Bidspirit auction | Rare Mohel’s Register from Sefrou,

Rare Mohel’s Register from Sefrou, Morocco – Record of Approximately 250 Circumcisions. 1964–1980 - A rare and historically significant documentary artifact: part of the personal register of a mohel (ritual circumciser) from the city of Sefrou, Morocco, containing a systematic and detailed record of circumcisions performed over a period of more than sixteen years. The notebook documents approximately 250 circumcisions conducted between 1964 and 1980 in Jewish communities throughout Morocco. Recorded entries include the names of the infants, the names of their parents, the dates of the ceremonies, and occasionally additional details relating to the event. The records indicate that in a number of cases the owner of the notebook served not only as the mohel but also as the sandak. Registers of this kind constitute an invaluable primary source for the study of Jewish communal life in Morocco during the second half of the twentieth century. They provide unique insight into family histories, communal networks, local customs, and the activities of individuals who played central roles in Jewish religious life. Unlike in certain European Jewish communities, where mohels’ registers occasionally survived, such personal records are exceedingly uncommon among Moroccan Jews, making this an exceptionally rare survival. The entries are handwritten in chronological order in a squared notebook and reflect years of careful and methodical record-keeping. The present item survives as part of a larger register and serves as an authentic and direct testimony to Jewish life in Morocco during the final decades before many of its historic communities disappeared. Squared notebook, 20 leaves written on both sides. Size: 30 × 19 cm. Condition: Good. Partial notebook, lacking its original binding. Minor signs of use and age. A rare and uncommon artifact of considerable genealogical, historical, and ethnographic importance for the study of Moroccan Jewry in the twentieth century.