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undoubtedly made much of their money capitalizing on Moroccans’ growing taste for cotton
textiles imported from abroad. 53
Shalom was not only a successful merchant, but a prominent leader in his community. In
March of 1873 the ma‘amad (council of community leaders) appointed him nagid, or secular
head of the Jewish community of Fez. 54 The nagid’s responsibilities included acting as liaison
with the Muslim authorities, as well as administering fines and prison sentences within the
Jewish community. 55 This position was always filled by Jews of considerable wealth and ties
with the Makhzan, though not necessarily significant Jewish learning. 56 Shalom’s letter of
appointment specifically noted that should he be required to appear before the non-Jewish
authorities (serarah), the community agreed to provide five or six communal leaders (mi-rashei
ha-qehillah) to accompany him. It is not clear how long Shalom served as nagid of Fez,
although in 1885 he signed a collective petition along with other “leaders of the community”;
presumably he retained a leadership position then even if he was no longer nagid. 57 The fact that
Shalom occupied this post indicates that his was a position of considerable authority among the
Jews of Fez.
53 Mohammed Kenbib, “Changing Aspects of State and Society in 19th Century Morocco,” in The Moroccan State
in Historical Perspective, 1850-1985, ed. Abdelali Doumou (Dakar: Codesria, 1990), 15; Ben-Srhir, Britain and
Morocco, 130.
54 See the document of appointment in PD, first tenth (or first ten days: ‘īsūr [sic] rishon) of Adar 5633. The letter
was signed by the rabbis Matityahu Serero, Shlomoh Eliyahu Ibn Tzur, Rafael Ibn Tzur, and twenty-five members
of the ma‘amad.
55 On the position of nagid (also called the shaykh al-yahūd) in Morocco, see Gerber, Jewish Society in Fez, 86-94;
Haim Zafrani, Mille ans de vie juive au Maroc : histoire et culture, religion et magie (Paris: Maisonneuve & Larose,
1983), 126-7; Deshen, The Mellah Society, 53-61. On the medieval period, see Mark R. Cohen, Jewish Self-
Government in Medieval Egypt: The Origins of the Office of Head of the Jews, ca. 1056-1126 (Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1980). Naturally, the role and power of the shaykh al-yahūd varied considerably depending on the
size of the Jewish community and its relations with local Makhzan authorities.
56 Another indication of Shalom’s standing with the Makhzan can be found in a document from 3 Ramaḍān 1297 (9
August 1880), in which Shalom appears as a witness along with other Jewish notables testifying about the
applicability of the rule that Jews must go barefoot outside of the millāḥ; the question was raised when a group of
Jews went to the palace wearing shoes to bring a petition to the sultan (quoted in Paul Paquignon, “Quelques
documents sur la condition des juifs au Maroc,” Revue du Monde Mediterranéan 9 (1909): 121).
57 This letter is translated in Fenton and Littman, L’exil au Maghreb, 540-2 and discussed further in Chapter Nine.
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