History of the Jews in Algeria

The History of the Jews in Algeria refers to the history of the Jewish community of Algeria, which dates to the 1st century CE. In the 15th century, many Spanish Jews emigrated to Algeria following expulsion from Spain and Portugal; among them were respected Jewish scholars, including Isaac ben Sheshet (Ribash) and Simeon ben Zemah Duran (Rashbatz).

Following Algerian independence in 1962, almost all of Algeria's Jews, having been granted French citizenship in 1870, left with the pied-noirs. The vast majority moved to France, and the rest moved to Israel. Those who remained resided mostly in Algiers, while some settled in Blida, Constantine, and Oran.

In the 1990s, the trials of Algerian Civil War led to the emigration of most of the remaining Jews. A decisive event was the rebel Armed Islamic Group's 1994 declaration of war on all non-Muslims in the country. That year, the Algerian Jews abandoned their last synagogue, the Great Synagogue of Algiers.

Today, most Jews in France are of North African origin, and consequently, most of the recent immigration from France to Israel consists of Jews of North African origin.

There is evidence of Jewish settlements in Algeria since at least the Roman period. Epitaphs have been found in archecological excavations that attest to Jews in the first centuries of the common era. Berber lands were said to welcome Christians and Jews very early from the Roman Empire, contributing by conversion and migration. Jewish settlement in North Africa and the Mediterranean was reinforced by the destruction of the second temple in Jerusalem by Titus in 70, and thereafter by the Kitos wars in 117 AD. Early descriptions of the Rustamid capital, Tahert, note that Jews were found there, as they would be in any other major Muslim city of North Africa. Centuries later, the Geniza Letters (found in Cairo) mention many Algerian Jewish families.

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