Maghrebi Jewish Women During the British Mandate (1918-1948) in Pre-State Israel Maghrebi Jewish Women During the British Mandate (1918-1948) in Pre-State Israel Moshe Ovadia, Ariel University, Ariel, Israel Abstract The article examines the socioeconomic status of Maghrebi (North African) Jewish women in the four holy cities during the British Mandate. Apart from the historiographical research of Michal Ben Ya'akov, who studied the life of these women during the Nineteenth Century, no comprehensive study was conducted. This article sheds light on the socioeconomic circumstances of the Maghrebi Jewish women during the first half of the Twentieth Century when Maghrebi women witnessed the profound growth and advancement in Eretz Yisrael – the transition from the old Yishuv to the new Yishuv. Introduction In recent years, great progress has been made in historiographical research into the subject of Jewish women in traditional and secular society. Particular importance has been attributed to the historiographical research concerning women since they were not generally the focus of any scientific debate. At the present time, when scholars add the narrative of Jewish women to the historiographical findings, new insights are being discovered regarding their world and their socioeconomic role.1 Yael Atzmon writes about the exclusion of women from Jewish historiography. She states that the omission of women’s contributions is more prominent in Jewish historiography than in general historiography, since the exclusion of women as part of Jewish history bears some resemblance to the problem of the history of the Jews as part of general history.2 Indeed, the exclusion of women from public life in the Jewish community stems from the traditional Jewish way of life, in which a woman's role was confined to the home and family while observing rules of modesty, such as non- revealing apparel and head covering. During the British Mandate, the status of women in Palestine changed, as this was a time of immigration to the country. Among the immigrants were educated females from the First and Second Aliyah (1882-1914), who aspired to achieve equality between the sexes and hold positions in public life.3 In fact, the new female Women in Judaism: A Multidisciplinary Journal Spring 2014 Volume 11 Number 1 1 ISSN 1209-9392 © 2014 Women in Judaism, Inc. All material in the journal is subject to copyright; copyright is held by the journal except where otherwise indicated. There is to be no reproduction or distribution of contents by any means without prior permission. Contents do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors. Maghrebi Jewish Women During the British Mandate (1918-1948) in Pre-State Israel immigrants represented the change in the traditional Jewish view that women had to preserve their modesty and stay at home.4 Michal Ben Ya'akov studied Maghrebi Jewish from a geographical, historical, and cultural approach in order to gain insights into the Maghrebi Jewish woman's world.5 Along with their male counterparts, the women also believed in the virtues of permanent settlement in Eretz Yisrael – longevity, health, the answering of their prayers, and atonement for their sins. In Ben Yaakov's opinion, women participated in rites and celebrations of Moroccan sages and wanted to reach Eretz Yisrael to frequent the tombs of Sages, such as the tomb of Rabbi Meir Baal HaNes (Rabbi Meir the miracle maker) in Tiberias. Ben Yaakov also states that both elderly and young Maghrebi widows became independent, and that motivated them to make aliyah to Eretz Yisrael. Divorced women who wanted to immigrate turned to the rabbis in Morocco and ask that their marriage certificate (ketubah) would not be invalidated as a result of their aliyah to Eretz Yisrael.6 Ben-Yaakov's research into Maghrebi Jewish women in the Nineteenth Century facilitated future study of these women, their daughters, and granddaughters who settled in Eretz Yisrael during the British mandate. It should be noted that for generations Maghrebi Jews have settled in other locations in Eretz Yisrael, such as Jaffa (Yafo), Neve Tzedek, Haifa, and other places. However, this study discusses the Maghrebi Jews in the four holy cities – Hebron, Jerusalem, Tiberias, and Safed.7 Under British rule the Maghrebi Jews in Jerusalem numbered 2,500. In Hebron, there were only a few families, while in Tiberias and Safed the Maghrebi Jews were counted together with other North African and Sephardic communities. Therefore, it is quite difficult to ascertain the exact number of Maghrebi women during this period. The ancestors of the Maghrebi women in the four Holy Cities settled in the Maghreb in ancient times, some after the Spanish Decrees of 1391, and some after the Great Expulsion from Spain in 1492. Over time, certain families immigrated to Eretz Yisrael and settled in the four holy cities and in other parts of Eretz Yisrael. The Maghrebi families were included in the Sephardic kollels (Sephardic community committees) of the Old Yishuv, namely, a sector that was chiefly poor, unemployed and supported by charity. From 1860, the kollel of the Maghrebi community separated officially from Women in Judaism: A Multidisciplinary Journal Spring 2014 Volume 11 Number 1 2 ISSN 1209-9392 © 2014 Women in Judaism, Inc. All material in the journal is subject to copyright; copyright is held by the journal except where otherwise indicated. There is to be no reproduction or distribution of contents by any means without prior permission. Contents do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors. Maghrebi Jewish Women During the British Mandate (1918-1948) in Pre-State Israel the Sephardic kollel in Jerusalem.8 Maghrebi women were dependent upon the donations that reached the kollels during the period of the old and new Yishuv. This study inquires whether Maghrebi women in the 20th Century preserved the way of life of Jewish women in the 19th century. It should be noted that during the Mandate period residents of the Yishuv wrestled with gender related issues in the spheres of work, family, education, and equality.9 The study utilizes oral testimonies, along with general and religious literature, and archival documents. Furthermore, photographs are used as a source for historiography, for example, change in women's attire. Three generations of Maghrebi Jewish women are discussed: 1) women who arrived in the 19th and 20th Centuries with their children or were born in Eretz Yisrael; 2) women born in the Maghreb or in Eretz Yisrael, and 3) granddaughters born in Israel. Before embarking on the study of the Maghrebi women's socioeconomic milieu, it is essential to list the educational institutions where these women were educated. A great number of Maghrebi women enrolled in the following institutions: Evelina de Rothschild School, founded in 1864 with funds from Baron Lionel from the English branch of the Rothschild family. In 1899, Hannah Judith (Annie Edith) Landau was deputy principal. The students studied music, gymnastics, sewing, French, English and Arabic and Jewish studies.10 Most of the pupils were from the Ashkenazi community.11 Ruchama School, founded in 1927, was a branch of Talmud Torah for Girls A, and was run by Chana Spitzer (1866-1955). In this school, the girls studied Hebrew, math, Jewish history, natural sciences, geography, English, gymnastics, sewing, and housekeeping. But priority was given to religious studies – prayers, Mishnah, Halakhah, and the weekly Torah portion.12 The A and B schools for girls were primary municipal schools under the auspices of French Alliance.13 Among the Maghrebi students who studied at the school in December 1947 and January 1948 were Esther Abuzaglo, Sarah Sabah, Ora Vaknin, Avigail Mimran, Yael Biton, and Esther Ben-Shimon.14 The Mission was established at the end of the 19th Century and beginning of the 20th Century. Some of the Maghrebi children studied at the Mission schools, whose aim Women in Judaism: A Multidisciplinary Journal Spring 2014 Volume 11 Number 1 3 ISSN 1209-9392 © 2014 Women in Judaism, Inc. All material in the journal is subject to copyright; copyright is held by the journal except where otherwise indicated. There is to be no reproduction or distribution of contents by any means without prior permission. Contents do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors. Maghrebi Jewish Women During the British Mandate (1918-1948) in Pre-State Israel was to provide a warm home to the Jewish poor and to girls in distress, teach them a profession and bring the Jewish children closer to Christianity.15 A school for Jewish girls was established within the confines of the Messianic Church in the Old City of Jerusalem. The church's archives from the 1920s and 1930s list names of girls from every Jewish community, along with Christian and Arab girls. Among the Maghrebi girls were Zipporah Shushan, Rina Shitrit, Esther Shitrit and Hanna Kadosh.16 On a tour of the Old City, Esther Azulay nee Harrush (1916-2012), who attended the Mission School at the Messiah's Church in the 1920s, showed the author the classrooms and playroom where she studied. In a photo from 1924, Esther recognized one of the Mission's teachers, under whom she studied.17 Esther excelled in English reading and writing. Levana Cohen also studied at the Mission and pointed out that the school was free of charge; therefore, poor families could enroll their children.18 Ruth Bahloul nee Ben Ezra studied for one year at St. Joseph's school in Jerusalem founded in 1887.19 A letter from the Maghrebi community committee in Jerusalem to the board of the Sephardic community committee in Jerusalem reveals that the Maghrebi Jews requested financial aid for a Maghrebi assimilationist who wanted her children to receive a missionary education:20 Surely, the heads and leaders knew or have heard of the woman Camus Hassan [Me-ir ve-em be- yisrael] from the metropolis of Tripoli [yagen aleha amen], who is already assimilated amongst the gentiles, Heaven Forbid, living with a gentile as man and wife and the gentile and his wife want to educate their sons at the Mission.