More than anywhere else in the Islamic world, Moroccan Jewry was embedded within the land’s greater culture, sharing community, art, and ideas with neighbours and interweaving lives together in peace for centuries. Today, with hundreds of shrines, restored synagogues, the Museum of Moroccan Judaism (the only Jewish institution of its kind throughout the Muslim world), and the Fez “Mellah” (the Jewish quarter from the 15th century), the Kingdom of Morocco actively preserves and honours its Jewish past, from the Judeo-Spanish communities that lived in the north to Casablanca’s urban Jews and all the diverse Judeo-Arabic and Judeo-Berber traditions that once flourished on the North West coast of Africa.
In the 1950s, shortly after the state of Israel was declared, 250,000 Jews lived in Morocco — forming the then-largest Jewish community in any Arab-Muslim country. Only a few thousand Jews remain, yet remnants of the Jewish Moroccans — and their economic, social, and cultural contributions — can still be found throughout the country. In search of that legacy, we’ll view Hebraic epitaphs, see the tombs of the ancient rabbis (some known as “saints”), meet with leaders of today’s Jewish community, and much more. We’ll visit Morocco’s famous mosques, important museums, and mausoleums of great dynasties, along with vibrant souks and archaeological sites dating back to pre-Roman times. In addition, highlights of our trip will include a tour of Marrakech’s tropical Majorelle gardens and a lesson with a master of calligraphy, the most fundamental element of Islamic art, to learn techniques for drawing the Arabic alphabet.
We invite you to join us as we explore the glories of Morocco while uncovering the rich Jewish culture that thrived within the Muslim world.