The Emergence of the Local Jewish Community in the Muslim World

The Jewish community, a vital cornerstone of the Jewish people's life in the Middle Ages, played a unique role. It provided a framework for the minority Jews in foreign societies, enabling them to not only survive but also preserve their distinct identity and fulfill various purposes despite continuous exile.

The book seeks to fill a gap, as it is devoted to a detailed description of the life of a local community, one of the Jewish communities in the Islamic countries of the Middle Ages, the community of Qayrawan in the heart of the Maghreb, Tunisia.

This book aims to correct a prevalent misconception in the study of Jewish history. It challenges the notion that the first Jewish communities in the Middle Ages emerged in Ashkenaz at the end of the tenth century. Instead, it highlights the independence of communities in Islamic countries, which derived authority from the central leadership, primarily in Babylon.

The book sheds light on the local community of Qayrawan, drawing from a rich array of sources from the Cairo Genizahs. These sources, including historical, literary, and legal documents, were meticulously collected to provide a comprehensive understanding of the people of Qayrawan, their social life and local institutions from the ninth to the eleventh century.

The social phenomena of the community’s independence and dependence on the local social centers are discussed against the background of historical events. The book shows that there were independent local communities in Islamic countries as early as the ninth century. However, despite their functional independence and intellectual ability, the community pays tribute to the central leadership without official or functional dependence on it.

Incidentally, the discussion of Qayrawan conjures up a picture of the Jewish world in Islamic countries, its connections between East and West, and the location of the bridge community, Qayrawan, at the important junction in which it was located.