Bibliography

Explore the references, sources, and research that support Libya's stories and cultural content.

• Literature and folktales

  Stories and Writers of the Jews of Libya

  Libyan Jewish literature is rich in stories: local scrolls that tell of rescues, a remarkable book by a Tripoli teacher who recorded his community's customs, and folktales told in the Judeo Arabic of Tripoli.

  Scrolls of rescue

  The Purims of Tripoli

  Like Jews in other lands, Libyan Jews wrote their own scrolls to remember times they were saved. Tripoli celebrated a local Purim recalling the city's rescue in 1795 from the ruler Ali Burghul, and the story was read and retold every year.

  Folktales and legends

  Tales from the hara

  Libyan Jewish families told folktales in Judeo Arabic about wise rabbis, clever tricksters, and miracles at the graves of holy men. After the community moved to Israel, folklorists recorded many of these tales for the Israel Folktale Archives at the University of Haifa, where they can still be read today.

  Modern writers

  A teacher who wrote everything down

  Mordechai Hakohen, a teacher and scholar from Tripoli who lived from 1856 to 1929, wrote a detailed history and description of the Jews of Libya, their towns, customs, and beliefs. Edited and translated by Harvey Goldberg as The Book of Mordechai: A Study of the Jews of Libya, it remains one of the most important sources on Libyan Jewish life. In recent decades, scholars such as Rachel Simon and Maurice Roumani, and the anthology Jewish Libya, have added new research, memories, and images.

  Read with students

  Start with these

  • Jewish Libya: Memory and Identity in Text and Image, Jacques Roumani, Judith Roumani, and David Meghnagi (high school and adult)
  • The Jews of Libya: Coexistence, Persecution, Resettlement, Maurice Roumani (high school and adult)

  See all books on the Jews of Libya in JIMENA's bibliography →

  Sources: History of the Jews in Libya; Mordechai Hakohen (Posen Library); Israel Folktale Archives.