Jewesses are exempt from taking off their slippers, or sandals, when
passing the mosques. The late Emperor, Muley Suleiman, [1] professed to
be a rigidly exact Mussulman, and considered it very indecent, and a
great scandal that Jewesses, some of them, like most women of this
country, of enormous dimensions, should be allowed to disturb the decent
frame of mind of pious Mussulmen, whilst entering the threshold of the
house of prayer, by the sad exhibitions of these good ladies stooping
down and shewing their tremendous calves, when in the act of taking off
their shoes before passing the mosques. For such reasons, Jewesses are
now privileged and exempted from the painful necessity of walking
barefoot in the streets.
The policy of the Court in relation to the Jews continually fluctuates.
Sometimes, the Emperor thinks they ought to be treated like the rest of
his subjects; at other times, he seems anxious to renew in all its
vigour the system described by Ali Bey. Hearing that the Jews of
Tangier, on returning from Gibraltar, would often adopt the European
dress, and so, by disguising themselves, be treated like Christians and
Europeans, he ordered all these would-be Europeans forthwith to be
undressed, and to resume their black turban.
Alas, how were all these Passover, Tabernacle and wedding festivals,
these happy and joyous days of the Jewish society of Mogador, changed on
the bombardment of that city! What became of the rich and powerful
merchants, the imperial vassals of commerce with their gorgeous wives
bending under the weight of diamonds, pearls, and precious gems, during
that sad and unexpected period? The newspapers of the day recorded the
melancholy story. Many of the Jews were massacred, or buried underneath
the ruins of the city; their wives subjected to plunder; the rest were
left wandering naked and starving on the desolate sandy coast of the
Atlantic, or hidden in the mountains, obtaining a momentary respite from
the rapacious fury of the savage Berbers and Arabs.
It is well known that, while the French bombarded Tangier and Mogador
from without, the Berber and Arab tribes, aided by the _canaille_ of the
Moors, plundered the city from within. Several of the Moorish rabble
declared publicly, and with the greatest cowardice and villainous
effrontery, "When the French come to destroy Mogador, we shall go and
pillage the Jews' houses, strip the women of their ornaments, and then
escape to the mountains from the pursuit of the Christians." These
threats they faithfully executed; but, by a just vengeance, they were
pillaged in turn, for the Berbers not only plundered the Jews
themselves, but the Moors who had escaped from the city laden with their
booty.
It is to be hoped that a better day is dawning for North African Jews.
The Governments of France and England can do much for them in Morocco.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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