Moroccan Jews (; ; ) are Jews who live in or are from Morocco. Moroccan Jews constitute an ancient community dating to Roman times. Jews began immigrating to the region as early as 70 CE. They were much later met by a second wave of migrants from the Iberian Peninsula in the period which immediately preceded and followed the issuing of the 1492 Alhambra Decree, when Jews were expelled from Spain, and soon afterwards, from Portugal. This second wave of immigrants changed Moroccan Jewry, which largely embraced the Andalusian Sephardic liturgy, to switch to a mostly Sephardic identity.
Moroccan Jews built the first Jewish neighborhood outside the walls of Jerusalem (Mahane Israel) in 1867, as well as the first modern neighborhoods in Tel Aviv, Haifa and Tiberias. Following the spread of Zionism in Morocco beginning in the early 20th century and the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, there was a significant migration of Moroccan Jews to Palestine, especially through the Israeli initiatives Cadima (1949–1956) and Operation Yachin (1961–1964).
During the 1950s, Morocco's Jewish population was about 250,000–350,000. Due to Jewish-Moroccan emigration during the 1960s-1970s, the country’s Jewish population reduced to approximately 2,500. The vast majority of Moroccan Jews now live in Israel, where they constitute the second-largest Jewish community. Other communities are found in France, Canada, Spain, the United States, and South America, mainly in Venezuela, Brazil, and Argentina.
The affection and respect between Moroccan Jews and the Kingdom of Morocco is still palpable. Every year, rabbis and community leaders around the world are invited to attend the Throne Celebration held in Rabat. During the 2014 celebration, Rabbi Haim A. Moryoussef from Canada, dedicated his book "Le Bon Oeil - Ben Porath Yossef" to King Mohammed VI along with a handwritten blessing written on parchment wishing him a healthy, long, and successful life.
History
Moroccan Jews constitute an ancient community with possible origins dating back to before 70 CE. Concrete evidence of Jewish presence in Morocco becomes apparent in late antiquity, with Hebrew epitaphs and menorah-decorated lamps discovered in the Roman city of Volubilis, and the remains of a synagogue dating to the third century CE. In accordance with the norms of the Islamic legal system, Moroccan Jews had separate legal courts pertaining to "personal law" under which communities (Muslim sharia, Christian Canon law and Jewish halakha law-abiding) were allowed to rule themselves under their own system.
During the Late Middle Ages, and particularly after the expulsion of Jews mandated by the Alhambra Decree, many Sephardi Jews migrated from al-Andalus to the Maghreb as refugees fleeing the inquisition in Spain and Portugal. They are referred to as the Megorashim, while the Jews already in Morocco are referred to as the Toshavim. Many Sephardic Jews settled in Fez and Marrakesh. In the following centuries, Conversos who had been banished to Iberian colonial possessions in the Americas and the Atlantic reclaimed their Judaism and also resettled in Morocco.
In the mid 19th century, Moroccan Jews started migrating from the interior of the country to coastal cities such as Essaouira, Mazagan, Asfi, and later Casablanca for economic opportunity, participating in trade with Europeans and the development of those cities. The Alliance Israélite Universelle opened its first school in Tetuan in 1862.
After the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, and due to domestic strife in the 1950s, the next several decades saw waves of Jewish emigration to Israel, France and Canada. Shay Hazkani found that of the 20,000 who performed aliyah in 1948-1949, 1,000 served in the IDF, of which 70 percent wished to return home to Morocco. Only 6 percent managed to do so, given such various bureaucratic obstacles as the Israelis’ confiscation of their passports.Shay Hazkani,Dear Palestine:A Social History of the 1948, Stanford University Press 2021 .Josh Ruebner, 'Unsettling 1948: A Review of Shay Hazkani's 'Dear Palestine',' Mondoweiss 24 June 2021 Moroccan Jews emigrated for a variety of reasons. Some have emigrated for religious reasons, some faced mistreatment, and others left for better economic prospects than they faced in post-protectorate Morocco. With every Arab-Israeli war, tensions between Arabs and Jews would rise, sparking more Jewish emigration. By the time of the Yom Kippur War in 1973, the majority of Morocco's Jewish population had emigrated.
As a protectorate of France (from 1912-1956), parts of Morocco were influenced by the French, while the same was true for northern Morocco while under Spain’s protectorate (also from 1912-1956). During the French and Spanish protectorates, Moroccan Jews and Moroccan Muslims were classified based upon which Moroccan regions they called home. Certain remnants of these classifications can be felt today. These differences are reflected in language, foods, last names and even liturgy. Early photographs of Moroccan Jewish families, taken in the early 20th century by German explorer and photographer Hermann Burchardt, are now held at the Ethnological Museum of Berlin.Jewish couple in Morocco on the roof of their house; Jewish family during the Feast of Tabernacles on the roof of their house; Moroccan Jews in 1905, by Hermann Burchardt; Jewish family, 1905; The Saba Synagogue, 1905; Jewish family in their home; The Ibn (Aben) Danan Synagogue, in the Mellah of Fès (click to enlarge); Jewish family in Morocco, early 20th century (click on photo to enlarge); Family portrait, Morocco.
During the late 1930s, many Jews in Morocco lived in desolate areas. This was in part due to increased taxation by French authorities. In 1936, Léon Blum, a Jewish man, was appointed as prime minister of France. This gave some Moroccan Jews hope that they may be able to become French citizens at some point, as Algerian Jews gained French citizenship with the Crémieux Decree. Algerian Jews were granted right of passage to France, and this only furthered the desire of Moroccan Jews to embrace French culture to the extent of the Algerian Jews.
During the Moroccan struggle for independence in the 1950s, several promises were made to ensure equal rights for the Jewish community in a future independent Morocco, in part due to lobbying efforts of Moroccan nationalists in the United States.
Today, a small Jewish community of perhaps 2,500 live in Morocco (most of whom live in Casablanca). However, many young men emigrate to France and Israel. As of 2017, according to The Economist, "No Arab country has gone to the lengths of Morocco to revive its Jewish heritage." The country has restored 110 synagogues and has the Arab world's only Jewish museum. More than 50,000 Moroccan Jews in Israel visit Morocco each year.
Communities today In the preamble to the 2011 Moroccan constitutional referendum following the Arab Spring, King Mohammed VI affirmed the status of the Jewish community of Morocco as a constitutive component of the Moroccan nation.
Morocco: As of 2024, about 2,100 Jews still live in Morocco. As the only city that has retained a large Jewish population, Casablanca is now the center of Moroccan Jewish life. Smaller, aging populations remain in other cities. Israel: The 1960s and 1970s saw large waves of Jewish emigration from Morocco to Israel. Many Moroccan Jews were transferred to peripheral development towns while others settled in larger, established cities. Today, Moroccan Jews can be found throughout Israel. France: Large communities in France include Paris, Marseille, Strasbourg, Lyon and Nice. Argentina: Mainly in Buenos Aires and Rosario. Brazil: Amazonian Jews mainly in Belém (about 450 families), Manaus (about 250 families) and Rio de Janeiro (about 100 families), with small communities scattered throughout the Amazon region. 2009 marked two hundred years of the first wave of immigration to the Amazon region. Prominent descendant of Moroccan Jews in Brazil include Brazilian Senator for the Amazonian province of Amapá, Davi Alcolumbre, who became President of the Senate in 2019, as well as Isaac Benayon Sabba and Samuel Benchimol. Canada: Canada began extending visas to Jews from Morocco in the 1950s. Large communities developed in Montreal and Toronto. Moroccans were attracted to Canada because of its high quality of life and to French-speaking Montreal, in particular, due to the language element. Toronto is known for its significant Moroccan population originating from cities such as Tangier and Tetouan. In the recent past, however, an emergence of French-Moroccan musical liturgy and customs has been noticed even in this dominant Moroccan city. For example, the traditional Moroccan Bakashot, classical music sung by Sephardic Jews in the winter months across countries in the Middle East on Friday night, has come to life in recent productions by Magen David Congregation and Abir Ya'akob Congregation. Venezuela: Concentrated mainly in Caracas. Gibraltar: The Jewish community in Gibraltar originates from Tangier and Tetouan. United States: The Moroccan Jewish Organization (MJO)Moroccan Jewish Organization (MJO) was founded in 1972. Founding Members created Moroccan Services & a Synagogue in Forest Hills, NY named Shaar Hashamayim Sephardic Synagogue. Members and Participants of MJO went on to create other Moroccan Synagogues and Batei Midrashot / Houses of [Torah] Study in Manhattan (Manhattan Sephardic Cong.), Brooklyn (Netivot Yisrael), Fort Lee, NJ, Cedarhurst (HaChaim veHaShalom) and Philadelphia, PA.
Jewish quarters in Morocco
The Jewish quarters in Morocco were called mellahs. Jews in Morocco were considered dhimmis under Muslim law, meaning that they were a protected religious minority distinct from the Muslim majority, and were prevented from participating in certain activities.Deshen, Shlomo. "Urban Jews in Sherifian Morocco." Middle Eastern Studies 20, no. 4 (1984): 212-23. doi:10.1080/00263208408700607 Following the Pact of Umar in the 7th century, the dhimmis (including Jewish communities) were tolerated, accepted, and integrated into Moroccan society. Morocco's longstanding coexistence between differing religious communities opposed the European Christians' policy of intolerance practiced toward Europe's Jewish peoples. Moroccan Jews lived in the mellahs, in what some modern historians interpret as attempts to ostracize Moroccan Jews and keep them from being exposed to insurgents;Deshen, Shlomo. "Urban Jews in Sherifian Morocco." Middle Eastern Studies20, no. 4 (1984): 214 . doi:10.1080/00263208408700607. The Sultans also desired that Jews to be protected for political reasons, as an attack on minorities was seen as an attack on the Sultans' power. The Sultans thus restricted Jews to the mellahs for their safety, as well as to protect the Sultans' rulings from being tested by insurgents. The word mellah is similar to the Hebrew word for salt, (מלח); it refers to the salty, marshy area to which the Jews of northern Morocco were originally transferred and where they gathered.Lapidus, Ira M. "Emily Gottreich. The Mellah of Marrakesh: Jewish and Muslim Space in Morocco's Red City.(Indiana Series in Middle East Studies.)." The American Historical Review113, no. 3 (2008): 946-47. doi:10.1086/ahr.113.3.946. Mellahs were not ghettos and were not structured in manners to the Jewish ghettos in Europe. By the 1900s, most Moroccan cities had a mellah.
Culture
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