A Jewish Childhood in the Muslim Mediterranean brings together the fascinating personal stories of Jewish writers, scholars, and intellectuals who came of age in lands where Islam was the dominant religion and everyday life was infused with the politics of the French imperial project. Prompted by novelist Leïla Sebbar to reflect on their childhoods, these writers offer literary portraits that gesture to a universal condition while also shedding light on the exceptional nature of certain experiences. The childhoods captured here are undeniably Jewish, but they are also Moroccan, Algerian, Tunisian, Egyptian, Lebanese, and Turkish; each essay thus testifies to the multicultural, multilingual, and multi-faith community into which its author was born. The present translation makes this unique collection available to an English-speaking public for the first time. The original version, published in French in 2012, was awarded the Prix Haïm Zafrani, a prize given by the Elie Wiesel Institute of Jewish Studies to a literary project that valorizes Jewish civilization in the Muslim world.
Nonfiction
A Jewish Childhood in the Muslim Mediterranean
December 15, 2022
Discussion Questions
A Jewish Childhood in the Muslim Mediterranean is a compelling collection of thirty-four essays and stories that illuminates the oft-overlooked experiences of Jews in Muslim-majority countries. From the streets of Morocco to the shores of Turkey, this poignant collection offers readers a rare — and personal — glimpse into the vanished world of nearly one million Jews, who once found a home in countries where Islam was the dominant religion. Prompted by French Algerian novelist Leïla Sebbar to reflect on their childhoods, each author tackles questions of belonging and memory, of childhoods long gone and worlds mostly lost. Despite these shared themes, which include the dynamics of the Jewish experience in Muslim-majority countries under French imperial rule, each essay stands as a testament to individuality. They caution against collapsing the history of Jews from the Arab world into a monolithic, simplistic, or moralistic memory tale. A Jewish Childhood in the Muslim Mediterranean is a vital contribution to our understanding of memory, belonging, identity, and the diverse Jewish experience in the region. Mirroring the broader historical reality of Jewish displacement and exodus, and underscoring the urgency of preserving these forgotten memories, only one of the thirty-four authors still resides in her country of birth. The original version of the book, published in French in 2012, was awarded the Prix Haïm Zafrani, a prize given by the Elie Wiesel Institute of Jewish Studies to a literary project that centers Jewish civilization in the Muslim world.
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