The Jews of Algeria

For more than two millennia, Algeria was home to one of the oldest and most vibrant Jewish communities of North Africa.

From the ancient roots of Jewish life in the Maghreb to the transformations of the modern era, this book traces a history shaped by faith, family, trade, learning, music, languages, and enduring ties to the land. It explores the many worlds of Algerian Judaism: towns and cities, synagogues and schools, celebrations and daily life, rabbinic traditions, cultural exchanges, and the rich diversity of Sephardic and local heritage.

The book also examines the major upheavals that changed the destiny of these communities: colonial rule, the Crémieux Decree, the Vichy period, the Second World War, Algeria's struggle for independence, and the mass departures of the 1960s.

Neither a nostalgic idealization nor a simple chronicle of loss, The Jews of Algeria is a journey through a living human history. It restores the voices, memories, and traditions of generations whose heritage continues in France, Israel, the Americas, and across the world.

A book for readers interested in Jewish history, North Africa, Algeria, Sephardic culture, diaspora, and the transmission of memory.