Arabs of the Jewish Faith: The Civilizing Mission in Colonial Algeria

251 Pages·2010·1.04 MB·English

by  Joshua Schreier

Arabs of the Jewish Faith
Jewish Cultures of the World
Edited by Matti Bunzl, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign,
and Jeff rey Shandler, Rutgers University
Published in association with the Allen and Joan Bildner Center
for the Study of Jewish Life, Rutgers University
Advisory Board
Yoram Bilu, Hebrew University
Jonathan Boyarin, University of North Carolina
Virginia R. Dominguez, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Susannah Heschel, Dartmouth College
Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, New York University
Jack Kugelmass, University of Florida
Riv-Ellen Prell, University of Minnesota
Aron Rodrigue, Stanford University
Mark Slobin, Wesleyan University
Yael Zerubavel, Rutgers University

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Schreier, Joshua, 1969–
Arabs of the Jewish faith : the civilizing mission in colonial Algeria / Joshua
Schreier.
p. cm. — (Jewish cultures of the world)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–8135–4794–7 (hardcover : alk. paper)
 1. Jews—Algeria—History—19th century. 2. Jews—Cultural assimilation—
Algeria. 3. Algeria—Colonization—History—19th century. 4. Algeria—Ethnic
relations. 5. France—Colonies—Algeria—Ethnic relations. I. Title.
DS135.A3S357 2010
305.892’406509034—dc22 2009043149
A British Cataloging-in-Publication record for this book is available from the
British Library.
Copyright © 2010 by Joshua Schreier
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without written permission from the publisher. Please contact Rutgers University
Press, 100 Joyce Kilmer Avenue, Piscataway, NJ 08854–8099. The only exception to
this prohibition is “fair use” as defi ned by U.S. copyright law.
Visit our Web site: http://rutgerspress.rutgers.edu
Manufactured in the United States of America
For Lise, Malka, and Noam

CONTENTS
List of Maps, Figures, and Tables ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
1 Jews, Commerce, and Community in
Early Colonial Algeria 23
2 Revolution, Republicanism, and Religion:
Responses to Civilizing in Oran, 1848 56
3 Synagogues, Surveillance, and Civilization 86
4 Teaching Civilization: French Schools and
Algerian Midrashim, 1852–1870 114
5 From Napoleon’s Sanhedrin to the Crémieux Decree:
Sex, Marriage, and the Boundaries of Civilization 143
Conclusion 177
Notes 183
Index 223
vii

MAPS, FIGURES, AND TABLES
Maps
1. Algeria 17
2. Jewish Quarter of Oran 18
Figures
I.1. Jews in Ghardaia 13
I.2. Rue d’Austerlitz in the Jewish Quarter of Oran 18
3.1. Interior of the main synagogue of Oran 94
Tables
3.1. The Midrashim of Oran, 1855 110
3.2. Health Conditions of Jewish Children in Oran’s
Midrashim, 1855 111
ix