Les Juifs de Béja (Tunisie)

Béja, in the agricultural region of northern Tunisia, sheltered a Jewish community active in the grain trade and peddling serving the hinterland. Of local Sephardic tradition, its members were organized around their synagogues and communal institutions. Under the French Protectorate, they integrated partially into modern economic life and benefited from access to education. After independence, the community emptied in the mid-twentieth century, its members emigrating primarily to France and Israel.

Sources & resources

• Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World — Brill
• Encyclopaedia Judaica — 2e éd., Keter/Macmillan