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This article explores the depiction of the figures of ‘Jewish’ and ‘Muslim’ women in Algeria at the end of the 19th century through an intersectional reading of these two categories of ‘Arab women.’ It offers a gendered analysis of a colonial society in the context of studies that consider Jewish and Muslim communities to be integral parts of the Algerian landscape. Sources from metropolitan rabbis and Jewish educators demonstrate how and why these community leaders took pains to emphasize the importance of ‘civilizing’ the ‘Jewish’ women of Algeria. Distinguishing between Jewish and Muslim female behavior, and highlighting these differences was in fact a way to situate these communities within a colonial hierarchy.