The Jewish Artisans of Old Morocco

From the latter part of the first millennium until modern times, Jews throughout the world have tended to make their livings in trade, moneylending, pawnbroking, and similar occupations. In some instances—e.g., medieval Spain, and Poland from the 1500s onward—large numbers of Jews were also employed in crafts such as tailoring, shoemaking, and metalworking. This was also the case in Morocco, as Chen Malul writes:

For centuries, Jews in Morocco made a living from crafts that the Muslim-majority society engaged in as well. The terms of the Pact of Omar, [which governed the status of Jews, Christians, and other “people of the book” in Islamic lands], as well as the laws of sharia, did not impose severe restrictions on non-Muslims’ occupations, though only Muslims were allowed to work in the fields of government and public office.

Despite the tolerant legal infrastructure, the Muslim majority population did eventually impose restrictions on non-Muslims through the guild system as a way to lessen competition in the crafts. Not having much choice, the Jews flocked to the trades that were open to them.

According to sharia law, Muslims are forbidden from working with silver and gold, as the labor results in a greater profit than the true value of the metals, making the profession immoral. The exclusion of Muslims from metalwork enabled Jews to integrate into the industries of goldsmithing and production of gold thread. Being a professional craftsperson was considered a respected occupation among the middle and lower classes.

Professor Eli Bashan, who researched this subject, wrote, “Even sages and rabbis, who did not want to be paid for their Torah teachings, worked as professional artisans, and this was considered a virtuous act; these included mainly goldsmiths but also other skilled workers such as builders and barbers.”

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More about: Jewish history, Moroccan Jewry, Morocco

American Middle East Policy Should Focus Less on Stability and More on Weakening Enemies

Feb. 10 2025

To Elliott Abrams, Donald Trump’s plan to remove the entire population of Gaza while the Strip is rebuilt is “unworkable,” at least “as a concrete proposal.” But it is welcome insofar as “its sheer iconoclasm might lead to a healthy rethinking of U.S. strategy and perhaps of Arab and Israeli policies as well.” The U.S., writes Abrams, must not only move beyond the failed approach to Gaza, but also must reject other assumptions that have failed time and again. One is the commitment to an illusory stability:

For two decades, what American policymakers have called “stability” has meant the preservation of the situation in which Gaza was entirely under Hamas control, Hizballah dominated Lebanon, and Iran’s nuclear program advanced. A better term for that situation would have been “erosion,” as U.S. influence steadily slipped away and Washington’s allies became less secure. Now, the United States has a chance to stop that process and aim instead for “reinforcement”: bolstering its interests and allies and actively weakening its adversaries. The result would be a region where threats diminish and U.S. alliances grow stronger.

Such an approach must be applied above all to the greatest threat in today’s Middle East, that of a nuclear Iran:

Trump clearly remains open to the possibility (however small) that an aging [Iranian supreme leader Ali] Khamenei, after witnessing the collapse of [his regional proxies], mulling the possibility of brutal economic sanctions, and being fully aware of the restiveness of his own population, would accept an agreement that stops the nuclear-weapons program and halts payments and arms shipments to Iran’s proxies. But Trump should be equally aware of the trap Khamenei might be setting for him: a phony new negotiation meant to ensnare Washington in talks for years, with Tehran’s negotiators leading Trump on with the mirage of a successful deal and a Nobel Peace Prize at the end of the road while the Iranian nuclear-weapons program grows in the shadows.

Read more at Foreign Affairs

More about: Iran, Middle East, U.S. Foreign policy