Tahala (Tahāla) is an agglomeration of small villages in the Ammeln Valley in Morocco’s Anti-Atlas, in the Berber-speaking region (Tashelḥit dialect) called the Sous (Sūs). The exact origins of its Jewish community are unknown. Historical accounts hold that by the late fifteenth century there was a mellah (Ar. mallāḥ ), or Jewish quarter, in Tizi n’Aoussift (one of Tahala’s villages), probably founded by Jews from neighboring areas. Neither the villages nor the mellah of Tahala were walled. The Jewish population was estimated at 750 at the end…