Los Muestros, a publication of Sepharad.org, the European Sephardic Institute
The city of Fes was founded in 789, and its first inhabitants included pagan Berbers, Christians and Jews, to the latter of whom King Idris assigned the "Fundunk al Yahudi," or Jewish quarter.
The presence of Jews helped Fes become a leading business center, enabling it to attract a growing number of intellectuals such as Judah ibn Qureyah in the 9th century, David ben Abraham Alfassi in the 10th century, and Dinat ben Abrat et Juda Hayyj in the 11th and 12th centuries.
The most noteworthy was Maimonides, who spent 5 years in Fes before fleeing to Egypt when the city fell into the hands of the fanatical Almohades.
The arrival of Sephardic Jews split the community in two, comprising the megorashim and the toshavim, or local Jews. The former issued religious decrees, known as takanot, based on Spanish custom, and thus created friction with the toshavim but finally gained control of the Jewish quarter.
The defeat of the Portuguese during the battle of al Qasr el-Kabir in 1578 encouraged them to celebrate "Pourim de los cristianos" [presumably the Purim of the Christians].
In 1912, rioting broke out in Fes 2 weeks after creation of the French protectorate, and the mellah was pillaged and burned. Having been disarmed by the French army, the Jews were unable to defend themselves, and 60 were murdered.
The number of Jews in Fes dropped rapidly from the more than 22,000 in 1947 to 12,548 in 1951, when they accounted for nearly 6 percent of the total Jewish population of Morocco; by 1969, hardly a thousand Jews were left in the city.
Today, the community has disintegrated, and barely any Jewish institutions remain. In 1961, the Jewish schools (The Alliance, Ozar Ha-Torah and Em-ha-Banim) took pride in having nearly 3,000 children enrolled.
The more famous individuals to have emerged from this community include Najman ben Sunbal (1556), Samuel Hagiz (1596), Judaj Uziel (1603), Saul Serreo (1622), Samuel Sarfaty (1713), Juda Ibn Atar, Hayim Ibn Atar, Abner Sarfaty (1884) and Isaac ben Danan (1900) and, more recently, Edouard Marelli, a leader of Jewish community life in Luxembourg.