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{{short description|Berber-speaking Jewish people in North Africa}} |
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{{Infobox ethnic group| image= [[File:Berber Jews.jpg|250px|[[Berber people|Berber]] Jews of the [[Atlas Mountains]], c. 1900.]] |
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|group=Berber Jews< |
|group=Berber Jews<br />Udayen Imaziɣen |
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|poptime=3,000 - 5,000 ? |
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|population= |
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|region1 = {{flag|Israel}} |
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|region1 = |
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|pop1 = 2,000 |
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|pop1 = |
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|region2 = {{flag|United States}} |
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|pop2 = ? |
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|region3 = {{flag|Europe}} |
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|pop3 = ? |
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|region4 = <!-- removed non-free flag image-->[[Africa]] |
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|pop4 = ~100 ? |
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|rels=[[Judaism]] |
|rels=[[Judaism]] |
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|related=[[Jew]]s<br />[[Mizrahi Jews]]<br />[[Sephardi Jews]]<br />[[Jewish ethnic divisions|Other Jewish groups |
|related=[[Jew]]s<br />[[Mizrahi Jews]]<br />[[Sephardi Jews]]<br />[[Jewish ethnic divisions|Other Jewish groups]] |
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}} |
}} |
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{{Jews and Judaism sidebar |communities}} |
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'''Berber Jews''' are the [[Berber]]-speaking [[Jew]]ish communities inhabiting the region of the [[Maghreb]] in [[North Africa]]. However , most of [[Jews]] of [[North Africa]] were [[Arabic]]-speaking before migrating to [[Israel]] or [[France]]. [[Berber Jews]] are actually [[Jews]] who lived among Berber communities. |
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'''Berber Jews''' are the [[Jew]]ish communities of the [[Maghreb]], in [[North Africa]], who historically spoke [[Berber languages]]. |
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A large part of the [[Jews]] of [[North Africa]] have been either [[Arabic]]-speakers , [[Berber]]-speakers, [[Punic]]-speakers (Punic was the Phoenician language spoken in the Carthage region) or [[Ladino]]-speakers ([[Sephardim]]). So the term '''Berber Jews''' is not applied to all North African [[Jews]] , only [[Berber]]-speaking ones. |
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Between 1950 and 1970 most emigrated to [[France]], the [[United States]], or [[Israel]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Shokeid|first1=Moshe|title=The Dual Heritage: Immigrants from the Atlas Mountains in an Israeli Village}}</ref> |
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Between 1950 and 1970 most [[Emigration|emigrated]] to [[France]] and to [[Israel]]. |
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===Antiquity=== |
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Jews have settled in [[Maghreb]] since at least the third century BC.<ref name="Jewish Folklore">Patai, Raphael & Bar-Itzhak, Haya (eds.): ''Encyclopedia of Jewish Folklore and Traditions'', p. 389. M.E. Sharpe, 2013.</ref> According to one theory, which is based on the fourteenth-century writings of Arab philosopher [[Ibn Khaldun]] and was influential during the 20th century, Berbers adopted Judaism from these arrived Jews before the [[Muslim conquest of the Maghreb|Arab conquest of North Africa]].<ref name="Jewish Folklore" /><ref>Berber tribes converted to Judaism: |
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*"many Berber tribes converted to Judaism". Reuven Firestone, ''[https://archive.org/details/childrenofabraha00fire/page/132 Children of Abraham: an introduction to Judaism for Muslims ]'', Ktav Publishing House, April 2001, p. 138. |
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*"In addition, a number of Berber tribes converted to Judaism." Taru Bahl, M.H. Syed. ''Encyclopaedia of the Muslim World'', Anmol Publications PVT. LTD., 2003, p. 50. |
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*"...entire Berber tribes converted to Judaism." Marvine Howe. ''Morocco: the Islamist awakening and other challenges'', Oxford University Press US, 2005, p. 184. |
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*"...they had mounting influence among the Berber tribes of North Africa, some of which were converted to Judaism." Michael Maas. ''The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Justinian'', Cambridge University Press, 2005, p. 411. |
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*"a significant number of North African Jews descend from Berber tribes who converted to Judaism in late antiquity." Daniel J. Schroeter, Vivian B. Mann. ''Morocco: Jews and art in a Muslim land'', Merrell, 2000, p. 27. |
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*"It was in response to this violent repression that many Cyrenaican Jews fled deep into the Sahara and lived there among the Berber tribes, some of whom they later converted to Judaism". [[Martin Gilbert]]. ''In Ishmael's House: A History of Jews in Muslim Lands'', McClelland & Stewart, 2010, p. 4. |
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*"Their influence spread among the pagan Berber population so that by the sixth century many Berber tribes had converted to Judaism. In some cases entire Berber tribes in the Atlas Mountains became Judaized." Ken Blady. ''Jewish communities in exotic places'', Jason Aronson, 2000, p. 294.</ref> For example, French historian [[Eugène Albertini]] dates the Judaization of certain Berber tribes and their expansion from [[Tripolitania]] to the [[Sahara]]n [[oases]] to the end of the 1st century.<ref>Eugène Albertini, ''L'empire romain'', 1929, p.165</ref> [[Marcel Simon (historian)|Marcel Simon]] for his part, sees the first point of contact between the western Berbers and Judaism in the great [[First Jewish–Roman War|Jewish Rebellion]] of 66–70 CE.<ref>Marcel Simon, « Le judaïsme berbère dans l'Afrique ancienne », in Revue d'histoire et de philosophie religieuse, XXVI, 1946, p.69</ref> Some historians believe, based on the writings of Ibn Khaldoun and other evidence, that some or all of the ancient Judaized Berber tribes later adopted Christianity and afterwards Islam, and it is not clear if they are a part of the ancestry of contemporary Berber-speaking Jews.<ref name="Hirschberg">{{cite journal |first=H. Z. |last=Hirschberg |title=The Problem of the Judaized Berbers |publisher=Cambridge University Press |journal=[[The Journal of African History]] |volume=4 |issue=3 |year=1963 |pages=313–339 |jstor=180026 |doi=10.1017/s0021853700004278|s2cid=162261998 }}</ref> According to [[Joseph Chetrit (linguist)|Joseph Chetrit]], recent research has shown weaknesses in the evidence supporting Ibn Khaldun's statement, and "seems to support scholars' hypothesis that Jews came to North Africa from ancient Israel after a stay in Egypt and scattered progressively from East to West, from the Middle East to the Atlantic in the Hellenic-Roman Empire".<ref name="Jewish Folklore" /> |
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===Islamic period=== |
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It is possible that the [[Barghawata|Barghawata confederacy]] had a Judeo-Berber background, though accounts of entire Berber tribes practicing Judaism appear later and are unreliable.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Bennison |first=Amira K. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctvhrczbp |title=The Almoravid and Almohad Empires |date=2016 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-0-7486-4681-4 |jstor=10.3366/j.ctvhrczbp }}</ref>{{rp|page=167}} |
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While most Jewish communities from [[Ifriqiya]] westward through the Maghreb, the Sahara, and al-Andalus were primarily urban, the indigenous Judeo-Berbers of the western Maghreb lived in villages.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=167}} |
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===After the Arab–Israeli War=== |
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Following the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]], the tensions between the Jewish and Muslim communities increased.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/aljazeeraworld/2015/01/return-morocco-2015120124346751467.html|title=Return to Morocco|website=www.aljazeera.com|access-date=2016-08-19|archive-date=2017-09-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170924061207/http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/aljazeeraworld/2015/01/return-morocco-2015120124346751467.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Today, the indigenous Berber Jewish community no longer exists in [[Morocco]]. The [[Moroccan Jewish]] population rests at about 2,200 persons with most residing in [[Casablanca]],<ref name="Morocco">{{cite web|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jews-of-morocco |title=Jews in Islamic Countries: Morocco |publisher=Jewish Virtual Library |access-date=2020-08-22}}</ref> some of whom might still be Berber speakers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/aljazeeraworld/2015/01/return-morocco-2015120124346751467.html|title=Return to Morocco|website=www.aljazeera.com|access-date=2016-04-13|archive-date=2017-09-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170924061207/http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/aljazeeraworld/2015/01/return-morocco-2015120124346751467.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> |
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Jews settled in the [[Maghreb]] in [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] times and the Jewish community in the Roman province of [[Africa]] was of great importance<ref>Hildegard Temporini, Wolfgang Haase, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=6GO3qtZGcRcC&pg=PA512 Rise and Decline of the Roman World]'', Walter de Gruyter, 1983, p.512</ref>.The acceptance by the Berbers of [[Judaism]] as a religion, and its embrace by many, including many powerful tribes, occurred over time<ref>"many Berber tribes converted to Judaism", Reuven Firestone, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=IuKNIR5qlS0C&pg=PA138 Children of Abraham: an introduction to Judaism for Muslims ]'', Ktav Publishing House, april 2001, p.138</ref>. [[French people|French]] [[historian]], Eugène Albertini dates the judaization of certain Berber tribes and their expansion from [[Tripolitania]] to the [[Saharan]] [[oases]], to the end of the 1st century<ref>Eugène Albertini, ''L'empire romain'', 1929, p.165</ref>. [[Marcel Simon]] for his part, sees the first point of contact between the western Berbers and Judaism in the great [[First Jewish–Roman War|Jewish Rebellion]] of 66-70<ref>Marcel Simon, « Le judaïsme berbère dans l'Afrique ancienne », in Revue d'histoire et de philosophie religieuse, XXVI, 1946, p.69</ref>. |
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At the time of the [[Arab]] conquests in northwestern Africa, there were, according to Arab historian [[Ibn Khaldoun]], some Berber tribes that professed [[Judaism]]. Supposedly, the female Berber military leader, [[Dihya]], was a Berber Jew. She is said to have aroused the Berbers in the [[Aures, Algeria|Aures]] (Chaoui territory) in the eastern spurs of the [[Atlas Mountains]] in modern day [[Algeria]] to a last, although fruitless, resistance to the [[Arab]] general [[Hasan ibn Nu'man]]. |
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{{Main|Genetic studies on Jews}} |
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[[File:Travels in the Atlas and Southern Morocco, a narrative of exploration (1889) (14776400162).jpg|thumb|Group of Berber Jews from the Atlas at the end of the 19th century]] |
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| ⚫ | In the past, it would have been very difficult to decide whether these Jewish Berber clans were originally of Israelite descent and had become assimilated with the Berbers in language and some cultural habits or whether they were indigenous Berbers who in the course of centuries had become Jewish through conversion by Jewish settlers. The second theory was developed mainly in the first half of the 20th century, as part of the quest of French colonial authorities to discover and emphasize pre-Islamic customs among the Berber-Muslim population since such customs and ways of life were believed to be more amenable and assimilable to French rule, legitimizing the policy that the Berbers would be governed by their own "customary" law rather than Islamic law. |
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Consequently, the main proponents of this theory were scholars such as [[Nahum Slouschz]] who worked closely with French authorities.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Daniel J. |last=Schroeter |title=The Shifting Boundaries of Moroccan Jewish Identities |journal=[[Jewish Social Studies]] |volume=15 |issue=1 |year=2008 |pages=148 |url=http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/jewish_social_studies/v015/15.1.schroeter.pdf }}</ref> Other scholars such as André Goldenberg and Simon Lévy also favoured it.<ref>{{cite book |first=André |last=Goldenberg |title=Les juifs du Maroc |publisher=Editions du Scribe |location=Paris |year=1992 |isbn=2-86765-013-5 }}</ref> |
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Following the [[1948 Arab-Israeli War]], the tensions between the indigenous Jewish communities and the indigenous Arab communities increased. Jews in the [[Maghreb]] were compelled to leave due to these increased tensions. Today, the indigenous Berber Jewish community no longer exists in [[Morocco]]. The [[Moroccan Jewish]] population rests at about 4,000 persons with most residing in [[Casablanca]], some of them might be still Berber speakers. |
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[[Franz Boas]] wrote in 1923 that a comparison of the Jews of [[North Africa]] with those of [[Western Europe]] and those of [[Russia]] "shows very clearly that in every single instance we have a marked assimilation between the Jews and the people among whom they live" and that "the Jews of North Africa are, in essential traits, North Africans".<ref>[[Franz Boas]], ''Are the Jews a Race?'', The World of Tomorrow, 1923, reprinted in ''Race and Democratic Society'', New York, Augustin, 1945, pp. 39–41</ref> |
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| ⚫ | In the past, it would have been very difficult to decide whether these Jewish Berber |
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Haim Hirschberg, a major historian of North African Jewry, questioned the theory of massive Judaization of the Berbers in an article named "The Problem of the Judaized Berbers". One of the points that Hirschberg raised in his article was that [[Ibn Khaldoun]], the source of the Judaized Berbers theory, wrote only that few tribes "might" have been Judaized in ancient times and stated that in the Roman period the same tribes were [[Christianization|Christianized]].<ref name="Hirschberg" /> |
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The question on the origins of the Berber Jews is also further complicated by the likelihood of [[intermarriage]]. However this may have been, they shared much with their non-Jewish brethren in the Berber territory, and, like them, fought against the [[Arab]] conquerors. However, it is difficult to understand how there were so many tribes professing Judaism had conversion not taken place, so the truth of the Jewish Berber origins must lie between the two theories, descent and conversion. |
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The theory of a massive Judaization of the Berber population was further dismissed by a 2008 study on mtDNA (transmitted from mother to children). The study carried out by Behar et al. analysed small samples of North African Jews ([[Libya]] (83); [[Morocco]] (149); [[Tunisia]] (37)) indicates that Jews from North Africa lack typically North African Hg M1 and U6 mtDNAs.<ref name="Behar 2008 e2062">{{cite journal |first=Doron M. |last=Behar |display-authors=etal |title=Counting the Founders. The Matrilineal Genetic Ancestry of the Jewish Diaspora |journal=[[PLoS ONE]] |year=2008 |volume=3 |issue=4 |pages=e2062 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0002062 |pmid=18446216 |pmc=2323359|bibcode=2008PLoSO...3.2062B |doi-access=free }}</ref> Hence, according to the authors, the lack of U6 and M1 haplogroups among the North African Jews renders the possibility of significant admixture, as between the local Arab and Berber populations with Jews, unlikely. The genetic evidence shows them to be distinct from Berber populations, but more similar to Ashkenazi Jewish populations.<ref name="Behar 2008 e2062"/> |
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==Genetics== |
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The theory of a massive judaization of the berber population is called into question by a recent study on the mtDNA (transmitted from mother to children). The study carried out by Doron et al. that analysed small samples of North African Jews |
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Later studies showed that haplogroups M1 and U6 are, in fact, carried on rare occasions by North African Jews. For example, a sample collected by Luisa Pereira et al. for their 2010 paper<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pereira |first1=Luisa |last2=Silva |first2=Nuno M. |display-authors=1 |date=December 21, 2010 |title=Population expansion in the North African Late Pleistocene signalled by mitochondrial DNA haplogroup U6 |journal=[[BMC Evolutionary Biology]] |publisher=[[BioMed Central]] |volume=10 |issue=1 |page=390 |doi=10.1186/1471-2148-10-390 |pmc=3016289 |pmid=21176127 |ref={{harvid|Pereira et al.|2010}} |doi-access=free |bibcode=2010BMCEE..10..390P }}</ref> is labeled a "person of Jewish ancestry" from Tunisia who belongs to haplogroup U6a7<ref>{{GenBank|HQ651709.1}}</ref> and the same study found haplogroup U6a1 in two Jews from Morocco.<ref>{{GenBank|HQ651705.1}}</ref><ref>{{GenBank|HQ651708.1}}</ref> It remains unclear whether their source ancestors were Berber converts as opposed to Spaniards or others. |
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([[Libya]] (83); [[Morocco]] (149); [[Tunisia]] (37))<ref>{{en}} [http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0002062 Doron M. Behar et al., « Counting the Founders. The Matrilineal Genetic Ancestry of the Jewish Diaspora », ''PLoS ONE'', 3(4) e2062, 30 avril 2008]</ref> indicates that Jews from north Africa lack typically North African Hg M1 and U6 mtDNAs. Hence, according to the authors, the lack of U6 and M1 chromosomes among the North Africans renders the possibility of significant admixture, as between the local Arab and Berber populations with Jews, unlikely. However these conclusions must be strongly moderated by the fact that Hg M1 and U6 are not found in every Berber ethnic groups. For example a study by Fadhlaoui-Zid et al. 2004 found no M1 and U6 in Tunisian Berbers from Chenini-Douiret<ref>"The U6 haplogroup (...) was absent in Chenini-Douiret; it has been found at 4.2% in Tunisian Arabs (Plaza et al. 2003). Thus, U6 frequencies in Tunisian Berbers are relatively low and may mark an eastward decline in the frequencies of this haplogroup. (...) The M1 haplogroup, to which an East-African origin is attributed (...) is absent in Berbers from Chenini-Douiret", K. Fadhlaoui-Zid, S. Plaza, F. Calafell, M. Ben Amor, D. Comas, A. Bennamar El gaaied, ''Mitochondrial DNA heterogeneity in Tunisian Berbers'', Ann. Hum. Genet.68 (2004) 222–233</ref> and another one by Loueslati et al. 2006 found no M1 and U6 in Tunisian Berbers from [[Jerba]]<ref>Loueslati, B. Y., Cherni, L., Khodjet El Khil, H., Ennafaa, H., Pereira, L., Amorim, A., Ben Ayed, F. & Ben Ammar Elgaaied, A. (2006), ''Islands inside an island: reproductive isolates on Jerba island''. [[Am J Hum Biol]] 18, 149–153.</ref>. |
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==Notable people of Berber Jewish ancestry== |
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* [[André Azoulay]] |
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* [[Audrey Azoulay]] |
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* [[Raquel Bitton]] |
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* [[Dunash ben Labrat]] |
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* [[Edmond Amran El Maleh]] |
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* [[Menachem Elimelech]] |
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* [[Gad Elmaleh]] |
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* [[Salim Halali]] |
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* [[Raymond Leyris]] |
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* [[Enrico Macias]] |
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* [[Hen Mazzig]] |
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* [[Éric Zemmour]] |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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{{Portal|Berbers|Berber_flag.svg|35|boxsize}} |
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* [[ |
* [[Mozabite Jews]] |
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* [[Mizrahi Jews]] |
* [[Mizrahi Jews]] |
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* [[Maghrebi Jews]] |
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* [[North African Sephardim]] |
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* [[History of the Jews in Morocco]] |
* [[History of the Jews in Morocco]] |
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* [[History of the Jews in Algeria]] |
* [[History of the Jews in Algeria]] |
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* [[History of the Jews in Tunisia]] |
* [[History of the Jews in Tunisia]] |
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* [[History of the Jews of Bilad el-Sudan]] |
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* [[Berber people|Berbers]] |
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* [[Berbers and Islam]] |
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* [[Goulmima#Udayn n Acur|Udayn n Acur]] |
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==References== |
==References== |
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{{ |
{{Reflist|30em}} |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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* {{in lang|fr}} [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYuTbuD9tfM Les Derniers Judeo-Berberes] |
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*{{en}}[http://www.hebrewhistory.info/factpapers/fp019-1_africa.htm The Berbers and the Jews] |
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* [http://www.hebrewhistory.info/factpapers/fp019-1_africa.htm The Berbers and the Jews] |
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* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927210001/http://www.mondeberbere.com/juifs/indexc-en.htm The Amazigh Jews] |
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* {{in lang|fr}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20071011020653/http://www.mondeberbere.com/juifs/schroeter.htm La découverte des Juifs Berbères] |
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* {{cite news |authorlink=Diana Muir |first=Diana |last=Muir Appelbaum |title=The Last Berber Jews |work=[[Jewish Ideas Daily]] |date=August 10, 2011 |url=http://www.jewishideasdaily.com/4725/features/the-last-berber-jews/ }} |
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* [[David Bensoussan]], [http://www.editionsdulys.ca/il-eacutetait-une-fois-le-maroc.html ''Il était une fois le Maroc : témoignages du passé judéo-marocain''], éd. du Lys, www.editionsdulys.ca, Montréal, 2010 ({{ISBN|2-922505-14-6}}); Deuxième édition : www.iuniverse.com, {{ISBN|978-1-4759-2608-8}}, 620p. ebook {{ISBN|978-1-4759-2609-5}}, Prix Haïm Zafrani de l'Institut universitaire Élie Wiesel, Paris 2012. |
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{{Maghrebi Jews topics}} |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:Berber Jews| ]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:Algerian Jews| ]] |
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[[Category:Berbers in Morocco|Jews]] |
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[[Category:Jews and Judaism in Algeria]] |
[[Category:Jews and Judaism in Algeria]] |
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[[Category:Jews and Judaism in Morocco]] |
[[Category:Jews and Judaism in Morocco]] |
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[[Category:Jews and Judaism in Tunisia]] |
[[Category:Jews and Judaism in Tunisia]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:Maghrebi Jews topics]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:Jewish ethnic groups]] |
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[[ru:Берберские евреи]] |
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Latest revision as of 14:05, 14 December 2024
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| Languages | |
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| •Liturgical: Mizrahi Hebrew •Traditional: Berber; also Judeo-Arabic with Judeo-Berber as a contact language •Modern: typically the language of whatever country they now reside in, including Modern Hebrew in Israel | |
| Religion | |
| Judaism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Jews Mizrahi Jews Sephardi Jews Other Jewish groups |
| Part of a series on |
| Jews and Judaism |
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Berber Jews are the Jewish communities of the Maghreb, in North Africa, who historically spoke Berber languages. Between 1950 and 1970 most emigrated to France, the United States, or Israel.[1]
History
[edit]Antiquity
[edit]Jews have settled in Maghreb since at least the third century BC.[2] According to one theory, which is based on the fourteenth-century writings of Arab philosopher Ibn Khaldun and was influential during the 20th century, Berbers adopted Judaism from these arrived Jews before the Arab conquest of North Africa.[2][3] For example, French historian Eugène Albertini dates the Judaization of certain Berber tribes and their expansion from Tripolitania to the Saharan oases to the end of the 1st century.[4] Marcel Simon for his part, sees the first point of contact between the western Berbers and Judaism in the great Jewish Rebellion of 66–70 CE.[5] Some historians believe, based on the writings of Ibn Khaldoun and other evidence, that some or all of the ancient Judaized Berber tribes later adopted Christianity and afterwards Islam, and it is not clear if they are a part of the ancestry of contemporary Berber-speaking Jews.[6] According to Joseph Chetrit, recent research has shown weaknesses in the evidence supporting Ibn Khaldun's statement, and "seems to support scholars' hypothesis that Jews came to North Africa from ancient Israel after a stay in Egypt and scattered progressively from East to West, from the Middle East to the Atlantic in the Hellenic-Roman Empire".[2]
Islamic period
[edit]It is possible that the Barghawata confederacy had a Judeo-Berber background, though accounts of entire Berber tribes practicing Judaism appear later and are unreliable.[7]: 167
While most Jewish communities from Ifriqiya westward through the Maghreb, the Sahara, and al-Andalus were primarily urban, the indigenous Judeo-Berbers of the western Maghreb lived in villages.[7]: 167
After the Arab–Israeli War
[edit]Following the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the tensions between the Jewish and Muslim communities increased.[8] Today, the indigenous Berber Jewish community no longer exists in Morocco. The Moroccan Jewish population rests at about 2,200 persons with most residing in Casablanca,[9] some of whom might still be Berber speakers.[10]
Origin
[edit]_(14776400162).jpg)
In the past, it would have been very difficult to decide whether these Jewish Berber clans were originally of Israelite descent and had become assimilated with the Berbers in language and some cultural habits or whether they were indigenous Berbers who in the course of centuries had become Jewish through conversion by Jewish settlers. The second theory was developed mainly in the first half of the 20th century, as part of the quest of French colonial authorities to discover and emphasize pre-Islamic customs among the Berber-Muslim population since such customs and ways of life were believed to be more amenable and assimilable to French rule, legitimizing the policy that the Berbers would be governed by their own "customary" law rather than Islamic law.
Consequently, the main proponents of this theory were scholars such as Nahum Slouschz who worked closely with French authorities.[11] Other scholars such as André Goldenberg and Simon Lévy also favoured it.[12]
Franz Boas wrote in 1923 that a comparison of the Jews of North Africa with those of Western Europe and those of Russia "shows very clearly that in every single instance we have a marked assimilation between the Jews and the people among whom they live" and that "the Jews of North Africa are, in essential traits, North Africans".[13]
Haim Hirschberg, a major historian of North African Jewry, questioned the theory of massive Judaization of the Berbers in an article named "The Problem of the Judaized Berbers". One of the points that Hirschberg raised in his article was that Ibn Khaldoun, the source of the Judaized Berbers theory, wrote only that few tribes "might" have been Judaized in ancient times and stated that in the Roman period the same tribes were Christianized.[6]
The theory of a massive Judaization of the Berber population was further dismissed by a 2008 study on mtDNA (transmitted from mother to children). The study carried out by Behar et al. analysed small samples of North African Jews (Libya (83); Morocco (149); Tunisia (37)) indicates that Jews from North Africa lack typically North African Hg M1 and U6 mtDNAs.[14] Hence, according to the authors, the lack of U6 and M1 haplogroups among the North African Jews renders the possibility of significant admixture, as between the local Arab and Berber populations with Jews, unlikely. The genetic evidence shows them to be distinct from Berber populations, but more similar to Ashkenazi Jewish populations.[14]
Later studies showed that haplogroups M1 and U6 are, in fact, carried on rare occasions by North African Jews. For example, a sample collected by Luisa Pereira et al. for their 2010 paper[15] is labeled a "person of Jewish ancestry" from Tunisia who belongs to haplogroup U6a7[16] and the same study found haplogroup U6a1 in two Jews from Morocco.[17][18] It remains unclear whether their source ancestors were Berber converts as opposed to Spaniards or others.
Notable people of Berber Jewish ancestry
[edit]- André Azoulay
- Audrey Azoulay
- Raquel Bitton
- Dunash ben Labrat
- Edmond Amran El Maleh
- Menachem Elimelech
- Gad Elmaleh
- Hélène Grimaud
- Salim Halali
- Raymond Leyris
- Enrico Macias
- Hen Mazzig
- Éric Zemmour
See also
[edit]- Judeo-Berber language
- Mozabite Jews
- Mizrahi Jews
- Maghrebi Jews
- North African Sephardim
- History of the Jews in Morocco
- History of the Jews in Algeria
- History of the Jews in Tunisia
References
[edit]- ^ Shokeid, Moshe. The Dual Heritage: Immigrants from the Atlas Mountains in an Israeli Village.
- ^ a b c Patai, Raphael & Bar-Itzhak, Haya (eds.): Encyclopedia of Jewish Folklore and Traditions, p. 389. M.E. Sharpe, 2013.
- ^ Berber tribes converted to Judaism:
- "many Berber tribes converted to Judaism". Reuven Firestone, Children of Abraham: an introduction to Judaism for Muslims , Ktav Publishing House, April 2001, p. 138.
- "In addition, a number of Berber tribes converted to Judaism." Taru Bahl, M.H. Syed. Encyclopaedia of the Muslim World, Anmol Publications PVT. LTD., 2003, p. 50.
- "...entire Berber tribes converted to Judaism." Marvine Howe. Morocco: the Islamist awakening and other challenges, Oxford University Press US, 2005, p. 184.
- "...they had mounting influence among the Berber tribes of North Africa, some of which were converted to Judaism." Michael Maas. The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Justinian, Cambridge University Press, 2005, p. 411.
- "a significant number of North African Jews descend from Berber tribes who converted to Judaism in late antiquity." Daniel J. Schroeter, Vivian B. Mann. Morocco: Jews and art in a Muslim land, Merrell, 2000, p. 27.
- "It was in response to this violent repression that many Cyrenaican Jews fled deep into the Sahara and lived there among the Berber tribes, some of whom they later converted to Judaism". Martin Gilbert. In Ishmael's House: A History of Jews in Muslim Lands, McClelland & Stewart, 2010, p. 4.
- "Their influence spread among the pagan Berber population so that by the sixth century many Berber tribes had converted to Judaism. In some cases entire Berber tribes in the Atlas Mountains became Judaized." Ken Blady. Jewish communities in exotic places, Jason Aronson, 2000, p. 294.
- ^ Eugène Albertini, L'empire romain, 1929, p.165
- ^ Marcel Simon, « Le judaïsme berbère dans l'Afrique ancienne », in Revue d'histoire et de philosophie religieuse, XXVI, 1946, p.69
- ^ a b Hirschberg, H. Z. (1963). "The Problem of the Judaized Berbers". The Journal of African History. 4 (3). Cambridge University Press: 313–339. doi:10.1017/s0021853700004278. JSTOR 180026. S2CID 162261998.
- ^ a b Bennison, Amira K. (2016). The Almoravid and Almohad Empires. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-7486-4681-4. JSTOR 10.3366/j.ctvhrczbp.
- ^ "Return to Morocco". www.aljazeera.com. Archived from the original on 2017-09-24. Retrieved 2016-08-19.
- ^ "Jews in Islamic Countries: Morocco". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
- ^ "Return to Morocco". www.aljazeera.com. Archived from the original on 2017-09-24. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
- ^ Schroeter, Daniel J. (2008). "The Shifting Boundaries of Moroccan Jewish Identities" (PDF). Jewish Social Studies. 15 (1): 148.
- ^ Goldenberg, André (1992). Les juifs du Maroc. Paris: Editions du Scribe. ISBN 2-86765-013-5.
- ^ Franz Boas, Are the Jews a Race?, The World of Tomorrow, 1923, reprinted in Race and Democratic Society, New York, Augustin, 1945, pp. 39–41
- ^ a b Behar, Doron M.; et al. (2008). "Counting the Founders. The Matrilineal Genetic Ancestry of the Jewish Diaspora". PLoS ONE. 3 (4): e2062. Bibcode:2008PLoSO...3.2062B. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0002062. PMC 2323359. PMID 18446216.
- ^ Pereira, Luisa; et al. (December 21, 2010). "Population expansion in the North African Late Pleistocene signalled by mitochondrial DNA haplogroup U6". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 10 (1). BioMed Central: 390. Bibcode:2010BMCEE..10..390P. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-10-390. PMC 3016289. PMID 21176127.
- ^ GenBank Accession number: HQ651709.1
- ^ GenBank Accession number: HQ651705.1
- ^ GenBank Accession number: HQ651708.1
External links
[edit]- (in French) Les Derniers Judeo-Berberes
- The Berbers and the Jews
- The Amazigh Jews
- (in French) La découverte des Juifs Berbères
- Muir Appelbaum, Diana (August 10, 2011). "The Last Berber Jews". Jewish Ideas Daily.
- David Bensoussan, Il était une fois le Maroc : témoignages du passé judéo-marocain, éd. du Lys, www.editionsdulys.ca, Montréal, 2010 (ISBN 2-922505-14-6); Deuxième édition : www.iuniverse.com, ISBN 978-1-4759-2608-8, 620p. ebook ISBN 978-1-4759-2609-5, Prix Haïm Zafrani de l'Institut universitaire Élie Wiesel, Paris 2012.