A Study of Jewish Communal Leadership in Meknes, 1750–1912 r 305their Muslim neighbors’ more diffuse approach.^40 This is undoubtedly re-
lated to the emphasis on individual charity in Islamic law, as opposed
to the development of communal charity in halakhah.^41 Yet the interplay
between the control of charity and the legitimization of authority also
informed Muslim charity. Ottoman officials, from local bureaucrats to the
sultan himself, established charitable endowments (such as soup kitchens,
Quranic schools, and hospitals) as a way to consolidate and validate their
power.^42 At various points in the nineteenth century, the beys of Tunis
employed similar charitable measures to legitimize their authority in the
eyes of their subjects.^43 Among both Jews and Muslims, symbolic legiti-
mization emerged from the leaders’ responsibility to provide relief for the
poorest members of the community.
One of the most important roles of the communal leadership struc-
ture was to ensure the regular collection and distribution of charity to the
poorest Jews in Meknes. Their level of monopoly over the sources of char-
ity varied, from unobtrusively providing coffers in which Jews could place
their donations at their leisure, to levying taxes, to more symbolic strate-
gies such as directing fines toward poor relief. Yet at every turn the Jewish
communal leaders of Meknes kept charity firmly under their control—a
striking contrast with the Islamic tendency to leave charity in the hands
of individuals.
Charity given by individual Jews either directly to the poor or to com-
munal coffers undoubtedly constituted a major aspect of charitable giv-
ing in Meknes. While communal leaders were least able to control this
kind of voluntary giving, they nonetheless enacted regulations whenever
possible. Individuals placed their donations in the communal “poor box”
(qupah le- ̔aniyim). Later official appointees collected and redistributed
the money.^44 Holidays were popular occasions for such donations, espe-
cially the three major festivals (Pesah, Shavu ̔ot, and Sukkot).^45 Individu-
als also donated to the communal poor box to mark private celebrations,
such as a circumcision, a bar mitzvah, or a wedding.^46 Such occasions
often entailed inviting the poor to feasts, almsgiving, and the distribution
of specialty food items, such as spiced meats or dried fruits.^47 Jews and
Muslims across the Middle East shared the tradition of giving to the poor
on festive occasions.^48 Muslims, however, tended to make such donations
directly to the poor, while Jews often went through a governing body.^49
Finally, Meknes’s leaders were proactive in their attempts to collect char-
ity from individuals. Various taqanot stipulated the responsibilities of a