Abraham Robert Attal z"l

Castellano / Inglés

El 25 de febrero falleció en Jerusalén Abraham Robert Attal z»l, un gran bibliógrafo e investigador de los judíos del norte de África.

Bibliotecario en el Instituto Ben-Zvi por más de cincuenta años, escribió sobre (pero no exclusivamente) los judíos del Magreb.

Emigró desde Túnez a Israel en el año 1954 y en los últimos años publicó más de 170 artículos y libros. Entre ellos está su monumental «Les Juifs d’Afrique du Nord, Bibliographie» (en hebreo y francés) de los cuales una actualización se publicó recientemente, «La presse periodique juive riodique d’Afrique du Nord» (en hebreo y francés); Un siglo de litterature judeo-arabe tunisienne» (1861-1961) (en hebreo).

El Sr. Attal no sólo fue una fuente de conocimiento y apoyo a un sinnúmero de académicos y estudiantes de todo el mundo, sino también una persona que gozaba de ayudar a otros con gran modestia y el humor.

Esta es una gran pérdida, especialmente para los que investigan en el norte de África. Lo extrañaremos.

Gracias a Mahilde Tagger de la Israel Genealogical Society por la información.

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This is with great sorrow that I am announcing the passing away on February 25 in Jerusalem, of Mr. Abraham Robert Attal z»l, the great bibliographer and researcher of North Africa Jewry. Librarian at the Ben-Zvi Institute for

more than fifty years, he wrote mostly (but not exclusively) on Maghreb Jewry. He immigrated from Tunisia to Israel in 1954 and over the years, he published more than 170 articles and books. Among them is his monumental Les juifs d’Afrique du Nord; bibliographie (Hebrew and French) of which a companion volume of updates was published several months ago; La presse periodique juive d’Afrique du Nord (Hebrew and French); Un siecle de littrrature judeo-arabe tunisienne (1861-1961) (Hebrew).

Mr. Attal was not only a source of knowledge and support for countless scholars and students all around the world, but a person who enjoyed helping others with high modesty and humor.

This is a great loss especially for those researching in North Africa. We are already missing him.

Thanks to Mahilde Tagger (IGS) for the information.

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(from the Jewish National University Library website)

New in the Library: Robert Attal collection

The library recently acquired the Robert Attal (Avraham Hatal) collection of Judeo-Arabic literature printed in Tunisia. The collection is now in the process of being catalogued.

Robert Attal was a librarian at the Ben-Zvi Institute for the Study of Jewish Communities in the East for many decades following his aliya to Israel from Tunisia in 1954.

With the encouragement of President Itzhak Ben-Zvi, he began collecting all Judeo-Arabic compositions published in Tunisia from 1861 – the year of the first Jewish printing – until the 1950’s.

The collection includes more than 1400 items both in translation and in the original.

The translated works are the earliest, including translations of the Bible, rabbinic literature, haggadot, religious philosophy, as well as legends from classic Arabic literature (such as the Arabian nights), Hebrew Enlightenment literature (Abraham Mapu), European literature of the last hundreds of years, and Christian works (especially the New Testament) published by missionaries.

The original works include about 170 poems and 180 liturgical poems and lamentations describing local and global events of the day. Among these are lamentations on the Holocaust and its effects on Tunisian Jews. The collection also comprises legends and sayings.

This collection is an important reflection, wide in its scope, of the Tunisian Jewish community from the last hundreds of years depicting the religious and cultural aspects of their society. Of special importance are those sections of the collection which represent the popular literature and culture of the time.