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When Shalom passed away in 1917, his son Ya‘aqov had already been active in the
family business for many years (starting in the 1870s). 58 In addition to continuing the family
business in textiles and other goods, Ya‘aqov expanded their interests in real estate. Shalom had
already been active as a landlord to Jewish tenants, renting out stores and rooms in a number of
houses in the millāḥ. 59 Presumably Ya‘aqov continued to rent these properties after his father’s
retirement. 60 In addition, Ya‘aqov bought land, stores, and an oven which he rented to
Muslims. 61 In addition to real estate ventures, the family at some point acquired a large house
with nineteen rooms in the new millāḥ 62 which was originally known as Dār Shalom Assarraf
(the house of Shalom Assarraf), and later came to be known as Dār Ya‘aqov Assarraf. 63
Like his father, Ya‘aqov was a prominent member of the community, although he never
served as nagid. He did, however, take a leadership role during the months following the pillage
of the millāḥ in April, 1912. 64 France declared its protectorate soon after, and the French
authorities assured the Jewish community that they would be indemnified for their losses. They
appointed a committee headed by Amram Elmaleh, the director of the AIU school. Ya‘aqov
helped lead a protest against Elmaleh’s handling of the indemnities, claiming that Elmaleh was
58
The legal documents concerning Ya‘aqov begin in 1874 and start to become numerous in 1877.
59
See the record book of properties which Shalom rented out from the summer of 1903 to the winter of 1904 (kayitz
5663 to ḥoref 5664), in PD. The record book includes a copy of each lease as it was drawn up by sofrim, and in
many cases a record of payments received. Presumably Shalom had such record books for other years, although this
is the only one that I have found.
60
I have not found any such record books for Ya‘aqov, although it is quite likely that they existed.
61
There are nine documents concerning the rental of real estate to Muslims, starting in 1890. Only a single
document attests to Shalom’s involvement in renting out property to Muslims: TC, File #9, 16 Dhū al-Qa‘da 1294.
62
I learned the location of the house from a conversation with Albert Sabbagh, currently the rabbi of the community
of Fez (21 July 2011).
63
See PD, Manuscript of Avner ha-Tzarfatī, Yaḥas Fas, p. 25b: see also a full transcription in Hebrew in David
Ovadyah, Fas ve-ḥakhameha, 2 vols. (Jerusalem: Hotza’at Bayt Oved, 1979), v. 1, 87-171. (The mention of Dār
Shalom Assarraf is on p. 129.) This work also lists two miṣrīyas (storehouses) belonging to Shalom Assarraf, one
with three rooms and one with nine. The house and the misrīyas are in the part of the millāḥ known as al-Khadīya.
On this manuscript, see Y. D. Sémach, “Une chronique juive de Fès : le ‘Yahas Fès’ de Ribbi Abner Hassarfaty,”
Hésperis 19 (1934). The Jews of Fez still know the house as Dār Ya‘aqov Assarraf (conversation with Albert
Sabbagh, 21 July 2011).
64
Known as the “trītl” (meaning “pillage” in Judeo-Arabic): see Mohammed Kenbib, “Fez Riots (1912),” in
Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, ed. Norman Stillman (Leiden: Brill, 2010).
62