the political instability in the Maghreb, it is quite remarkable that the Abd al Wadid dynasty ruled over Tlemcen between the 13th and the 16th centuries. In 1391, Spanish Jews fleeing persecution settled in Tlemcen. Among them, was the theologian and physician Ephraim Anqāwa, who became rabbi of the community. He is known for his obtaining of the right of Jews to live inside Tlemcen; prior to that, they lived outside, including in nearby Agardir. He also obtained a site for the building of a synagogue in Tlemcen. This rabbi became venerated after his death in 1442; Jews from Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia went on hillulot (pilgrimages in Hebrew) to visit his tomb, which is located in Tlemcen. 

Another wave of Spanish Jewish immigration started in 1492 due to the edict of expulsion of the Jews. These new inhabitants served in diplomacy and held rabbinic positions.[9] Jewish refugees were welcomed by Tlemcen’s Muslim governors.[10]

In Tlemcen, the dominance of the megorashim, which were the Jews exiled from the Iberian Peninsula, on the toshavim (autochthones) stems from their rabbis and their greater numbers. In the Maghreb, the dominance of the megorashim is due to the fact that they settled in geographically vast areas.[11]
While some scholars consider that Tlemcen rabbis were intellectual,[12] others describe the rabbis’ approaches as practical.[13]

In the 14th and 15th centuries, Spanish Jews were not the only Spanish immigrants in Tlemcen. There was also a large Hispanic Muslim population.[14]

In 1541, the Christian armies of Charles V, the Spanish Emperor, made Tlemcen Jews captives and sold them off as slaves.[15]
Other historians date this event to 1534, and defend the idea that not all Jews were enslaved since some were killed. Ottoman military ruling of Tlemcen from
the 16th century onward provided periodical insecurity for Jews. For instance, in 1517, an Ottoman pirate stole Jewish belongings, and Jews were forced to wear a distinctive patch. [16]

In the 17th century, the Tlemcen Jew Saadia Chouraqui is one of the first to write a mathematics treaty in the Maghreb. His book, Mone Mispar (which means the calculator of numbers), is meant to be taught in Hebrew and is destined to Tlemcen’s Jewish students.[17]

In 1830, the French colonial powers conquered Tlemcen. Under that regime, most Jews were artisans or merchants.[18]
In 1845, the consistorial system was put forth in Algeria by French ordinance. This system, imported from metropolitan France, made France responsible for parts of the finances of the Jewish communities and pushed for the westernization of the Jews. It was well received in Tlemcen.[19]

In 1870, the Crémieux Decree granted French citizenship to Algerian Jews.[20] Anti-Semitism rose, although there was little violence associated to it.[21]

In 1933, Muslims burned shops owned by Jews while praising Hitler.[22] The French authorities were very unhappy of the anti-Jewish sentiments of some
Muslims. This sentiment was significant due to certain extreme-right groups as well as Muslim preachers.[23]

Under the Vichy regime during World War 2, the Jews of Tlemcen lost their French citizenship and were subject to all of the discriminatory French legislation.[24]

In 1960, there were 5,000 Jews in Tlemcen.[25] In 1962, following Algerian independence, most Jews immediately left for France; others emigrated to Israel.

In 2010, in retaliation against the Israeli attack on the Freedom Flotilla, Algerian authorities have barred visiting French Jews from entering Tlemcen where they were planning to visit Rabbi Anqawa’s tomb.[26]

One can note the distinctive religious customs of Tlemcen Jewry, preserved in Paris in the synagogue related to Tlemcen’s community. An example includes piyyuṭim (liturgical poems in Hebrew) chanted during religious services [27]

 

Tlemcen, Algeria