308 r Jessica Marglin
poor—fell under their supervision.^70 The use of heqdeshim as a source of
charity was closely related to Islamic practice, in which awqāf constituted
one of the most important charitable institutions.^71 Among Jews as well,
pious endowments provided both housing and cash for local indigents
and scholars. For instance, two taqanot from the eighteenth century of-
fered a detailed explanation of the status of ten stores built just outside
the walls of the Jewish quarter, the millāh.^72 Both taqanot stipulated that
one-third of the stores’ hazaqot (the legal right of occupancy, considered
to be separate from either ownership or rental) be dedicated to the poor.^73
When these hazaqot were sold, one-third of the proceeds went to charity.
The community also oversaw particular buildings dedicated to the
poor. One source concerns buildings that belonged to the gmilut hasadim
society (a “good deeds” society).^74 It seems that the profits from these
buildings, including stores and houses, were collected by the society’s
treasurer and used for the its activities as well as distributed directly to the
poor. Another taqanah describes buildings rented specifically to the poor;
a treasurer was to be nominated to collect the rent from the tenants, from
which he was to deduct the amount donated by the community.^75 At least
one heqdesh was dedicated to the Jews of Palestine.^76 Private individu-
als could establish heqdeshim, as in the case of a woman who left part of
her property to the poor.^77 Yet regardless of their specifications, Meknes’s
leaders took care to oversee how revenues from pious endowments were
collected and distributed.
While control over individual charity, taxes, and pious endowments
constituted concrete ways in which Meknes’s Jewish leaders asserted their
authority, a more symbolic strategy also fell under the auspices of poor
relief. Taqanot on a range of subjects often threatened potential offenders
with fines to be collected at the discretion of the beit din (Jewish court).
These fines, stipulated the authors, would be designated for the poor.^78
A taqanah enacted repeatedly includes the threat of such a fine; it pro-
hibited playing “karta” (or “al-karta”), a card game involving gambling.
At least three separate taqanot specified that fines collected for playing
“karta” would go to the poor.^79 The collection of fines intended for the
poor was also a strategy used by Jews in Fez at least through the seven-
teenth century.^80
It is difficult to determine the extent to which these fines constituted
an important source of charity. Yet the recurrence of the threat both to
fine community members and to donate these fines to the poor reveals