Jewish Tetouan: place, community, and ethnic boundaries from the Minutes Book of the community board, 1929-46

Abstract

This article explores the limits, meaning, and practice of ‘Jewish Tetouan’ for its community members during the Spanish Protectorate in Morocco. The study shows how Jewish Tetouan constituted a set of social relationships and networks. The cultural content was not the most crucial element determining the community members’ interpretation of ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’. Rather, the limits of the community were primarily (re-)confirmed by interactions with several categories of ‘us’ (Sephardic Jews from Tetouan in Tetouan and abroad, other Sephardic Jews from the Spanish Protectorate and Tangier, Moroccan Jews, and other Jews) and several categories of ‘them’ (Spaniards, Muslim Moroccans, and Europeans).