Mellah of Marrakesh
The Mellah of Marrakesh (
History
Creation
Although the city of Marrakesh was founded by the
Decline
The mellah became overpopulated within a few years. An estimated 40,000 people lived in the mellah at the peak of its population in the late 1940s. The community emigrated after the
Restoration
In 2016,
Public restrictions on Jews
Generally, under the terms of the
According to some primary sources, Jews were forced to go barefoot in the city. The only source discussing the rule in the 19th century is Joseph Halévy who is unclear if the rule was enforced in the mellah. The published version of Halévy's visit to Morocco says Jews were forced to go barefoot throughout all Marrakesh, "even in the Mellah", but his handwitten notes say Jews went barefoot in "all other quarters of the city out side the mellah, and even this is crossed out, and has left some to speculate that Jews might have been forced to remove their slippers when leaving the mellah. In the 18th century William Lempriere write that "when they enter the Moorish town, castle, or palace, [Jews] are always compelled to be barefooted", meaning the rule was not enforced in the mellah.[9]
The rule was often observed more stringently when Jews ran into political trouble, sometimes in connection with the protege system which allowed them to wear European shoes, and inflamed local resentments that Jews had become "too bold". Abdalmalik of Morocco reportedly forced the elders of the mellah to remove their slippers in the palace "in accordance with their ancient status of dhimma". The Jews were taunted all the way back to the mellah. Even when they were protected by foreign powers under the protege system local authorities required they go barefoot in certain spaces like the Kasbah.[9]
See also
- Slat Al Azama Synagogue
- Jewish Cemetery Miâara
- History of the Jews in Morocco
References
- ^ On the Origins of the Mellah of Marrakesh. Gottreich, Emily. International Journal of Middle East Studies. Vol. 35, No. 2 (May, 2003), pp. 287-305.
- ^ "Jewish Mellah of Marrakech | History & Visit of Ancient Jewish District". Riad Al Ksar & Spa. 2018-11-22. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
- ^ a b Marrakech’s Mellah: A Return to Peaceful Co-Existence[dead link]
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-10-10.
- ^ a b "La Mellah y el Cementerio Judío de Marrakech". El Mundo con Ella (in Spanish). 2019-05-23. Retrieved 2023-10-10.
- ^ a b Dumas, Laurent Ribadeau (2017-11-05). "Maroc : renaissance du vieux quartier juif de Marrakech". Franceinfo (in French). Retrieved 2023-10-10.
- ^ Hoffman, Rafael (2017-01-18). "Morocco's King Restores Original Names to Marrakech's Jewish Quarter - Hamodia.com". Hamodia. Retrieved 2023-10-10.
- ^ Newman, Marissa. "When a Muslim MK beseeched Israel to fund a Moroccan synagogue". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2023-10-10.
- ^ a b c Gottreich, Emily (2007). The Mellah of Marrakesh: Jewish and Muslim Space in Morocco's Red City. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. pp. 93–94.