Encyclopaedia Judaica
Jews in Tunisia
03: Arab rule 1229-1543
Hafsid dynasty with tolerance and developing Jewish
trade and communities - clothing laws - full integration
as translators and ambassadors
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: Tunisia, vol. 15, col. 1431,
map of the Jewish communities in the Middle Ages and in
1971
from: Tunisia; In: Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971, vol. 15
presented by Michael Palomino (2007 / 2010)
<Hafsid Rule (1128-1534)
[1236: Abu Zakariya
proclaims himself emir - Tunis becomes the new capital -
new religious tolerance - international Jewish trade and
products - relations with Sicily and Spain]
In 1228 the governor of Ifriquiya, Abu Zakariya, severed
relations with the Almohad caliph of *Marrakesh, and in 1236
he proclaimed himself emir and chose Tunis as his capital.
It appears that from then onward many Jews who had been
forced to convert were able to return to Judaism; from that
date they lived under relatively normal conditions together
with those who had fled from the towns. At least the
constant threat to their lives and property was lifted. the
synagogues, which were closed under the Almohads, were
reopened.
Although the Jewish communities of Ifriquiya did not in
general enjoy their former prosperity, a class of important
merchants, which appears to have survived the Almohad
tempest, succeeded in reassuming its earlier position. They
resumed their maritime trade immediately after the
consolidation of the Almohad rule - well before the advent
of the Hafsids. There is mention in Maimonides' responsa of
a Jew from Egypt who traveled to Tunis in the course of his
affairs.
The reign of Abu Zakariya and his successors was propitious,
and the Jews of Tunisia once more developed their trade. In
1227 a detainer was lodged against them in a commercial
lawsuit by the podesta of Pisa.
In 1239 the Jews of Djerba established a colony in Sicily.
Frederick II granted them a concession to cultivate indigo,
which had until then been imported from the orient, as well
as henna, which only Tunisia supplied to Italy. The royal
palm plantation near Palermo was also given to them as a
concession.
In 1257 the Jews of *Barcelona, who maintained permanent
relations with their coreligionists on the Barbary Coast,
demanded diplomatic intervention in Tunis so as to render
their trade with Ifriquiya more profitable. The expenses of
the mission were included in the taxes which were paid by
the Jewish (col. 1437)
community. From that time excellent relations existed
between the king of Aragon and the Hafsid sultan, who
recommended to Pedro III a considerable number of his Jewish
subjects wishing to settle in Majorca and Catalonia (see
*Spain). The king then granted them privileges and favors.
Other Jews of Ifriquiya established themselves in the Aragon
states, having been encouraged to do so by Pedro III, who
granted safe conduct to Hayon b. 'Amar, Isaac b. Bul-Faraj,
Ismael Hazzan, and the astronomer Isaac *Nifoci (Nafusi)
among others.
There was constant movement of Jews between the Barbary
Coast and the Aragon states (see *Spain), and they became
useful and even indispensable intermediaries. The monarchy
of Aragon maintained excellent relations with the Jews of
southeastern Ifriquiya; moreover, the king of Aragon showed
a special concern for the Jews of the Barbary Coast and
accorded them particularly advantageous facilities to
establish themselves in the Aragon states.
In 1285 the Hafsid sovereign sent a delegation to Pedro III
and requested that he grant the concession of all the
funduqs (marts) which
belonged to him in Tunis to one of his Jewish subjects
Solomon b. Zahit - probably one of his favorites. For a
period of two years Solomon b. Zahit was able to appropriate
for himself one half of the income of these
funduqs, through which
the majority of the goods imported from Europe moved in
transit. A Jew of Djerba was entrusted with the proposal and
the payment of a ransom of 14,000 dinars for the liberation
of the Muslim ruler of the island, which was occupied by the
Catalonians from 1286 until about 1335. Djerba then became
the center of the trade between Catalonia and Ifriquiya and
the Jews played the leading role in it.
[1308-1329: King James II
of Majorca: war against Tunisia - peace treaty by Jewish
assist of Maimon b. Nono]
In 1308, when James II of Majorca decided to wage war
against Tunisia, the goods of his Jewish subjects in Tunisia
were seized by the Hafsid
makhzan
[[state's control]]. All trade with Tunisia was prohibited,
but the Jews, who had tremendous interests in Ifriquiya,
disapproved of this measure. As a result the Jewish
community of Majorca did not contribute to the equipping of
the fleet which was sent against Tunisia. A short while
later, when negotiations were opened in order to resume
cordial relations with the Hafsid state, a prominent Jewish
merchant, Maimon b. Nono, assisted James III of Majorca's
ambassador in the negotiations which led to the peace treaty
of July 1329.
[Hafsid Tunisia: Jewish positions - petty
tradesmen - Sahara trade]
In Tunis the collector of custom (col. 1438)
duties, an important official, was often a Jew. In 1330
Joseph Assusi, who held this position and was zealous in
upholding the interests of his sovereign, sought to impose
additional taxes on the Catalonian Christians and his Jewish
coreligionists.
Alongside of these influential businessmen the Jewish masses
engaged in peddling. These petty tradesmen carried textiles,
leather, spices, and other goods from one village or hamlet
to another; others joined caravans which went deep into the
desert. A number of them were exceedingly wealthy and were a
very important factor in the trans-Sahara trade of Tunisia.
Though its volume and importance could not be compared to
the scope of that of the kingdoms of Tlemcen and Morocco, it
nevertheless greatly enriched the Hafsid sovereigns and
their subjects.
The Jews of Ifriquiya thus earned their livelihood almost
exclusively from their economic activity, a situation which
prevailed throughout the Hafsid period and also after it.
However, there were probably also a number of physicians,
and aside from their religious officials the Jews also had a
few representatives in other liberal professions. They
hardly engaged in manual occupations, with the exception of
those connected with precious metals, an ancient Jewish
craft in North Africa.
[1391: Jews arriving from
Spain - developments in the communities with the Jews from
Spain: professions, relations]
The great anti-Jewish persecution which broke out in Spain
in 1391 deeply affected North African Jewry. The Jewish
emigration from Spain which followed this persecution was
largely directed to the Barbary Coast. The eastern towns of
Ifriquiya, which form part of present-day Tunisia, received
only a limited number of these emigrants. Their influx was
felt to the greatest extent, in quality and quantity, in the
territory of the kingdom of *Tlemcen. Many of the emigrants
originated in the countries to which they now turned.
In Tunisia, hostility which prevailed against the newcomers
and their coreligionists who had left the country, was
unknown. The influence of Jews of Catalonia and Majorca does
not seem to have been as appreciable in Tunisia as in
Algeria where more backward communities had benefited from
their contact with the newcomers. Even so, Tunis, Sousse,
and Bizerta, as well as the communities of the central
Maghreb, often turned for orientation and leadership to
Algiers, the center of such outstanding rabbis as R. *Isaac
b. Sheshet Perfet and the *Duran family.
There were a number of rabbis and
dayyanim [[Jewish judges]] in the
communities of eastern Ifriquiya. Although they were not as
numerous, and especially not as influential, as those of the
western part of the country - in Miliana, Bougie,
Bône, or *Constantine - there were nevertheless some
outstanding scholars among them, such as the
dayyan of Tenes, Samuel
Hakim, who was native born and had studied astronomy under
the Spanish immigrant Abraham b. Nathan; the learned Isaac
of Tunis and the financier Hayyim Méllili, who was
also from Tunis and corresponded with R. Simeon b. Zemah
*Duran. Occasionally however, such important towns as Tunis
found themselves without a rabbi-
dayyan and were compelled to seek them
elsewhere.
[Hafsid Tunisia: Tax
questions - Jews as translators and ambassadors]
Although the Hafsids decreed that newcomers would not be
taxed to the same extent as the native Jews, the number of
immigrants does not appear to have increased. The local Jews
always constituted a majority in Ifriquiya. It seems that
the interpreters and translators who maintained the contacts
between the native Arab dynasty and the European authorities
in the cities and ports were recruited from among Jewish
immigrants. Such one seems to be also Moses, who in the year
1267 was interpreter into Arabic for the Genoese merchants
who had settled in Tunis.
In 1421 a Jew Abraham was entrusted with the translation
from Arabic into Italian of the peace treaty which had been
concluded between Florence and Tunis. In 1485 Abraham (col.
1439)
Fava drew up the Latin version of the Tunis-Genoa treaty.
European Jews were also raised to the rank of ambassador in
the foreign relations of the Hafsids. In 1400 the physician
*Bondavi was entrusted with a diplomatic mission to the king
of Aragon; in 1409 Samuel and Eli Sala negotiated the peace
treaty between Sicily and Tunis, which they signed
themselves. The above examples of Jews who played an
important role in the political life of Ifriquiya were rare
under the Hafsids. Even though Tunisia did not have eminent
Jewish statesmen as those who flourished in Morocco during
the same period, the community was at least spared bloody
pogroms such as were perpetrated in *Fez at the beginning
and the end of the Merenid dynasty (1269-1465).
[Hafsid Tunisia: dhimmi
protection - but restrictions with taxes and clothing
laws]
The legal status of the Jews in the Hafsid State conformed
to the legislation pertaining to the dhimmi [[protected
people of other religions]], which tolerated and protected
the "people of the Book" but at the same time looked upon
them as inferior to the Muslims. As in all the Islamic
countries, the Hafsids subjected the dhimmi to a number of
restrictions: they imposed the payment of special taxes, and
at the whim of the sovereign or his representatives, the
obligation to wear distinctive garments or signs.
As elsewhere, the
jizya
[[capita tax]] was the characteristic levy which was imposed
on the dhimmi. Only rabbis who had achieved a degree of fame
were exempted by the Hafsid government from its payment. The
government also extorted arbitrary payments from the Jewish
communities on fixed dates, or as exceptional measures. This
category of imposition was known as
qanun. The community,
in the person of its leaders, was responsible for its
payment.
The Jews of the Hafsid State were compelled as a matter of
principle to distinguish themselves from the Muslims by the
color of their clothes or the donning of a distinctive sign.
The severity of the application of these laws varied widely.
The decree of the Almohad al-Mansur which stipulated that
the Jews were to wear a special costume and a distinctive
sign called a
shikla
fell into disuse with time. In 1250 the Hafsid al-Mustansir
reimposed this discriminatory measure. As late as 1470 the
Jews of Tunis still wore special dress and displayed a piece
of yellow cloth on their head or neck.
[Full Jewish emancipation
concerning ownership - government protection - the court
of Algiers - living places in Tunis]
At the same time, the Jews of the Hafsid State were not
affected by any official impediment to their rights of
ownership. They freely acquired and sold real estate (col.
1440)
everywhere, including houses which they erected, and thus
were occasionally important landowners. They could also
possess non-Muslim slaves.
The government authorities truly protected the Jewish
communities of Ifriquiya, where anti-Jewish outbreaks of
violence were unknown. In spite of the difference of
religion and the feeling of contempt which was often
expressed by the Muslim masses toward the Jews, commercial
relations were maintained on a permanent basis and both
parties reaped their benefits from them.
Conflicts which arose were brought sometimes before the
qadis. Occasionally, the qadi himself referred complicated
cases to the
dayyanim
[[judges]] of Algiers. In fact, the rabbis of Algiers often
campaigned against the exaggerated tendency of the Jews of
Tunisia to resort to the tribunal of the qadi.
According to legend the Jews lived in the center of Tunis
from the tenth century onward, when the Muslim mystic Sidi
Mahrez founded the
hara
(
harat al-Yahud,
i.e., the Jewish quarter of the town). In the Middle Ages
the Jews concentrated themselves in a quarter of the town
around one or several synagogues. On other occasions, they
preferred to live in groups among the Muslim population.
Foreign Jewish merchants used to live in a special
funduq [[mart]] in
Tunis.
[Community life and
details]
The Jewish communities were granted official recognition and
enjoyed a wide measure of administrative and cultural
autonomy. They were headed by "notables" (
gedolei ha-kahal, ziknei
ha-kahal) who were - as in Morocco - a plutocratic
oligarchy. This was in contrast to the leaders (
ne'emanim) of the
communities of Spanish or *Leghorn [[Livorno]] (Italy)
origin - to be later established in the country - who were
elected by all the members of the community.
The
gedolei ha-kahal
were entrusted with the management of charitable funds,
while others known as
parnasim
or
gizbarim were
responsible for the administration of the synagogues and
religious funds. They held these functions - which were
often financially burdensome - on an honorary basis and were
referred to with confidence.
The notables were headed by the
zekan ha-Yehudim (elder of the Jews), who
under the Turkish rule assumed the title of
qa'id. This eminent
personality was always feared when he was nominated by the
sovereign and loved and respected when he was chosen by his
coreligionists. He was always a native of the country,
because, in the first place, he exercised his control over
the destinies of the communities of the native Jews; his
authority, however, also included the communities of foreign
born Jews. Moreover, in Tunisia the native Jews were far
more numerous than their coreligionists of European origin.
As a general rule the rabbis, and particularly the dayyanim,
played a role in the administration of the community.
[1492-1497: Jews arriving
from Spain, Sicily, and Portugal]
In the wake of the expulsion from Spain and Sicily in 1492
and from Portugal in 1497, a number of Jewish refugees took
refuge in Tunisia. They do not appear to have been very
numerous; furthermore, many of them were only transients.
There were several scholars among these refugees, including
such highly eminent personalities as the commentator on
Rashi, Abraham *Levy-Bacrat, the talmudist Moses *Alashkar,
and the astronomer and historian Abraham *Zacuto, who
completed his
Sefer
Yuhasin ("Book of Genealogy") while in Tunis in
1504.> (col. 1441)
Encyclopaedia
Judaica 1971: Tunisia, sources
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1430 |
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: Tunisia, vol. 15, col.
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