In the Courts of the Nations: Jews, Muslims, and the Law in Nineteenth-Century Morocco
Department of Near Eastern Studies
110 Jones Hall
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ, 08544
Mark R. Cohen
My dissertation examines the integration of Jews in the Moroccan legal system during the nineteenth century. It constitutes the first systematic study of Jews’ legal strategies in pre-colonial Morocco. I argue that Jewish legal autonomy in the Islamic world must not be mistaken for legal isolation. On the contrary, Jews saw themselves as a part of the broader Moroccan legal system. Rather than constantly guarding their legal independence, Jews took advantage of the legal pluralism which characterized early modern Morocco to maximize their own self interest.
Instructor, “The Multi-Religious Mediterranean,” masters-level course, Hartford Seminary, June 2012.
Teaching assistant for “Islamic Family Law,” Princeton University, Prof. Hossein Modarressi, Fall 2008.
Publications:
“La modernité juridique au Maroc ; protégés juifs, tribunaux consulaires, et droit islamique,” in Migrations, identité et modernité au Maghreb ; actes du colloque, Frédéric Abécassis and Karima Dirèche, eds. (forthcoming 2012).
“Modernizing Moroccan Jews: The AIU Alumni Association in Tangier, 1893-1913,” Jewish Quarterly Review, v. 101, no. 4 (fall 2011).
“Poverty and Charity in a Moroccan City; A Study of Jewish Communal Leadership in Meknes, 1750-1912” in The Convergence of Judaism and Islam: Religious, Scientific, and Cultural Dimensions, Michael M. Laskier and Yaacov Lev, eds. (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2011), pp. 299-323.
“Tetuan,” “Rabat-Salé,” “Ḥayyim Ben ‘Aṭṭar,” and “Ksar el-Kebir,” articles in The Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World (Leiden: Brill, 2010).
Invited Lectures and Seminar Presentations:
“Jews in Islamic Courts: The Moroccan Legal System in the Nineteenth Century,” at the Mediterranean Seminar, the University of Southern California, Los Angeles: October 3, 2011.
“Jews Seeking Justice: Petitions to the Ministry of Complaints in Nineteenth-Century Morocco,” Cambridge Middle Eastern History Group, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK: June 14, 2011.
“Moroccan Jews and the Law: Halakha, Sharī‘a, and Consular Protection in the Nineteenth Century,” at the symposium 2,000 Years of Jewish Life in Morocco: An Epic Journey, at the Center for Jewish History, New York, NY: May 15, 2011.
“Tārīkh yahūd al-Maghrib” (“The History of the Jews of Morocco”), lecture delivered in Arabic at the Arab American Language Institute in Morocco, Meknes, Morocco: June 16, 2010.
“Charles Féraud, consul (1829-1888), et les Juifs du Maroc,” at the seminar “Itinéraires d’Orient” directed by François Pouillon, Centre d’histoire sociale de l’Islam Méditerranéen, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Science Sociales, Paris, France: May 27, 2009.
“Moroccan Jews in Muslim Courts; Change and Continuity in the Nineteenth Century,” at the Arab Studies Seminar, Leiden University, The Netherlands: May 19, 2009.
“Jewish and Muslim Shared Saint Veneration in Morocco,” Cultural Legacy Series, Rider University, Lawrenceville, New Jersey: April 24, 2008.
Selected Conference Presentations:
“Jews and the Ministry of Complaints in Morocco, 1889-1893,” paper to be delivered at Socio-legal Perspectives on the Passage to Modernity in and beyond the Middle East, Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva, Israel: June 4-6, 2012
“From Beit Din to Shari‘a Court: Jewish and Muslim Legal Documents from Nineteenth-Century Morocco,” paper to be delivered at the American Association for Jewish Studies Annual Meeting, Washington DC: December 18-20, 2011.
“Many Paths to Justice: Re-examining European Intervention on Behalf of Moroccan Jews, 1863-1912,” paper to be delivered at the Middle East Studies Association Annual Meeting, Washington DC: December 3, 2011.
“Jews in the Sharī‘a Court of Fez, 1860-1912,” paper delivered at The Jews of Morocco, University College London: June 20-22, 2011.
“L’Orientalisme et l’historiographie des juifs du Maroc,” paper delivered at L’Orientalisme et après, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, France: June 15-17, 2011.
“Strategic Migration between Morocco and Algeria: ‘Algerian’ Jews in Morocco, 1848-1900,” paper delivered at North Africa and France, conference organized by the Dahan Center at Bar Ilan University, Israel, and held at the Sorbonne, Paris, France: June 27-30, 2010.
“Jewish Protégés and Islamic Law in Pre-Colonial Morocco, 1830-1912,” paper delivered at Provincializing Europe? Towards a Local History of Maghribi Modernity (Eleventh Mediterranean Research Meeting), Florence, Italy: March 24-27, 2010.
“An ‘Algerian’ Jew in Morocco: A Story of Migration, Deception, and Confusion, 1880-1890,” paper delivered at Migration, Identité et Modernité au Maghreb, Essaouira, Morocco: March 17-20, 2010.
“Juridical Modernity Reconsidered: The Interplay of Muslim and Consular Legal Systems in Pre-Protectorate Morocco,” paper delivered at the Middle East Studies Association Annual Meeting, Boston: November 24, 2009.
“An Unheeded Discourse: French Ethnography and the Berber Dahir, 1915-1930,” paper delivered at the Middle East Studies Association Annual Meeting, Washington DC: November 22, 2008.
“The Socio-Legal History of Jewish-Muslim Relations in Morocco, 1792-1912,” paper delivered at the Berlin Wissenschaftskolleg’s International Summer Academy entitled Living Together: Plurality and Cosmopolitanism in the Ottoman Empire and Beyond, Istanbul, Turkey: September 21-28, 2008.
“Poverty and Charity in the Jewish Community of Meknes, Morocco, 1750-1912,” paper delivered at the conference entitled Jews and Muslims in the World of Islam, University of Maryland: August 26-8, 2007.
Princeton Center for Human Values Graduate Prize Fellowship: 2011-2012 (declined): Princeton Center for the Study of Religion Teaching Internship: June 2012: Center for Jewish Law and Contemporary Civilization at Yeshiva University, Graduate Fellowship in Jewish Law and Interdisciplinary Studies: 2010-2011: Princeton Center for the Study of Religion Graduate Fellowship: 2010-2011: Wexner Graduate Fellowship for Jewish Studies: 2007-2011: Fulbright research fellowship to Israel: 2006-2007: Harvard-Hebrew University Fellowship for study at Hebrew University in Israel: 2006-2007.