Tetouan was refounded by Sephardic refugees from the 1492 expulsion and remained the principal Spanish-Sephardi (megorashim) center of northern Morocco. R. Yitzchak Bengualid and the Bengio family were active here.
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Tetouan through the eras
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Acharonim
Tetouan was refounded in the 15th century by Sephardic refugees from the 1492 Spanish expulsion and the 1497 Portuguese forced-conversions. The walled Judería became the principal Spanish-Sephardi (megorashim) center of northern Morocco, with the Bengio, Bengualid, and Coriat rabbinic families anchoring its scholarly tradition. R. Yitzchak Bengualid (Vayomer Yitzchak) was its most-cited 19th-century posek. The community spoke Haketía — a distinctively Northern-Moroccan Ladino — that preserved many old Iberian forms lost in Salonika-Constantinople Eastern Ladino.
Modern Era
Tetouan in the era of the Spanish protectorate (1912-1956) hosted a Jewish community of about 7,000 at its peak. The Alliance Israélite Universelle and Spanish-Moroccan educational institutions transformed community life. Following Moroccan independence (1956), most of the community emigrated to Israel, France, Spain, and Venezuela; today only a small remnant remains, served by the historic Yagdil Torah synagogue.