Adonis Diaries

Part 2. “A Jewish childhood in the Mediterranean Sea Basin”: Memories of the male authors

About 34 Jewish authors who immigrated to France in the 50’s and 60’s from “Arab African” States and the Near East Mediterranean Sea States have contributed their recollections to this French book “A Jewish childhood in the Mediterranean Sea Basin“.

I decided to review separately

1) the male authors who lived in the “Arab African” States of Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco,

2) the male authors who lived in Egypt, Lebanon and Turkey,

3) the female authors because their recollections are more straightforward in style, and specific of the extended family customs and traditions. And they describe their specific geographic social textures…

I discovered that:

1. The male authors have very different recollections from the females, due to their greater freedom to mingle with other communities and stepping out of their homes…

2. The Jews in the northern African States during the extended French colonial period have been discriminated by the French from the Moslems and given French citizenship and forced to learn in French schools with French programs…

3. Most of the adult males, including fathers and grandfathers, had to be forced to immigrate their feet first: They were totally unwilling to relocate to France and change their life style…

This post will focus on the male authors originating from Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco, States that were colonies of France for over a century.

In 1870, the French Parliament decreed a law to give all Jews in French colonies in northern Africa the  French citizenship. France established French schools dedicated to the Jews in the villages and cities with some Jewish concentration. These public schools were called Alliance, short for Israelite Universal Alliance  schools, and they covered the same French program.

The Jewish students learned the geography and history of France as if France was the Homeland and they mastered the formal academic French language better than most French citizens. (This is how our French schools in Lebanon taught us: More about France than Lebanon)

Even in the early 20th century, most of France provinces spoke their own dialect and barely could read and understand the formal French of Paris.

These learning institutions graduated “Excellent French” among the Jewish communities. Most of the students mastered only the French language and spoke it at home. The parents made it a habit to speak in French so that the children grow up as French and belonging to a new Homeland.  Hebrew was learned for a year before the Bar Mitsva (when reaching 13 year-old) in specific Jewish religious schools on Saturdays, and most of the authors cared less for the Hebrew language and felt utterly bored in those dark and gloomy religious classrooms.

The spoken Arabic or dialects were understood, but hardly used. Arabic was part of the Jewish dialect in each country and imbibed with Spanish words and expressions from during the Arabic Andalusia Empire.  The “reconquest” of the Christian monarchs in the 15th century forced the Jews out of Spain to Turkey and the countries under the Ottoman Empire…

The Jewish communities lived in particular quarters called Mellah, and the “Arabs” or Moslems in other quarters, and the Europeans in a third separate quarters. The students never visited the other communities homes…The Moslems were called the “indigenous”…

In 1942, the French hoarded most of the adult male Jews in concentrations camps in Africa and forced to work on public civil project for a year. This was during the Vichy government allied with Nazi Germany and the Jews were stripped of their French citizenship.

In 1943, as the US, British and French forces liberated north Africa, the Jews regained their French citizenship…

Andre Azoulay (born at Essaouira-Mogador in Morocco in 1941), recalls that Hadj Imam brought a small bag od dirt from Jerusalem and offered it to his father: Jerusalem in 1950 was under the Jordanian authority and Jews were prohibited to enter Jerusalem…

During Mimouna holiday, The fleeing of the Jews from Egypt, all families (Moslems and Jews) opened their door wide open for visits, and visitors carried gifts and joint great celebrations were held in the town squares in the evening. Dancing, singing…accompanied with solidarity wishes of “Terbah” (have a prosperous year)

Jean-Luc Allouche (born at Constantine Algeria in 1949) recalls that the students had hard time being convinced they are the descendents of Vercingetorix, Charles Martel, Jeanne d’Arc, Bayard, Louis 14, Napoleon…

The French teachers were leading a far more dignified and worthy battle than the French military…The Moslem students had to carry their ID cards during the period of the struggle for independence in Algeria, but the Jews didn’t have to…

Islam never seemed such an exotic religion or strange to me: We were raised by Moslem helpers and my best friend (Fawzi) was a Moslem. I grew up in the shadow of the mosque Sidi el-Kettani.

In our synagogue, the 10 Commandments were recited in pure Arabic of Saadya Gaon (alia  Al Fayoumi of Egypt Rabbin of the 9th century). Our slang was a combination of Hebrew and Arabic words such as Maya Gzera (what a calamity), Harani kapara lik (let me be your expiation), haram (sin), hchouma (prude), eib (blemish)…We lived in a culture of obsession for honor, aminly the ones related to the women gender…

It was a happy childhood… (To be continued)

Note: You may read Part 1 in https://adonis49.wordpress.com/2012/06/17/is-it-about-time-to-separate-political-resolutions-from-cultural-sympathies-in-the-near-east/