“Some Thoughts from Morocco,” Rabbi Elaine Zecher’s Shabbat Awakenings
April 25, 2025 / 27 Nisan 5785
Welcome to Shabbat Awakenings, a weekly reflection, as we make our way toward Shabbat. You can listen to it as a podcast here.
The influence of France is strong here. So is Spain, but more to the south. The country did not gain independence until 1956 so the sense of outsider/insider permeates the history as we are witnessing and learning about it on our congregational trip to Morocco which began this past Monday.
For the Jewish community, Morocco has been home for centuries, many centuries. And as we might have imagined or even assumed, the rise and fall of the Jewish community depended on whether the Hebraic people, as they had been referred to, were welcomed and treated as part of the community. There are layers and many instances of Jews being attacked, harmed, and murdered, but that does not tell the whole story.
Jews may have arrived in Morocco after the destruction of the Second Temple. They found a haven following the Spanish Inquisition. They have been part of the Sefardic/Mizrachi tradition and made many cultural and economic contributions. During World War II, once the Vichy government lost its hold on Morocco, the King declared the Jews as Moroccans and protected them. This was not unusual behavior regarding the throne whether called the King or Sultan. When the Jews requested protection, they were granted it. In Fes, the Jewish quarter was located right by the Sultan’s palace.
Most Jews now live in Casablanca. Once there were more than 300,000 across the country. Where did they go? Israel. In the 1950s, the Jewish Agency (some say Mossad, the Israeli spy agency) helped to secure the movement of most Jews. Now there are 1500. For 2000 years, there had been a longing for the land of Israel, and when their chance came, hundreds of thousands took it. Many left in the dark of night. Here is the irony, it wasn’t that they had to escape, the King had publicly called for them to stay, yet Israel called to them too. We know that when they arrived en masse in Israel, it was not easy. Israel was still forming and many were sent to Development towns and places where the condition was not hospitable.
Still, the Jewish presence and history has not been lost on the Moroccan people. Those who live here now speak of communal respect. We met Durit in Casablanca who told us that she sent her kids to a school that brings together Moroccan Jews and Moroccan Arabs/Muslims. They work and play together, yet the intermarriage is very uncommon, if it happens at all.
Here is what struck me as intentional inclusion of an Arab/Muslim country of the full diversity of its people even with a very dominant culture: its constitution. In 2011, the preamble incorporated a truth. Here is what it said.
A sovereign Muslim State committed to its national unity and territorial integrity, the Kingdom of Morocco shall seek to preserve its diverse, indivisible national identity. Its unity, which is built on the convergence of its Arab-Islamic, Amazigh, and Saharan-Hassani components, is nurtured and enriched by African, Andalusian, Hebraic, and Mediterranean constituents.
These words greet visitors to the Jewish Museum as a reminder of the Jewish place within Morocco.
In our tour, we are experiencing a different perspective of the Arab Islamic community and another kind of relationship, one that gives us hope for an alternative narrative that permeates our understanding.
The museum showcases a specially written Megillah that differs from the one we are familiar regarding Esther, Vashti, and Haman. This one was called Megillat Hitler because it details how the Jews were saved in Morocco from the evil Hitler who sought to destroy them. They could have been among the six million but the people around them helped to assure their safety. In a week, when we commemorated Yom Hashoah and offered Qaddish in the synagogue in Fes in memory of all who did die, we did not have to say it for the Jews of Morocco.
One of our hosts described the Jewish community here like a fire that seems to burn out but then embers reignite and there is energy again. It is much more difficult with so few Jews. This is the hope of the Moroccan Jewish community and ours, too. Unlike in Spain when Temple Israel visited there and spent much time with only the memory of their magnificent presence, we have been able to meet members of the small but mighty Jewish community. The challenge exists for sure. Many Moroccans have never met a Jew and their only exposure comes from social media or Al Jazeera. Organizations like Mimouna comprised of mostly Moroccan Muslims are working hard to increase educating and exposing their fellow citizens to Jewish culture. Jews cannot do it alone.
The Jewish story is still being written, and it has been our honor to witness with our own eyes what still remains and what perhaps may come to be a vibrant presence once again. We have reason to hope.
שבת שלום
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Rabbi Elaine Zecher