IN THE COURTS OF THE NATIONS - DataSpace - Princeton ...
IN THE COURTS OF THE NATIONS - DataSpace - Princeton ... IN THE COURTS OF THE NATIONS - DataSpace - Princeton ...
evidence and thus the first to focus on how individuals actually interacted with the various legal institutions to which they had access. Whereas much legal history of the pre-modern Islamic Mediterranean has tended to focus on the functioning of a single type of legal institution, especially sharī‘a courts, this dissertation seeks to understand how the multiple legal orders functioned alongside and, at times, in cooperation with one another. I am principally interested in understanding law from the perspective of legal actors rather than institutions; I use the experience of Jews as a case study to explore how individuals in nineteenth-century Morocco made choices in a legally pluralist environment. Additionally, I contribute to two conversations in the history of Jews in the Islamic world. On the one hand, I argue for the need to go beyond a narrative of either tolerance or persecution and focus instead on how Jews as individuals with agency responded to the social and legal circumstances in which they found themselves. On the other hand, I propose a new approach to the study of Jewish legal autonomy; rather than asking whether or not Jews were legally independent, I employ the concept of legal pluralism to understand how Jews navigated among multiple legal orders. While my focus is on Morocco, I draw comparisons with the experience of Jews under Islamic rule during the medieval period (based largely on the Cairo Geniza) and in the early modern Ottoman Empire. This diachronic approach allows me to make claims about the history of Jews under Islamic rule in the longue durée, as well as to explore the specificities of the Moroccan case. Underlying the questions asked in this dissertation is an approach to the history of Jews which emphasizes their participation in the broader society in which they lived, rather focusing 2
on the internal history of the Jewish community. 3 Jews’ use of non-Jewish legal institutions was a natural extension of their participation in Moroccan society more generally, especially in the commercial sphere. 4 To this end, I do not view the history of Jews in Morocco as in any way separate from the history of Morocco more broadly; rather, my focus on Jews is a case study in one aspect of Moroccan society. I thus intend this dissertation to be relevant to scholars of North Africa who are not interested in Jews per se. This is particularly important since so much of the legal history of nineteenth-century Morocco has yet to be written; much what follows seeks simply to understand the workings of sharī‘a courts, Makhzan courts, and consular courts in Morocco, in addition to the ways in which Jews used them. Morocco in the Long Nineteenth Century Throughout the nineteenth century Morocco was an independent monarchy governed by a sultan from the ‘Alawī dynasty, which came to power in the seventeenth century and still governs Morocco today. The ‘Alawī sultans ruled from the three capital cities of Fez, Marrakesh, and Meknes. Although in many ways highly decentralized, the pre-colonial Moroccan state was run by a central government (known as the Makhzan) which claimed (and to some degree exercised) authority over much of the territory of present-day Morocco. The country remained independent until 1912, when the French established a protectorate over most of Morocco, and Spain established its own protectorate in the north. 3 The internal approach has been prominent in many studies of Moroccan Jewry: see, e.g., Zafrani, Les juifs du Maroc; Jane S. Gerber, Jewish Society in Fez, 1450-1700: Studies in Communal and Economic Life (Leiden: Brill, 1980); M. Mitchell Serels, A History of the Jews of Tangier in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (New York: Sepher-Hermon Press, 1991); Eliezer Bashan, Yahadut Maroko : ‘Avrah ve-tarbutah (Tel Aviv: Ha-kibbutz hame’uḥad, 2000); idem, Nashim yehudiot be-Maroko : Demutan be-re’i mikhtavim min ha-shanim 1733-1905 (Ramat-Gan: Universitat Bar Ilan, 2005). 4 Boum makes a similar observation: “Jews were not seen as outsiders to the legal system because they were active members in the social and economic dealings of the community” (Boum, “Muslims Remember Jews,” 248). 3
- Page 1 and 2: IN THE COURTS OF THE NATIONS: JEWS,
- Page 3 and 4: Abstract This dissertation examines
- Page 5 and 6: Table of Contents Abstract………
- Page 7 and 8: throughout the process was vital to
- Page 9 and 10: and Arielle Rubenstein, Stephanie S
- Page 11: Introduction This dissertation exam
- Page 15 and 16: cases they made up close to half of
- Page 17 and 18: study of law in the Islamic world w
- Page 19 and 20: of these institutions remain opaque
- Page 21 and 22: and, for some individuals, appealin
- Page 23 and 24: actors with agency and to understan
- Page 25 and 26: many of those who espouse the neo-l
- Page 27 and 28: In recent years, the neo-lachrymose
- Page 29 and 30: alternative framework to that of au
- Page 31 and 32: including courts—which were of pr
- Page 33 and 34: Recently scholars working on the me
- Page 35 and 36: We are left with two models of Jewi
- Page 37 and 38: Legal pluralism is an approach to u
- Page 39 and 40: orders. I also turn the focus from
- Page 41 and 42: Nonetheless, the tendency of forum
- Page 43 and 44: Legal pluralism does not explain wh
- Page 45 and 46: Jewish communities were no less var
- Page 47 and 48: is perhaps best attested by the fac
- Page 49 and 50: To help remind readers that the thr
- Page 51 and 52: abusive Makhzan officials, infringe
- Page 53 and 54: Chapter One: Between Batei Din and
- Page 55 and 56: went to batei din and sharī‘a co
- Page 57 and 58: school relevant for our purposes is
- Page 59 and 60: Jewish and Islamic legal systems re
- Page 61 and 62: ehind, a large number were undoubte
evidence and thus the first to focus on how individuals actually interacted with the various legal<br />
institutions to which they had access. Whereas much legal history of the pre-modern Islamic<br />
Mediterranean has tended to focus on the functioning of a single type of legal institution,<br />
especially sharī‘a courts, this dissertation seeks to understand how the multiple legal orders<br />
functioned alongside and, at times, in cooperation with one another. I am principally interested<br />
in understanding law from the perspective of legal actors rather than institutions; I use the<br />
experience of Jews as a case study to explore how individuals in nineteenth-century Morocco<br />
made choices in a legally pluralist environment.<br />
Additionally, I contribute to two conversations in the history of Jews in the Islamic<br />
world. On the one hand, I argue for the need to go beyond a narrative of either tolerance or<br />
persecution and focus instead on how Jews as individuals with agency responded to the social<br />
and legal circumstances in which they found themselves. On the other hand, I propose a new<br />
approach to the study of Jewish legal autonomy; rather than asking whether or not Jews were<br />
legally independent, I employ the concept of legal pluralism to understand how Jews navigated<br />
among multiple legal orders. While my focus is on Morocco, I draw comparisons with the<br />
experience of Jews under Islamic rule during the medieval period (based largely on the Cairo<br />
Geniza) and in the early modern Ottoman Empire. This diachronic approach allows me to make<br />
claims about the history of Jews under Islamic rule in the longue durée, as well as to explore the<br />
specificities of the Moroccan case.<br />
Underlying the questions asked in this dissertation is an approach to the history of Jews<br />
which emphasizes their participation in the broader society in which they lived, rather focusing<br />
2
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