Colonizing Halakha : Jewish Law and French Colonialism in Nineteenth-Century Algeria

• In Event: Halakhah and Modern Politics

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of French colonial rule and civil law on the Jewish legal system in Algeria during the second half of the 19th century. During this period, Algerian Jews were subjected to French civil law, but in matters of personal status, they were judged according to French civil judges' understanding of "Hebrew law" (Droit hébraïque), marking the first attempt to articulate halakha as a modern legal system compatible with French law. Drawing on rabbinical sources, legal archives, and court cases, I argue that the French effort to subordinate halakha to the logic of civil law was a precursor to the wider project of legal colonialism in Algeria.

Using Robert Cover's distinction between "paideic" and "imperial" legal systems, I trace how French judges and jurists sought to strip halakha of its communal and religious character and remake it in the image of a modern, standardized legal system. Through close readings of key cases and legal opinions, I show how this process generated tensions and inconsistencies in the application of Jewish law, as French judges issued conflicting rulings on personal status, property, and contracts. Simultaneously, Algerian rabbis sought to adapt halakha to meet colonial challenges, proposing innovative solutions to issues like "agunot" (women trapped in unwanted marriages).

My research contributes to scholarship on law, Jewish history, and colonialism by shedding light on Algerian Jews' understudied legal history, highlighting the colonization of halakha in French legal imperialism, and underscoring religious law as a site of contestation in colonial societies. This paper also invites reflection on the complex dynamics of law, identity, and power in colonialism and legal pluralism, speaking to enduring questions about religion, state, minority rights, and legal uniformity in France.

Author

• Gabriel Abensour, Hebrew University of Jerusalem