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21 • Zouzef Tayayou (Joseph the Tailor), a Jew from Nedroma, and the Others Belkacem Mebarki This portrait relies almost exclusively on the testimony of the Muslim inhabitants of a city they cohabited with Jews.1 While working on this project , I was surprised by how extensive and important the Jewish presence was in the memory of this city’s inhabitants. This is also my city and my memory, even if my memory is slightly truncated for obvious ideological reasons that I could not overcome. For this reason, I promised myself that I would study this passionate subject in greater depth. In the course of my research, I realized that this topic also fit into my field of research, since Jewishness constitutes a peripheral aspect of Maghribi Algerian expression, which I qualify as limited or deterritorialized .2 Since 1988 and the collapse of a single socialist ideal, Algerians have become more aware of their pluralism and diversity. Before this time, the focus for most Algerians was on building a viable state and assuring social cohesion; therefore, only the Arabo-­ Muslim character of the country was acknowledged in a way that was connected to the socialist and revolutionary “dimension.” Even the Berbers remained, for the most part, hidden. After the “earthquake” of 5 October 1988,3 Algeria awoke to deep and age-­ old realities. It discovered that it was in fact an ethnic and cultural mosaic whose imaginary extended beyond the limits sketched by a po­ liti­ cal discourse that had trouble situating itself in the East-­ West conflict. Algeria also discovered that those who laid claim to the title “North African” included more than Algerians living in Algeria who expressed themselves in relation to this po­ liti­ cal discourse by defending or critiquing its tenets. Other groups were also po­ liti­ cally, historically , and emotionally connected to this region, such as the Beurs (children of North African immigrants in France), po­ liti­ cal exiles, and even the pieds-­ noirs and the Jews. 334 Zouzef Tayayou, a Jew from Nedroma, and the Others 335 Unlike the pieds-­ noirs, who were forced to flee Algeria after the activities of the Organisation de l’Armée Secrète (OAS),4 some Jews, even though they had been granted French nationality by the Crémieux Decree of 1870, preferred to remain in what they considered to be the country of their ancestors. It is clear that many Jews followed close behind the fleeing pied-­ noirs, but it is important to emphasize that some of them did not leave, either because they were unable to or because they loved their native soil. Some claim that several thousand Jewish Algerian partisans remained, others say the numbers reached tens of thousands, and some Algerian Jews say it was only several hundred. These individuals lived as full Algerians, with all the rights and responsibilities this identity implied. As was suggested in a history of Algerian Jewry, “these Jews know all about Algeria, while Algeria knows nothing about them.”5 This contradicts the assertion that the Jews enjoy all rights, at least on the level of religion, since, to the best of my knowledge, Judaism is not practiced openly in Algeria. If Jews practice their religion in Algeria today, they do so in the utmost secrecy. The ongoing existence of Jews in Algeria was revealed in the early 1990s, when Raymond Benhaim, Claude Berbi, and Benhamou assumed high-­ level positions within the Ministry of Finance in Mouloud Hamrouche’s government.6 But while the existence of Jews in Algeria came as a surprise to some, particularly those in the big cities, it was considered perfectly normal by others, particularly in the smaller towns such as Nedroma. Why did Jews settle in Nedroma, and why did a few refuse to leave after 1962? Nedroma is a small city in Western Algeria. It is part of the Wilaya (province ) of Tlemcen, approximately 50 kilometers from the provincial capital; it is approximately the same distance from Oujda in Morocco. The city is nestled in the north side of Filaoucen Mountain overlooking the beautiful plain of Mezarou with the Mediterranean on the horizon, six kilometers away. Nedroma is constructed in medieval style. The houses of the madina are generally two stories and are grouped around the old mosque, whose minaret was constructed toward the end of the tenth century. The alleyways are so narrow that only three or four people can walk abreast; in order to pass, you have to angle your body. There...

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