Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry
Subject: Between Integration and Subversion: Algerian Jews During the Colonial Period (1865- 1940)
Supervisor: Prof. Yaron Ben-Naeh and Prof. Benjamin Brown
Abstract: My research examines the cultural history of Algerian Jews during a specific segment of the French colonial rule. The period of my research, 1865-1940, was characterized by a dialectical process of integration and subversion of the existing system, along with religious-cultural negotiations and the creation of hybrid categories lying between the dichotomic identities of "traditional native" and "modern Westernized" Jews. During this time, Algeria was home to circles of maskilim, Francophile Jews, rabbis, and popular preachers, existing side by side, and some lying at the seam between multiple fields of discourse. Thus, I plan to highlight the broad range of contemporary Jewish groups writing and acting and cultivating various ideological responses.
My research seeks to write the history from below of Algerian Jews, reversing the usual point of view. To this end, my thesis will interrogate colonial sources and analyze internal sources of Algerian Judaism (responsa, popular literature in Judeo-Arabic, press). Through an in-depth analysis of the cultural activity of local Jews at the time, I will examine the means they put in place to preserve their autonomy and cultural independence in the shadow of the colonial hegemony, as well as their attempts to join, challenge, or subvert the ruling power. In addition, this study proposes to analyze Jewish rabbinic sources written in a colonial context in light of postcolonial theories. I thereby hope to outline a test case of Jewish coping with a colonial presence, as well as contribute to a broader understanding of French colonialism in the Maghreb.
Bio:
Gabriel Abensour was born and raised in Strasbourg, France. He came to Israel in 2008. Gabriel is a PhD student in the Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he is pursuing his doctoral research on the North-African Jewish Heritage from the 19th and 20th centuries. Gabriel is also a Fellow at the Kogod Research Center for Contemporary Jewish Thought, Shalom Hartman Institute (Israel). His research lies at the intersection of postcolonialism studies, Jewish Law and History.
Publications:
- "An Algerian Rabbi Advocating for the Use of the Organ in Synagogue Services," Zutot 20 (2023), 1-18.
- "Droit rabbinique transnational à l'ère de l'impérialisme européen: deux sagas de conflits testamentaires," Revue des Études Juives 181/3-4 (2022), pp. 405-428.
- "In Praise of the Multitude: Rabbi Yosef Knafo's Socially Conscious Work in Essaouira at the End of the Nineteenth Century," Jewish Social Studies 27/1 (Winter 2022), pp. 115-149.
- "Lishkat Yessod Hamaaravi: A Moroccan-Jewish Association in the Late Nineteenth Century", Zion 87/1 (2022), pp. 103-124. (Hebrew)
- "Kabbalah and Halakha in R. Yossef Messas' works," Pe'amim: Studies in Oriental Jewry 157 (2019), pp. 107–134. (Hebrew)
- "God’s Plurality Within Unity: Spinoza's Influence on Benamozegh's Thought," Quest. Issues in Contemporary Jewish History, 12 (December 2017), pp. 1-19.
President's Scholarship 2020/2021
MA Honors Program 2017/18