Exploring Casablanca’s Jewish Heritage

Jewish culture has been interwoven throughout Morocco for centuries and offers a golden opportunity for Jewish and non-Jewish travelers alike to discover the stories of the Jewish Mellah, the vibrant Jewish community, Synagogues, Andalusian and Moorish architecture, tombs, and holy places, and the only Jewish Museum in the Islamic world. “Casablanca” film references aside, Morocco is home to many Jewish heritage sites of historical prominence that are some of the most widely visited in the world. When traveling to Morocco, these fantastic places are essential highlights not to be missed and include synagogues, cemeteries, and the Mellah (old Jewish quarter), all preserved respectively in the former Jewish neighborhoods of the medinas. All Jewish heritage sites in Morocco are either UNESCO World Heritage sites or protected by the Moroccan King and government and are regularly under renovation and preservation to ensure they remain a part of Morocco’s Jewish heritage.

Casablanca, Morocco – New York Jewish Guide

The Museum of Moroccan Judaism

The Museum covers an area of 700 square meters and includes a large multipurpose room used for exhibitions of painting, photography, and sculpture; three other rooms, with windows containing exhibits on religious and family life (oil lamps, Torahs, Chanukah lamps, clothing, marriage contracts [ketubot], and Torah covers) and on work-life; two rooms displaying complete Moroccan synagogues; and document, video, and photo libraries.

Its director, Zhor Rehihil, a Muslim woman with a Ph.D. in Jewish studies, points out highlights of the collection: Torah scrolls, hamzas, menorahs, elaborately embroidered caftans, and a carved wooden bimah. “As Muslim Moroccans, we feel we lost a part of our identity when Moroccan Jews left the country,” explains Rehihil. “We used to have a six-pointed star on our flag, like Israel. But under French rule, it was changed to five.” The rights of Jews to practice their religion and education are enshrined in the Moroccan constitution. In 2011, Morocco’s new constitution recognized “Hebraic influences” as having enriched and nourished Moroccan identity. Noting that “Morocco has made a colossal effort to preserve its Jewish heritage,” Rehihil added that this emphasis is changing the views of ordinary Moroccans, who now recognize that the Jewish story “is part of Moroccan heritage and it is up to us to preserve it for future generations.”

Hanukiah, The Museum of Moroccan Judaism -New York Jewish Travel Guide

A visit to Jewish Casablanca merits a stop at Synagogue Beth El, the main synagogue among one the 30 throughout the city. Inside you will find beautiful Marc Chagall-inspired stained glass where the sunlight pours in, tinted in multicolor from the stained glass, and radiates off an enormous crystal chandelier, creating a rainbow-like effect across the entire synagogue. There are ancient Hebrew scrolls on display and gilded quotes from the Torah inscribed on the walls.

Synagogue Beth El – New York Jewish Travel Guide

The community maintains a strong Jewish educational network, with both Jewish and Muslim families drawn to Ecole Maimonides, a French international secondary school that is part of the AEFE (Agency for French Education Abroad) school network. The Alliance Israelite school is one of the first schools that was created in Tetouan in 1862. It is the largest Jewish high school in Morocco and Africa, by its size and number of students of Jewish denomination. Each class has an average of 21 Jewish and Muslim students. The school has a French program like the French baccalaureate and also offers 15 hours per week for Judaica studies and modern languages such as Hebrew and Arabic.

Jewish Students at Ecole Maimonides, Casablanca – New York Jewish Travel Guide

Mr. Shimon Cohen, the director for the last 20 years, described with emotion his love for the school. “I have a lot of nostalgia for this school and this nostalgia came from the fact that I have spent many beautiful years here with both the Muslim and Jewish communities and these two have lived in perfect harmony and mutual trust and friendship.” Noting that this relationship existed both inside the school walls and after school, he told NYJTG, “I am talking about the past because things have evolved and changed. When I came here over 20 years ago, there were approximately 90 percent Jewish students and 10 percent Muslim students, and today the numbers are reversed. There are 90 percent Muslims and 10 percent Jewish and out of 350 students, 25 are Jewish.”

This school is considered both prestigious and reasonably priced for a private school. Mr. Cohen told NYJTG, “We can triple the school enrollment, but we don’t want this and prefer to keep things the same, to know the students and teachers by their first name and as a family and not by a number.” Many delegations from the United States representing organizations such as the Joint, American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, visit the school – three times per year to assist in its management and to help students with difficulties. Inside the Ecole Maimonides, a small synagogue is used by the community on Shabbat and Jewish holidays. Dedicated in memory of Charles Benouaich, Meyer Lalouz, and Hanina Benain, it was inaugurated on June 24, 1985.

Ecole Maimonides, a small synagogue, is used by the community for Shabbat and Jewish holidays – New York Jewish Travel Guide

To gain a glimpse into the community’s history, visit the Jewish Cemetery of Ben Msik. It is open and quiet, with well-kept white stone markers in French, Hebrew, and Spanish. Once a year, Moroccan Jews celebrate a Hilloula (anniversary of a revered rabbi’s death), at the tomb of Rabbi Eliyahu HaCohen, also known as Qandil El Blad (the land’s lamp), who was previously buried at the heart of Casablanca’s ancient medina.

Mr. Serge Berdugo, the secretary-general of Moroccan Jewry, the former Minister of Tourism from 1993 to 1995, and Ambassador of His Majesty King Mohammed VI since 2006 shared with visiting journalists an overview of the present Jewish community. “The community is stable, and most importantly is the existence of a strong relationship between the Jewish community here” and that of the diaspora, he said. Morocco receives approximately 40,000 visitors from Israel every year for occasions such as Hillouloth (Pilgrimages), Passover, and other holidays, celebrations, and weddings. For example, a few days ago, the community welcomed over 400 guests arriving from New York City for a wedding in Marrakech and has hosted other “mixed” – i.e., Sephardic, and Ashkenazic – weddings.

Mr. Berdugo highlighted an important milestone: in 2010, Morocco’s King, Mohammed VI, launched a project for the restoration of at least 167 Jewish burial sites and 12,600 graves across 40 provinces throughout Morocco. It also included the opening of the Jewish Cultural Museum in Fes, another one to be built in Tangier, and one which had already opened in Essaouira – the renovated Synagogue Attias – House of Memory – as a Research Center. Mr. Berdugo told NYJTG that while many Moroccan Jews left 50 or 60 years ago, today they can still acquire a Moroccan passport with a valid birth certificate in just two months. However, he said one of the problems the community is facing is around Kashrut. The community has created a Student Yeshiva and by the end of the year, they will have 60 graduates from Israel, the United States, Ethiopia, and other places as well as launching a school for the Shomrim (kashrut supervisors) and Shochatim (ritual slaughterers) to fill this kashrut void. In Casablanca, there are five kosher restaurants, 10 butchers, three bakeries, and four caterers, he said.

Journalists with Mr. Serge Berdugo, secretary-general of Moroccan Jewry in Casablanca – New York Jewish Travel Guide

Another highlight, Berdugo noted, is that Holocaust education was introduced in schools by King Mohammed VI to ‎incorporate Holocaust studies into the country’s ‎‎education system. Morocco has contacts with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, and symposiums and conferences are held here with Project Aladdin, a non-governmental organization that promotes intercultural dialogue and aims to counter Holocaust denial and all forms of racism and intolerance, particularly among Muslims and Jews. “Every year we send students, both Muslims and Jews alike, to the March of Living: Auschwitz-Birkenau, Poland,” he said, referring to the annual educational gathering at the Auschwitz death camp for youth from around the world.

The Mimouna Organization is another example of interfaith cooperation noted by Mr. Berdugo. It was founded over seven years ago by a group of Moroccan Muslims dedicated to preserving and reintroducing the Jewish Moroccan culture with the purpose of teaching young Muslim college students about the rich history of unity between Jewish and Muslim Moroccans. It was named for the holiday celebrated by Moroccan Jews the day after Passover, in which many families would invite their Muslim neighbors for a feast signifying the holiday’s end, the promise of redemption, and the hopeful return of the Messiah. The group now offers Hebrew classes on campuses, fosters interfaith dialogue amongst students, and holds a Moroccan-Jewish-themed day with authentic kosher cuisine, music, and a mini-museum of artifacts.

For more information, visit:

To plan a trip to Morocco, contact the Moroccan National Tourist Office or log on to http://www.visitmorocco.com/en.

Fly Royal Air Morocco – https://www.royalairmaroc.com/us-en/

The author took part in a press trip sponsored by the Moroccan National Tourist Office.