The Moroccan mellah was not simply a timeless or uniform “Jewish ghetto.” Its political origins, physical form, population, and relationship with surrounding Muslim neighborhoods differed by city and period. Within mellah districts, Jews organized synagogues, markets, schools, charities, workshops, courts, and family networks. Walls or gates could provide protection while also marking legal and social separation. Wealthy and poor residents experienced the neighborhood differently, and many commercial activities extended beyond its boundaries. Studying the mellah as a changing institution reveals how space, government, religion, occupation, and communal hierarchy shaped Moroccan Jewish life.
