End of Divine RIght

Beit Avi Chai's lecture series on the Jews of North Africa did not start with their arrival there. The series is, after all, only four lectures. It started with colonialism, and the results of good intentions. (Patricia Limerick has a wonderful riff on good intentions in her book about the history of the American West, Legacy of Conquest).

What we heard about the changes colonialism brought to the Jews of the Maghreb was interesting, but there was also a reminder for all of "the West."

"Louis XIV ruled by divine right, Napoleon by the will of his people (however often he ignored their will)." That change in the basis for the legitimacy of power is something to remember today.

Copyright 2012 Jane S. Fox