The Old West: Casablanca's Majesties

(Morocco in Arabic means west.) With about 5 hours of sleep, we woke up to Monday morning in Casablanca, and departed for a day of Jewish sightseeing. There was a mad rush to get everyone on the bus in time for our appointment at a Jewish Day School, Neve Shalom. Two students overslept, there was traffic, hunger and fatigue, but when we arrived in the courtyard, and were ushered into a classroom of second graders, this blew me away: PICTURES OF CASABLANCA








The students were chanting the related Hanukkah reading from the Torah using traditional Moroccan notes, hundreds, if not thousands of miles from any familiarity to me, and they were doing a flawless job. They then read an entire haftorah and led us in Hanukkah Songs. This school was one of six or seven Jewish schools in Casablanca. With only 2500-3000 Jews left in this city, such a dedication to education is astounding. In addition, there are 36 synagogues, and 4 club/restaurants, which means there has to be a fair share of kosher butchers.


The school for us represented the present and optimistic future of the Casablanca Jewish community. Co-ed and taught in French, the curriculum provides a rigorous Jewish education. The principal of the school, Jacquy Sebag shed greater light on his mission and the challenges he has faced...









It was interesting to hear a principal of an educational system for a dwindling community articulate his mission in terms of teaching others to do good.

From there we visited the only (or to be optimistic, the first) Jewish Museum in the Arab World, filled with relics collected by Raphy Elmaleh, our unbelievable guide here. Among his findings was a megillah all about the Holocaust, false Hanukkiot with two elevated shamash holders, and coins made with Jewish Stars (here known as Stars of Solomon, since the star doesn't carry an exclusively Jewish connotation). *Did you know the Moroccan flag has a five pointed star, but before the French changed it, the flag used to depict a six pointed star. Imagine that, a Muslim (top three in the world by percentage of population), Arab country with a national symbol many perceive of as specifically Jewish.* The museum is apparently in the public school curriculum for Casablanca, meaning that most of the visitors to this place are not only of a different faith, but this might well me their introduction to Judaism.

From there we had a lunch at a Kosher Restaurant, and then we visited the Maimonides school, talking to the kids in French. Here most of the students are actually Muslim, but they affirmed that parts of their day are spent studying Hebrew and Jewish history. Imagine the difference that makes in understanding the "other."

The final stop before dinner was a special synagogue, Beth El, built by an Algerian Jew in 1949. Today it functions exclusively on Shabbat and special occasions, but it was once central to the community.

Dinner was at a club that was the site of a terrible bombing by extremists. Intended to kill Jews, the violence led to many deaths of innocent civilians, none of which were Jewish, because it was on a Friday night. Despite this sad note, the club was rebuilt, we were served delicious couscous, and were led by an authentic Moroccan Hanukkah candle-lighting:

That was Monday. Tuesday was mostly a bus ride out of Casablanca, but before out departure, we visited a specifically non-Jewish site, the Hassan II Mosque. Things this ornate and well made are rare to find in these modern times, but check out all the pictures online, and this extensive "virtual tour." It was unbelievable to see how many dimensions of design and intention played out in this place. It has the world's tallest minaret, it's one of the largest Mosque's in the world. It has heated floors, a removable roof. It sounds like a  combination spa and sports complex, but it looks like a royal palace (and there's a spa underground). At one point, I looked up at the Minaret, and from the angle that the clouds were moving, it looked like the structure was pushing in on me. Extremely beautiful.



























This was perhaps my first realization since arriving that a Jew can feel comfortable not only in an overwhelmingly majority Muslim country, but in an extravagant and sacred religious space. Our tour guide was even in the process of learning Hebrew. There is definitely an undertone of respect here...

and Happy Birthday Mom!