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Paper short abstract

In my paper, I conduct an object biography of a late 20th-century circumcision logbook from Tetouan (Morocco), which is now housed at Spain’s first public Jewish museum, to elucidate the continuing deracination of Sephardi histories from those of their Muslim neighbors in North Africa.

Paper long abstract

In my paper, I conduct an object biography of one record - the libro registro (circumcision logbook) of Rabbi Haserfaty, who served the Jewish communities of Teṭwān from the end of 20th century and well into the first decades of the Spanish Protectorate in northern Morocco. This logbook has been housed at the Museo Sefardí of Toledo, Spain’s first public Jewish museum, for decades following its deposit and subsequent sale to the Museo by one of Haserfaty's family members. By examining the social life of this unique record of Teṭwānī life, I am able to elucidate two interrelated processes: first, the mechanisms through which selective narration of Spain’s loss and recuperation of Sephardi memory occurs; and second, the consequences of this partial recuperation of Sephardi memory for how we understand Sephardi life post-expulsion. The most significant consequence I highlight in this paper is the continuing deracination of Sephardi histories from those of their neighbors in North Africa (where the logbook was created). In particular, I demonstrate how the libro registro, which reveals the intertwining of Jewish and non-Jewish life through shared patterns of social stratification, becomes flattened as a record through its removal from its birthplace, reappraisal as a record of Jewish life exclusively, and finally, transformation into a static symbol of Sephardi Jewish ritual life in the Museo Sefardí’s permanent collection.